RICE PUDDING WITH GOLDEN RAISINS

Rice Pudding With Golden Raisins image

Forget egg yolks and water baths. This is a simple and superb rice pudding that uses only milk, sugar, cream, rice, salt and your choice of flavorings: rum, almond extract, vanilla, orange zest, cardamom, nutmeg, anything else you can dream up. Add the raisins at the end so they don't get too mushy as the pudding cooks.

Provided by Melissa Clark

Time 50m

Yield 6 to 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean, split
1 cinnamon stick or 4 cardamom pods
1 strip orange peel, 1-inch wide
1/3 cup golden raisins
Crème fraîche, for serving (optional)

Steps:

In a medium heavy-bottom pot, combine milk, cream, sugar, rice and salt. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and drop them in along with the pod. Stir in cinnamon and orange peel. Bring mixture to a simmer; cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until rice is tender and mixture is slightly thickened, 30 to 40 minutes. Do not let mixture come to a boil and don't let it get too thick, because it will thicken as it cools. Stir in raisins and let pudding rest for 5 minutes to soften them.
Serve pudding warm, room temperature or chilled, with dollops of crème fraîche, if desired.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 179, UnsaturatedFat 2 grams, Carbohydrate 26 grams, Fat 6 grams, Fiber 0 grams, Protein 5 grams, SaturatedFat 4 grams, Sodium 124 milligrams, Sugar 15 grams