With all the savory ways to use leftover rice, we often overlook a sweet, easy dessert like rice pudding. I prefer a baked version to the stovetop technique that produces something like you might find sold in little plastic cups with peel-off foil tops. When you bake the rice-thickened custard, it puffs slightly in the oven but then collapses back on itself like a Dutch Baby, creating a golden skin over the soft center.
Whole milk thickens rice pudding without making it overly rich and creamy. Many rice pudding recipes pile in the sugar, which I’ve cut to nearly nothing here. The vanilla sugar, which I make by simply burying a vanilla bean in the crystals and letting it sit for weeks, can be replaced by the same amount of granulated sugar and a splash of vanilla. If you prefer a sweeter pudding, increase the sugar to taste or drizzle honey over the top before serving.
Almost any precooked white rice works in this recipe, but I favor the texture of sushi rice. It’s easiest to break apart its sticky grains while fridge-cold. Long-grain rice makes pudding a smidge drier but still delicious. If the dessert seems to be cooking unevenly with your choice of rice or in your oven, use a water bath like you would for Golden Baked Custard, either dividing the pudding into smaller ramekins or pouring the water into a pan large enough to comfortably hold the 8-by-8 inch baking dish.
You could drop this recipe’s raisins and orange zest without affecting the overall structure, but they add bursts of flavor that stand out against the mild rice and egg custard. For plumper dried fruit, let the raisins soak in near-boiling water for 15 minutes and then drain. An overnight soak in rum adds the slightest hint of the alcohol, and the leftover raisin-infused rum enhances the flavors of Hot Buttered Rum.
Baked Rice Pudding
Serves 6
4 eggs, room temperature
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/4 cups cooked sushi or other white rice, divided
1/3 cup raisins or currants, divided
Zest of 1 orange
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs; add the milk and melted butter and continue whisking until frothy. Whisk in the vanilla sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
Into a buttered 8-by-8 inch baking dish, sprinkle about half of the rice and raisins, breaking large rice clumps apart with your fingers. Briefly whisk the egg mixture, and then pour half over the rice. Sprinkle in the remaining rice and raisins, and then whisk and pour in the remaining egg mixture.
Bake at 375°F for 45 to 60 minutes, until the custard sets on the edges but still lightly jiggles in the center. Sprinkle the top with additional ground nutmeg, if desired, and the orange zest. Let cool slightly in the pan before serving.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger at TwiceAsTasty.com.