Creamy Custard-Style Rice Pudding Recipe - Happy Homeschool Nest (2024)

Did your Grandma or an aunt make the best custard-style rice pudding recipe? This creamy dessert is true comfort food. A bowlful of hot, warm or even chilled rice pudding never fails to brighten up the day and make everything better.

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Rice pudding is a filling dessert and there are various ways to prepare it. The following easy rice pudding recipe is simple enough for beginner rice pudding cooks but also really delicious.

The spices and raisins take an otherwise plain dessert to dizzying new heights. If you love rice pudding, try this homemade custard-style version. You can expect clean plates from everyone in the family and maybe requests for second helpings!

This is a gluten-free rice pudding recipe. Although rice is a grain, it’s naturally gluten-free.

Best Rice Pudding Ingredients

White rice is the main ingredient in this dessert and it’s a great way to use up leftover cooked rice. The recipe calls for white rice rather than brown which wouldn’t be very dessert-like. If you don’t have leftover rice you can always boil some and let it cool down.

Heavy cream is what gives this rice pudding its thick, rich consistency. Use heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or double cream, depending where you are located. This custard rice pudding isn’t really the recipe to experiment with skim milk, so choose heavy cream. It makes the finished dessert so perfect and delicious.

Whole milk is also a key component of this recipe. The sweetness comes from white sugar although brown sugar would work just fine, or even your favorite artificial sweetener. Golden raisins work nicely here to change up the texture and add more sweetness. Eggs help with the flavor and consistency too.

Finally you will need vanilla extract and cinnamon for those wonderful flavors in every mouthful of rice pudding. Vanilla extract will work here or you could use vanilla paste. For the best vanilla flavor though, use a fresh vanilla bean and scrape it out. Just don’t use anything labeled vanilla essence since that is wholly synthetic.

How to Make Rice Pudding Like a Pro

This is a really good recipe for many reasons. You don’t need many ingredients and it tastes heavenly. Another reason to choose this rice pudding recipe is it’s so straightforward to make. You will never buy canned rice pudding again after making and tasting this one.

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After beating the eggs and sugar, you mix in the dairy and flavorings, and then the raisins and rice. Spoon everything into a dish and put that dish into a larger one then add water to the larger dish. All you have to do then is bake it! While this dessert is in the oven you can focus on making the main meal.

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How to Serve Custard-Style Rice Pudding

Everyone has their own preferred way to eat rice pudding. Some like it hot, others chilled. Some folks like to sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon or nutmeg on top, while others prefer a spoonful of strawberry jam or some chopped nuts. There is no wrong way to eat rice pudding. It’s totally your choice how to serve it.

Interesting Rice Puddings Variations

This recipe may be tweaked if you like. Choose from some popular rice pudding flavor variations. Try dried cranberries or currants instead of golden raisins, or consider nutmeg or allspice in place of the cinnamon.

Not keen on vanilla? You could try almond extract instead or even something more unusual like coconut extract. You might even want to add a spoonful of cocoa powder to the recipe if you love chocolate as much as I do!

Handy Tips for Perfect Results

This is an easy recipe and there really isn’t much that can go wrong. However, there are still some tips and tricks worth knowing.

If you prefer a thinner consistency, you can add a little extra cream. Bear in mind rice pudding thickens naturally as it cools, so if you aren’t serving it all immediately it’s going to thicken somewhat in the refrigerator.

Wondering what to do with leftovers? This rice pudding custard-style recipe is so delicious leftovers are unlikely. However if you do have any, keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This isn’t a good recipe for freezing since everything will separate and the rice will turn mushy.

What Type of Rice is Best for Rice Pudding?

Long grain white rice works just fine in this recipe for rice pudding, or you could try jasmine rice because it’s so fragrant. The choice is all yours. One thing is certain though – everyone will request you make this tasty custard-style rice pudding recipe again, and soon!

Creamy Custard-Style Rice Pudding

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This creamy dessert is true comfort food. A bowlful of hot, warm or even chilled rice pudding never fails to brighten up the day and make everything better.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups cold cooked white rice
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a casserole dish.
3. Beat the sugar and eggs.
4. Gradually mix in the cream and milk.
5. Stir in the cinnamon and vanilla extract.
6. Stir in the rice and raisins.
7. Transfer the mixture into the casserole dish.
8. Put this dish into a bigger oven-proof dish.
9. Add about 2 inches of water to the bigger pan.
10. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes then stir gently.
11. Cook for a further 30 minutes and serve warm.
12. Enjoy!

Notes

Putting the casserole dish into a bigger dish with water helps achieve a custard-style texture. Fill the bigger dish with water to reach halfway up the side of the casserole dish for the best results.

Leftover cooked rice works perfectly in this recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 810Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 272mgSodium: 172mgCarbohydrates: 114gNet Carbohydrates: 0gFiber: 3gSugar: 72gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 18g