Chilled Rice Pudding with Orange, Honey, & Cardamom Syrup: Cool and Creamy Comfort

 
Not everyone loves rice pudding. It's one of those things that I disliked growing up but blogging and trying recipes had made me a fan. It's comforting. And, served chilled topped with a scrumptious syrup of orange, honey, and cardamom, this recipe from Diana Henry makes a wonderful breakfast, snack or dessert for humid weather. We are gearing up for a tropical storm/hurricane hitting (now) passing south of the islands this weekend so the weather is particularly sultry today. Having this pudding and its syrup simmering away this morning and chilling throughout the day to be enjoyed tonight, is definitely a comfort. ;-)

Chilled Rice Pudding with Orange, Honey & Cardamom Syrup
Adapted from Pure Simple Cooking by Diana Henry
(Serves 4)

3/4 cup short-grain rice
4 cups whole milk (I used coconut milk)
3 Tbsp sugar (I used 2 Tbsp raw sugar)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used coconut creamer)
3 Tbsp Greek-Style yogurt
a couple drops of vanilla extract

Syrup:
6 Tbsp honey 
3 Tbsp water
juice of 2 oranges
crushed seeds from 4 cardamom pods
finely grated zest of one orange

Put rice in saucepan, cover with water and boil for 4 minutes. Drain, put rice back in pan with the milk and sugar and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes (Note: I cooked mine about 35 minutes total), until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is soft. Stir from time to time and add more milk if it has absorbed before the rice is soft. 

Take the pan off the heat. Stir in half the cream and yogurt and all of the vanilla into the rice. Taste to check for sweetness, bearing in mind that the syrup is sweet. Leave to cool, then chill. When chilled, the pudding will be very firm, so before serving, loosen it by stirring in the rest of the cream and yogurt--and maybe even a little milk if needed.

Put everything for the syrup (except the zest) into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil to reduce to a syrup (remember: it will thicken as it cools). Strain to remove the cardamom, then add zest and cook for another minute. Leave to cool. Serve with rice pudding.

Notes/Results: Mmm... sweet and creamy and the syrup is practically drinkable, this rice pudding is simple but sophisticated and delightfully cool and soothing. I made some small changes, subbing in coconut milk as I like what it does for sweetness and texture. Diana Henry gives a couple of other syrup combinations like sour cherries in rose syrup and pomegranate and blood orange sauce--both which sounded tempting. In a tweet (Thanks to an introduction from Foodycat we are talking about doing a live chat with Diana on Twitter for any interested IHCC peeps soon!) she mentioned that with the coconut milk I was using lime marmalade would be good. Definitely trying that at some point And, in case you were wondering, Diana Henry is very gracious and so lovely to offer us the live chat so stay tuned!) I will make this again--trying the other sauces and I think this orange, honey, and cardamom sauce would be a little bit of heaven drizzled on French toast.

We are celebrating 'Icy Cold!' dishes this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. To see what sweet and savory cold Diana Henry dishes everyone made, check out the picture links on the post. 

Happy Aloha Friday!