Arroz Doce - Portuguese rice pudding

A picture

My friend André wanted me to keep this recipe secret, isn’t he selfish? But it’s my mom’s recipe, (her mom’s before her) and she’s ok with sending it out to the world, so why not?

Mind you, André isn’t the only fan of this Arroz Doce recipe. It’s got such a legion of fans, I could even open up a fan club. And it’s so simple, I can just prepare it in a whiz in case of an emergency.

Arroz Doce is a traditional Portuguese rice pudding, but there are several variations out there, some of them with condensed milk, some with no eggs at all. This one is a very creamy custardy one. And also very sweet. (Be prepared to cut down on the sugar if you’re not a hardcore sweet tooth).

Arroz Doce

1 cup short grain white rice
5 cups water
1 slice lemon peel
1 tablespoon butter
A pinch of salt
2 cups hot milk (preferably whole)
2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
Cinnamon do garnish

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil with the lemon peel, butter and pinch of salt.

Add the rice and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. When most of the water has evaporated, add the very hot milk. Simmer for 5 more minutes and add the sugar.

In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks and add a few spoonfuls of the rice mixture to temperate the egg yolks. Then add the now warm egg mixture to the saucepan and stir quickly until even.

Serve in a large dish or small shallow ramekins, and sprinkle with ground cinnamon to garnish.

••• Update •••
I’m entering Arroz Doce in the Got Milk? food blogging event, promoting World Breastfeeding Week. Find out more about breastfeeding on www.breastfeeding.com

15 Comments:

patricia, it is a delight to discover your website :)
(also, thanks for the dmblgit entry!)

Beautiful. I would never have thought to use the doilie as a stencil!

Love the use of the doillie too, makes for a very pretty pattern.
This must take so good with all the egg yolks and sugar :)

nham nham é igual ao arroz doce da minha avó, quando eu era pequena adorava rapar o tacho quando ela acabava de o fazer.
Infelizmente eu não consigo fazer o arroz doce igual ao dela.

Your website is gorgeous and so is this rice pudding - one of my favourite desserts.

How gorgeous! Picture perfect…

Still think some things should be kept a secret… That’s against the net spirit, I know. But still… ;-)

i was immediately drawn to this photo on tastespotting. beautiful! i have been wanting to make a rice pudding…this will be the one i bookmark. beautiful!

Your photos are great as usual and I am now desperately craving for arroz doce, which I haven’t had in years… Glad you shared this family recipe!

This rice pudding just looks so beautiful I want to have a bowl right now.

Hello Patricia,
Just found your blog from Linda’s round-up. Your photos are stunning. I love to make rice pudding, but usually just sprinkle cinnamon lightly on top. Do you have a particular method of garnishing with cinnamon because yours looks just lovely?

Susan, I just placed a round dollie (like the one under it on the photo, but smaller) on the ramekin and sprinkled the cinnamon over it. You can do it with paper dollies as well, and it’s better to do it just before serving.

sooo good just like my avo same here as she told me to prepare

This is the first time I got the arroz doce perfect! What a great recipe and what a great site. Well done and thank you … I haven’t had this in years! YUM :)

Adorei esta receita do arroz doce e tambem a ideia do naperao para enfeitar. Nunca tinha pensado nesta ideia maravilhosa.

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