"Old Fashioned Rice Pudding"

 

Rice pudding always reminds me of my childhood.  I had a great aunt who made rice pudding what seemed like once a week, but it might not have been.  She made it the old fashioned way with long cooking rice, eggs, sugar and whole milk and she always sprinkled the top of each dish with fresh grated nutmeg.

 For some reason, I have never cared for the taste of nutmeg much and I always thought about asking her if she could not put the nutmeg on mine, but I knew that would be rude so I didn't.  Instead, I would just discreetly scrape the nutmeg off the top.  Actually, my aunt wouldn't have cared if I had asked her to leave the nutmeg off.   She would have gladly, but children were raised so much differently back then. 

This rice pudding tastes so creamy and decadent and pretty much like it did back then, maybe even slightly better if I do say so myself, but this recipe is so easy and uncomplicated you won't believe it.  You don't have to cook the rice for half an hour or bake it for 45 minutes or any of that.  Here is what you will need:

1 cup quick cooking rice, uncooked (I used Minute Rice)
3 cups milk, divided
1 can sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle Brand)
1  5.1 oz. box of instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins (optional)


Bring 1 cup of milk to a boil in a saucepan.  Stir in rice and raisins if you are adding them.  Remove from heat and cover.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

Prepare pudding by mixing with the other 2 cups cold milk and the can of sweetened condensed milk.  Whisk until smooth and it starts to thicken.  Whisk in the vanilla and the cinnamon.

Mix the rice into the pudding mixture and pour into a 1 1/2 quart dish.  Sprinkle with either nutmeg or a little more cinnamon.  Let it cool for 5 minutes.  You can serve this immediately or chill and serve cold.

Serve topped with whipped cream or a little shredded coconut

Old Fashioned Rice Pudding!