Jared’s favorite dessert is rice pudding. I’m not kidding. If you give him a dessert menu with all of the best options like chocolate cake, lemon meringue pie, or an apple crisp and rice pudding, he will ALWAYS choose rice pudding. One year for his birthday I even took him for dessert at a rice pudding restaurant – he has probably never been happier. So with the Jewish New Year being a time to eat lots of apples for a sweet new year, I figured I would combine two favorites: apples and rice pudding. This rice pudding is thick and creamy and full of delicious caramelized apples, raisins (optional but rice pudding isn’t really rice pudding without raisins…) and cinnamon.
To make the rice pudding you will cook short grain rice in heavy cream. It’s really important that you use short grain rice, because if you use a longer grain the center of the rice will still be crunchy by the time your pudding thickens. You will use the hot rice mixture to temper the eggs, mixed with brown sugar and vanilla, and add that mixture back into the pudding to make it super rich.
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- Cook rice in heavy cream
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- The mixture will begin to thicken
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- Combine the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla
Once the pudding is delicious and creamy, you add in your raisins and cinnamon. Once the pudding is cooling, you’ll make your caramelized apples with a little butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. They will get soft (with still a little bite) and will be the perfect addition to this creamy rice pudding.
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- After tempering eggs, add to rice mix
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- When the mixture is thick enough to leave a streak, it’s ready
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- Add in raisins and cinnamon
Apple Pie Rice Pudding
Ingredients
For the rice pudding:
- 2 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup uncooked short grain white rice
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup raisins
For the caramelized apples:
- 2 large Honeycrisp apples you can also use green apples, but honeycrisp are the perfect combo of tart and sweet!!, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
Instructions
For the rice pudding:
- In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot, combine the heavy cream, rice, and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Watch the mixture carefully so it does not flow over!
- Once the mixture is at a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender - about 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure that the rice is not sticking to the bottom. A
- As you stir and the rice cooks, it will release starch that will thicken the mixture. After the 20-25 minutes, the mixture should resemble rice pudding.
- While the rice cooks, in a separate bowl whisk together the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly until combined.
- When the rice is finished cooking, slowly add about 1/2 cup of the hot rice mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and whisk vigorously with the egg to temper it. Make sure that you are constantly whisking the mixture so you don't end up with scrambled eggs.
- Once the eggs are tempered, add the rice and egg mixture bag into the pot with the rest of the rice pudding.
- Stir for about 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture is thickened. When it is ready, if you pull your wooden spoon along the bottom of the pot, it will leave a streak behind as the rice pudding slowly fills the area back in.
- Once the pudding is ready, remove from the heat and stir in the cinnamon and vanilla.
- If you prefer your rice pudding cold (I do!!) you can now put the mixture in the refrigerator to cool down while you prep the apples.
For the caramelized apples:
- In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Once the butter is melted add the sugar and stir until it begins to melt - about 1 minute.
- Add the apples and sauté until the apples are brown, tender, and some of their juices have drained in the pan - about 10 minutes.
- You can either top your rice pudding with this mixture or just mix it right in! I do both because you can never have too many caramelized apples.
