Rice pudding is probably one of the most comforting desserts to exist. Served warm with delicious cinnamon, it always makes me feel wholesome, cosy and nostalgic to the time my mom used to make it. It’s so easy to make, it’s really one of my go to desserts when I want something quick a wholesome.

Arroz con Leche

I know rice pudding is a very widespread dessert present in lots of cultures, to be honest, I am not surprised by this as it’s really quick, easy to make, and like many traditional desserts, very cheap to make.

Today I am sharing my mom’s recipe of rice pudding which I grew up eating, that’s partly why I am calling it arroz con leche and not simply rice pudding. To be honest, I am also not sure whether it’s done differently in other countries, would love to know though! Sometimes similar recipes have differences which is something I love to know about; to be completely honest, I did add a little change to this compared to my mom’s recipe, I added some vanilla bean paste which I think made it taste even better.

So, what is it made of?

This recipe is super easy to make and I am sure you probably have most of the ingredients at home, that’s the beauty of a traditional recipe! All you’ll need is:

• Whole milk
• Rice
• Granulated sugar
• Lemon
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Arroz con Leche

Ingredients:

• 150 gr of rice
• 1 litre of whole milk
• 150 gr of granulated sugar
• The skin of half a lemon (make sure you don’t include the white part or it’ll make it very bitter)
• 1 large cinnamon stick or 2 mall ones
• 2 tsp of vanilla bean paste (you can use vanilla extract)

Method:

1. Boil plenty of water in a large pot, add the rice and allow it to boil for 2 minutes. The water should completely cover the rice, this will help get rid of the starch in the rice.
2. Sieve the rice at set aside.
3. In a pot (it can be the same used before but cleaned to get rid of the rice water), bring the milk, sugar, lemon skin, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean paste to a boil. Once it’s boiling, add the rice.
4. Cook the rice for 15 to 20 minutes stirring frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot – this is the only tricky part of this recipe, the rice can stick easily if not stirred often.
5. It will be ready once the rice is completely cooked, some of the milk has evaporated and the mix is thicker – there still should be some milk left on the pot.
6. Serve hot with extra ground cinnamon, cooked apples or another fruit and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.