Rice pudding has all kinds of memories for me.  Mother made it and it was so good, creamy, thick and rich. And then I made it a few times when I first got married and thought it was an awful lot of trouble.

Later on, I just stopped making it. Then I put a couple of recipes together and came up with this recipe that is just about perfect. Really.

The thing about making rice pudding is that you have to take your time, follow all the directions to a “T” and know your stove-top enough to be able to tell if the pudding is getting too hot or not hot enough.  In short – you probably need to be more of an experienced cook to have success with rice pudding. Of course there is beginner’s luck and all.  But there is no teacher like experience! So don’t be afraid to get started on this recipe.

Don’t substitute the half and half. If you do, you’ll wish you hadn’t.  If you don’t want to use rum, use some extra vanilla or some rum flavoring.

Let’s talk about rice. I use arborio rice for this pudding. Most any rice will do, but arborio makes that thick starchy goodness that you want for pudding. Basmati is good and so is sushi rice.  My son likes to use sushi rice in this recipe because it is a bit less starchy than arborio. This makes the finished pudding more formed and rice-ier tasting.

The directions say to use a heavy-bottomed saucepan. That is the very best kind of pan to use for rice pudding. If you don’t have one, try to get one! If you are just craving this so badly you can’t wait to get one, then make it carefully and don’t overheat the pan, the rice pudding will scorch.

Finally, read the instructions carefully before you try to make the pudding, get your ingredients out, all measured and ready to go.

3/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons dark rum
3/4 cup arborio rice  or use basmati
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
5 cups half-and-half, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 extra-large egg, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum. Set aside.

Combine the rice and salt with 1 1/2 cups water in a medium heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stir once, and simmer, covered, on the lowest heat for 8 to 9 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed. Stir frequently during this process. If your stove-top is very hot, pull the pan off the burner about half way.

Stir in 4 cups of half-and-half and sugar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat just a bit and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the rice is very soft. Stir often, especially toward the end of the cooking when the ingredients are getting thick.

Slowly stir in the beaten egg and continue to cook for 1 minute (With arborio or sushi rice, you may think its thick enough that you don’t need the egg. However, the egg lends a richness to the pudding that you don’t want to omit).

Turn off the heat and add the remaining cup of half and half a little at a time, stirring after each addition. Add the vanilla, and the raisins with any remaining rum.

Stir the pudding well and pour into a bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chilled. We’ve never had this pudding chilled because its always gone before its cool and there are never any leftovers.

If you are more of a chocolate kind of person…. check out my recipe for homemade chocolate pudding!