Customers want baked rice pudding more creamy!

[Dracu]

I have never made rice pudding or even had rice pudding myself. Recently, I have made it twice for my customers to try and give me feed back. Well, both times they say the same, " It needs to be more creamy". Well, my question is, how do I make it more creamy. Here is my recipe:

13.44 oz long grain rice
0.36 gallons water
0.18 oz salt
4.8 oz instant nonfat dry milk
5.76 oz margarine
7.68 oz granulated sugar
0.14 oz vanilla Extract
9.6 oz raisins
11.52 oz eggs

Please help if you can. The customers love it so far and can't wait to try the next batch.


Thanx, Novotny

[kuan]

Use unsalted butter instead of margarine and replace some of that water with whole milk.

[Jock]

You might want to try substituting evaporated milk for the eggs to get a creamier consistency.

I love rice pudding and I realize I haven't made it for ages. Now I am inspired. Thank you

Jock

[Suzanne]

What about adding some starch, if you're concerned about fat (which from that recipe it sounds as though you are)? If you precook the rice and then mix it with the custard base, don't rinse it before cooking, and use the absorption method so the extra starch doesn't get drained away. And you could even add some extra starch to the base before blending in the eggs. Sorry, I don't know proprtions, but probably someone else here does.

[Zukerig]

Novotny:

The initial consideration is that using pre-cooked rice will produce a creamier pudding than using raw grains.

Also, the inclusion of fresh eggs, homogenized milk, and slow baking (i.e., 300°F) in a water bath – to provide a stabilized environment in which the pudding will cook gently & evenly.

If you choose to make your pudding with raw rice, please note that a short-grained (such as Arborio or “pearl”) or medium-grain rice will likely yield a creamier texture that a long-grain, such as Basmati or Jasmine.

Suspecting that you may want to use long-grain (Basmati is my most-common choice), the following proportions will likely ensure wonderfully creamy puddings:

3 cups cooked long-grain white rice (for a high custard-to-rice ratio);
OR: 6 cups cooked long-grain white rice (for a firmer, but still creamy, pudding);
OR: an adjustment between the two previous options!
1 cup dark or golden raisins
3 quarts whole milk
2 vanilla beans or 4 tsps vanilla extract
1 dozen large eggs, at room temp.
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsps grated lemon zest
Freshly grated nutmeg for topping

Bake in two 13- x 9-inch buttered pans (set in water bath) at 325°F. for about 75 minutes.

Actual cooking time(s) will need to be determined if you prefer to use individual-size service dishes.

The *"Horn & Hardart" version is another egg-rich version, albeit proportioned differently:

2 cups cooked rice
1 quart milk
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ oz. butter
6 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons cinnamon

*Marianne Hardart & Lorraine Diehl, The Automat (Clarkson Potter, 2002); p. 104.

[mudbug]

Dracu, how wonderful that you have a captive and eager audience!

I like to look for recipes that are tried and true and verified by others to be tasty. You may wish to look for such recipes to see what they use for success, then incorporate ingredients or techniques which may improve your own recipes.

Here is a good source:
Creamy Rice Puddings

[OzarkRose]

As you are not accustomed to eatting/serving rice pudding, you may not realize that what you are preparing is a Rice Custard, the egg base gives it away. Try slow cooking your rice, short grain will REALLY be better, with water like risotto, then adding cream at the end you will get a killer-creamy dessert. You can take this base and go from there, adding fruits, serving cold or hot, in a mold ...
I first saw this at our annual local rice cooking contest (Eastern Arkansas has the biggest Rice Mill in the world) and have modified it to work for service using a crockpot for hot but would hold in a steam bath as there are no eggs.

[Jock]

OK, after reading this thread on Friday I had to have some rice pudding so I made some last night using CI's method:

Add a cup of medium or long grain rice and a good pinch of salt to 2 cups of boiling water. Simmer with the lid on for about 10 minutes till the water is nearly absorbed. Don't let it go dry, otherwise the rice on the bottom will burn.

Add 2 1/2 cups each, whole milk and half & half along with 2/3 cup of sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered for about 40 minutes or so stiriing occasionally until it gets to the consistency you want. As it gets thicker you need to stir it more often. I cooked mine till a desert spoon almost stood up in the pudding on it's own.

When it's done take it off the heat and add 1 tsp of vanilla. I also added a tsp of cinnamon and some dried cranberries.

It was really good.

Jock