Portuguese Rice Pudding also known as Arroz Doce, is a creamy and aromatic dessert deeply embedded in Portuguese tradition. It is a thick, sweet rice pudding that is made with rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and egg yolks. Portuguese rice pudding has a bold flavor of cinnamon and lemon, also has a smooth texture. A Portuguese sweet rice pudding dessert is a must have at any Portuguese party or celebration. It is the perfect bowl of classical sweet and creamy.
Ingredient
- 1 cup short grain white rice
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- cinnamon or redcurrants(optional)
Procedure
To make this awesome Portuguese rice pudding recipe which highlights an authentic way to prepare Arroz Doce, incorporating classic ingredients like short grain rice, whole milk, sugar, egg yolks, and lemon rind, follow this guide to achieve a perfect bowl.
- Cook rice until almost done.
- While rice cooks, cut the zest from your lemon. You do not want to use a zester or grater for this because you want large pieces so you can remove them before serving. Use a sharp knife to carefully remove large pieces of the bright yellow outer skin (avoid the white rind beneath).
- In a small pot, heat your milk, stopping just before it simmers.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and then temper them by very slowly poring just a bit of the hot milk into the eggs and whisking quickly so they do not cook. Add the tapered eggs to the hot milk whisking constantly.
- Add the sugar, butter, vanilla, and lemon rind to the milk and whisk together.
- Pour the milk mixture into the cooked rice and stir together.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes until you reach an oatmeal consistency.
- Once the pudding has reached the desired texture, remove the lemon zest and divide the rice pudding into dishes, or pour into a large dish, and let cool.
- Once the pudding has cooled to room temperature, use a stencil and ground cinnamon to create a design on top (this is optional). To save time, I just sprinkled a bit of redcurrants over the top of the rice pudding.
Enjoy!
