Rice Pudding Ice Cream

The undisputed king of summer is ice cream, and the recipe brought to us by Rosa, author of Pemberley Cup&Cakes, you're going to love it: a classic flavor—the taste of rice pudding—turned into a refreshing homemade ice cream. Get your spoon ready, there won't be a bit left at home!

We’re kicking off a new summer, and a delicious homemade ice cream on the blog was a must to welcome it in the best possible way. The first step was clear: ice cream it would be, but after settling the initial question, the inevitable dilemma arises—what flavor will be chosen for the moment so eagerly awaited by many? When in doubt, it’s clear to me, a traditional, classic flavor that never fails. And that's how this rice pudding ice cream began to take shape, which I'm so excited to present to you.

To begin with, and despite the fact that this is an extremely simple recipe to make with very common ingredients, let me emphasize a point that I find very important. And the fact is that Having high-quality raw materials will definitely make the difference in the final result of our ice cream. So you'll see that I specify in detail the types of ingredients I've used to achieve that nostalgic and recognizable flavor we expect from a dessert that's so quintessentially ours.

It is true that to get to enjoy this fabulous rice pudding ice cream, first, we will have to prepare the rice pudding itself. To make things easier and keep things brief, in this first step I have chosen to use my WMF Perfect pressure cooker (even so, I'll also leave you the instructions to do it in a conventional pot or even in casserole). If we also have a refrigerator, we will shorten the task again and the process will be considerably simplified. I have used the KitchenAid ice cream attachment and I'm delighted with the result; a creamy, smooth ice cream like few others, with practically no effort.

Before moving on to the recipe, I must warn you that, with the amounts indicated to make the rice pudding, it will yield more than we actually need for our ice cream, but once we get down to it, it's worth making extra and taking the opportunity to have it the traditional way, in ramekins individual portions and sprinkled with a little ground cinnamon while, for example, we wait for our ice cream to finish getting ready. Here we go!

WMF Perfect pressure cooker, Pallarès carbon steel knife, Emile Henry ceramic ramekins, Kitchen Craft measuring spoons and Tellier mechanical scale.

Ingredients (for approx. 1 L of ice cream)

For the rice pudding*:

• 1 ¼ liter of fresh or whole milk
• 1 Ceylon cinnamon stick (Sri Lanka)
• Zest of ½ medium organic lemon (only the yellow part; avoid the white pith)
• 125gr of round or bomba rice
• 100gr of white sugar

For the ice cream:

• 500gr of rice pudding
• 50gr of mild honey or invert sugar** (according to personal preference)
• 350ml of heavy whipping cream (min. 35% fat), very cold
• Ground cinnamon, for garnish

Preparation:

Rice pudding preparation (in a pressure cooker):

1. We heat the milk in the pressure cooker uncovered over medium heat along with the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel.
2. Just before the milk begins to boil (a thin film of cream will begin to form on the surface of the milk and small bubbles will appear beneath it and around the edges), we add the rice, stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon and we close the pot. Once it has reached the correct pressure (in the WMF Perfect pressure cooker this will happen when the 2nd orange ring becomes visible), we lower the heat to minimum and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Then we turn off the heat and let all the pressure release before continuing (all the rings on the pressure indicator must be hidden before uncovering it).
3. Next, we unlock the safety lock, gently shake the pot, open the lid, remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel with some kitchen tongs and add the sugar. Stir and cook again over low heat, now uncovered, for about 5-6 more minutes (depending on the types of milk and rice used) until the sugar dissolves well and we get a slightly creamier texture, stirring frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. At this point, the consistency of our rice pudding will still be somewhat light.
4. Turn off the heat completely and let it cool down fully; keep in mind that as long as there’s heat inside the pot, the rice will continue absorbing liquid, so as it cools it will take on a thicker, creamier consistency. Stir from time to time to help it cool more quickly, also preventing a dry film of cream from forming on the surface.

Preparation of rice pudding (in a conventional pot or casserole):

1. We pour ½ liter of water (filtered or mineral) into a saucepan medium over medium-low heat and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, add the rice, give it a couple of stirs with a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon, and let it cook for about 10 minutes until it absorbs practically all the water (it shouldn’t be dry). If necessary, stir from time to time to make sure it doesn’t stick.
2. Meanwhile, in another casserole dish or casserole wide over low heat we gently heat the milk along with the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel.
3. As soon as the rice is ready, add it to the pot with the milk, cinnamon, and lemon (which should also be about to boil) and let it cook over very low heat for about 35-40 minutes (depending on the types of milk and rice chosen), stirring often until it starts to take on a slightly creamier texture.
4. After this time, we remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel with some kitchen tongs, we add the sugar and let it cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring frequently until it fully dissolves and the mixture noticeably thickens. At this point, the consistency of our rice pudding will still be somewhat fluid.
5. We turn off the heat and let it cool completely; keep in mind that as long as there's still heat inside the pot, the rice will continue to absorb liquid, so as it cools it will become thicker. Stir occasionally to help it cool more quickly, also preventing a dry film of cream from forming on the surface.

Ice cream preparation:

1. Once our rice pudding has cooled, we set aside 500gr, place it in a large bowl, add the honey or inverted sugar, and blend with the hand mixer until you get a more or less smooth cream (according to personal preference). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight; well-rested rice pudding only gets better in every way, if we can wait that long!).
2. In another bowl Separately, we whip the cream with a large hand mixer at high speed until it starts to reach a somewhat firm, but mostly creamy consistency. It's very important not to overwhip the cream, otherwise it will curdle.
3. Next, we add the whipped cream to the rice pudding cream (step 1) and mix gently using folding motions with the help of a silicone spatula to retain as much of the achieved volume as possible.
4. If we are going to use an ice cream maker, like the KitchenAid ice cream accessory that I used for this recipe, it is very important to follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. Generally, we can enjoy our ice cream as soon as the process is finished, in about 15-20 minutes (the machine will tell us when it's ready, so we can't take our eyes off it), although if we prefer a slightly firmer texture, once it's done we only need to put the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for 2-4 hours before eating. We will take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes before serving.
5. If we don't have an ice cream maker, we pour the ice cream mixture into an airtight container and freeze it, stirring with the rods every 30 minutes for at least a couple of hours before letting it finish freezing properly, that is, at least 12 more hours before consuming. We will take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, KitchenAid refrigerator accessory, Pallarès carbon steel knife, Kitchen Craft measuring spoons, Emile Henry ceramic ramekins and Tellier mechanical scale.

Notes

• *With these quantities, once we've weighed the rice pudding needed to continue with our ice cream, we'll see that we'll have practically half left over. If we don't want to prepare extra rice pudding, we only need to use half of the indicated amount for each ingredient.
• **Both honey and inverted sugar added to our ice creams, besides sweetening, prevent crystallization during the freezing process, thus achieving a much creamier texture. Honey, for its part, adds a subtle hint of flavor, but if we are not too fond of this ingredient we can opt for the first option, with a more neutral taste. If a commercial version of inverted sugar is not easy to find, we can easily prepare it at home. For the invert sugar recipe:

• To whip cream without difficulty, besides making sure to use a variety with a minimum of 35% fat (MG, materia grasa), it’s very important that it be very cold when you start whipping it, as should the utensils you use (whisk and bowl).

Doesn't it seem like a great way to kick off the summer?

Best regards,

Pink

Tellier mechanical scale, WMF ice cream spoon, Emile Henry ceramic loaf pan, Pallarès carbon steel knife, Kitchen Craft measuring spoons and Emile Henry ceramic ramekins.