Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Mexican Hot Chocolate Arborio Rice Pudding


Mexican Hot Chocolate Arborio Rice Pudding

This rice pudding is decadently creamy and sinfully seductive, with firm but tender grains of Arborio rice suspended in a creamy, spicy, chocolaty, milky pudding. I'm amazed at how easy it is to create a terrific dessert from simple ingredients found around the house(or at least easy to find.)

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 cup Arborio Rice
4 Tbs. Butter
4 cups Nonfat Milk(I used Lactaid)
1/4 cup Sugar
1 round cake of Mexican Hot Chocolate(Abuelita or Ibarra)
1/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Sea Salt
1 dash Cayenne Pepper
1-2 Large Egg Yolks(determines thickness)
1/2 cup Half & Half
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 oz. Premium Dark Chocolate(broken into small pieces)
1 Tbs. Cacao Nibs

Steps

1. Melt butter in heavy bottom large sauce pan over medium-high heat, add Arborio Rice and cook for about two minutes till rice is translucent.
2. Break Mexican Hot Chocolate cake into quarters, place in microwaveable cup along with 1 cup of milk, and all of the sugar. Microwave on high for a minute or so and blend until smooth(hand blenders are great for this.) 
3. Add mixture from step 2, remaining milk, cinnamon, sea salt, & cayenne to the saucepan with rice and butter and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring every 5 minutes as the mixture starts to thicken, for about 30 minutes.
Continue cooking until the rice is tender but not too mushy. The milk will be thick and the rice tender, but the mixture will still be very soupy, which is what you want. (As the pudding cools, it thickens, and if it is too thick while still hot, it will firm up into a thick, stodgy lump without the unctuous creaminess of a great rice pudding.)
4. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and half & half together and stir into the rice pudding. Continue cooking the pudding over medium-low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the eggs are cooked through and pudding is creamy and glossy, but still fairly soupy. 
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, chocolate pieces, and cacao nibs.
6. Pour the pudding into a serving bowl or individual serving dishes and press plastic wrap over the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 to 3 hours. Serve cold.

Notes
This pudding is delicious as is, but you can also fold a dollop of whipped cream into each serving, 

This is the perfect finish to a great meal or a great midnight snack, so rich that you only need a few spoonfuls but will be challenged to stop there.

Enjoy, God bless, and as always keep it saucy.