And it's both ice cream and rice pudding.
This recipe is for the second part of a Marx Foods contest featuring Integrale rice. In part one,the theme was risotto. This time, it's rice pudding.
I love rice pudding, but I'm somewhat of a purist. I like the classic version and I'm not wild about most add-ins. But I needed to do something different for this contest. I considered adding maple or walnuts. But then the idea struck me.
Rice pudding ice cream.
I had no idea if it would work, but once I had the thought in my head, I had to try it. It was a roll of the dice - it could be a disaster, or it could be great.
My first concern was that the rice could turn into little ice shards. My solution for the was to get the rice a little bit drunk before I froze it. You'll see.
It worked perfectly. The rice stayed soft, and although the rum flavor was a little strong when I tasted the rice by itself, it was perfect in the rice pudding - and even better in the ice cream.
And since my roll-of-the-dice worked so well, I added a fruity dicey garnish*.
Rummy Rice Pudding Ice Cream
1/4 cup rum
1 quart milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
As soon as the rice is cooked add the rum, and stir to combine. Refrigerate while you prepare the rest.
Put the milk in a saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, salt, and sugar. and stir to combine.
Turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring as needed, until the mixture warms up, then stir continuously until it comes to a simmer and thickens - you'll feel the spoon begin to drag through the mixture as it thickens.
Turn the heat off and add the vanilla and the rice. Stir to combine. Add the heavy cream, stir again, and refrigerate the mixture until it is cold - at least 4 hours, or overnight.
The next day, churn the mixture according to the ice cream maker's instructions.
Remove the mixture from the ice cream maker and transfer it to a storage container and freeze until firm.
This ice cream is great on its own, or pairs well with fruit. A sprinkle of cinnamon sugar is nice, too.
This recipe was created for the Marx Foods Integrale Rice contest. I received a box of rice at no charge for my use in creating the recipes.
*The garnish is simply watermelon and cantaloupe with plugs cut out using an olive stuffer, and the plugs inserted into the other fruit to form dice. Just for the fun of it.
