HappyTummy              

The very first time I tried rice pudding was actually just last year, when I was visiting my sister in NYC. We had spent a full day roaming around SoHo, window shopping and people watching, when she suggested we take a break and head to a place famous for its rice pudding. I was a tired, bloated and just a tad grumpy, and in no mood to walk a few extra blocks out of the way to get something that didn’t even really excite me. Being the pusher that she is, she won, and we headed to Rice to Riches in Nolita.

My first bite of “The Edge of Rum Raisin” flavored rice pudding, and I was HOOKED. Oh my. The thick, creamy deliciousness, studded with plump raisins drunk on rum, was almost too much for my senses. We had shared the bowl, but it was me who ended up licking the bowl clean. Since then, rice pudding has become one of my favorite desserts (right behind baklava, which I ODed on in Greece). So when I saw that this week’s TWD pick was not one, but two types of rice pudding, I couldn’t wait to test them both out.

I made the puddings after Dorie posted her comment about there being an error in the recipe, which was great, because I would have been so sad had my pudding come out soupy. Instead, I treated myself to rich, creamy and thick–almost gelatinous–rice pudding. So fantastic.

I made only one substitution–turbinado sugar instead of granulated sugar–but quite a few additions. I dressed up my vanilla pudding with coarsley chopped almonds and raisins soaked in Kahlua. My chocolate pudding was made with Scharffen Berger’s 70% Cacao Bittersweet chocolate–I love love love quality dark chocolate. And of course, since that wasn’t decadent enough, I drizzled it with a glaze of peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar, and then sprinkled it with shavings from the leftover chocolate.

The most important thing to note when making this pudding is to make sure you cook the rice at the proper temperature. The recipe called for the setting to be “low,” but I found that the rice only simmered at that temperature, and what you really want it to do is get a decent bubbling going on, so I left it on medium-low. I stirred it pretty frequently and I left it on for exactly 55 minutes. The other thing that’s really important is to make sure it chills for the six hours the recipe calls for. I let it sit in the fridge overnight, which allowed the pudding to really set and the flavors to meld.

So which did I like better? At first, I thought I definitely liked the vanilla-flavored one better–more of what I’m familiar with. But then, I ate a few bites of the chocolate, and thought, Chocolate really does make everything better! And then, I went back to the vanilla, and changed my mind again. So bottom line is, whatever you happen to be eating at the time, that is the very best one! :)

Bye bye, Kozy Shack! That has become my gold standard grocery brand, but from here on out, I think I’ll be making Dorie’s recipe. :) Please make sure to check out how all the other TWD members did. And for the complete recipe, head over to Isabelle’s blog, Les gourmandises d’Isa.