In Search of Perfect Rice Pudding

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve craved rice pudding and searched for a recipe that would give me a straight up, home-style version—one that would not be too thick, too watery, too spicy, too eggy, or just plain odd. Of course, in all this experimenting, I ended up having to stand and stir too many batches over the double boiler, one of my least favorite kitchen tools (necessary sometimes, but DB and I just don’t get along very well). Why did it seem to take FOREVER for the rice to get tender, and even if I was careful stirring, I ended up with a messy, cooked-on pan.

Now, all that would probably be worth it if I ended up with a perfectly creamy, delightfully warm and comforting (or cool and refreshing, after refrigeration) bowl of rice pudding at the end. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. It never seemed to fail that I ended up with a less-than-satisfying result, one that didn’t match what my vision (and taste) of homemade rice pudding should be.

To me, rice pudding is simple, homespun food. And in my mind, it should be just as simple to make. Did I really need to use a double boiler? Did I really need to scald the milk first? Did I really need to stir it the entire time over a double boiler?

Truth be told, I gave up on rice pudding. Oh, I would sometimes get a treat at my mom and dad’s house when they bought ye old Kozy Shack. The kids would squirt whipped cream on it (and I would remember my days as a waitress serving it up the same way), and that would be that.

But every so often—usually in the middle of winter when that very warm dessert (or snack) would be so welcome—I’d get that old hankering. Not for Kozy Shack. For that long, long-ago memory, that deeper knowledge that knew there must be a better way to eat this comfort food. Better than opening up a plastic container with a date stamped on the side. Better than a hit-or-miss shot and a long stint standing by the double boiler.

I finally got smart. When I started writing this column I made a commitment to use the slow cooker regularly. So it finally hit me the other day: how about making rice pudding in the slow cooker?!

So I started hunting for some recipes—there are so many for rice pudding. From Greek versions to Gramma’s and Mama’s Old Fashioned versions, they seem to be everywhere. Some use evaporated milk, scalded milk, butter, and whipping cream. Others use soymilk, brown sugar, agave, and everything in-between.

I just wanted straight up rice pudding, a basic recipe that would work every time, allowing each family member to add any special touches (like raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg or whipped cream.) So I started with my sturdy slow cooker cookbook, the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good. I looked for a basic one that would serve as a good starting point, and I found it in Delores’ Rice Pudding. Thanks, Delores, of Mechanicsburg, PA, for sharing your delightfully simple recipe. I tweaked the milk a bit and lowered the egg by one (since I’m especially sensitive to eggy flavors in milk-based puddings).

Here it is. I finally found my simple rice pudding recipe. Took a couple run-throughs in the slow cooker (and a few burnt-on trial and errors), but it was worth it. Sorry DB, we’re just gonna have to part ways on this one.

Serves/Makes: 6

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 cups milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ground nutmeg or cinnamon, as desired