Arroz con Leche [Video+Recipe] Spiced Rice Pudding

Learn how to make arroz con leche, the wonderful Dominican arroz con dulce rice pudding, with its sublime blend of spices.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Dominican, Latino

Keyword arroz con dulce, dominican-style, spiced rice pudding

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 45

Total Time 2 45

Servings servings

Calories 708kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

1 cup rice
6 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks (or 1½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon)
6 cup water divided
1 teaspoon salt
3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar (white, granulated)
¼ cup raisins
2 tablespoons salted butter
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly-grated)
Cherries for decoration (optional)

Instructions

1. Soak the rice

In a medium saucepan or pot (1 gal [4 lt]), soak the rice, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in 2 cups of water and let sit for a couple of hours.
This step is optional, and it's my own method for cooking the rice.

2. Combine

When the 2 hours have passed, add the remaining 4 cups of water.
Add in the rice (including the water in which it was soaking, cinnamon and cloves). Add the salt.

3. Simmer

Cook over medium temperature and stir regularly to avoid sticking. When the rice is tender (about 20 mins) add milk and sugar.
When it breaks a boil again add the raisins. Cook over low heat until the mixture reaches a pudding-like consistency.

4. Cool and chill

Remove from the heat. Remove the cloves and cinnamon sticks. Add the butter and mix well. Cover and let it cool down to room temperature.
Stir to incorporate the crust that forms during cooling.

5. Serve

Serve in small bowls and sprinkle with the nutmeg. Decorate with the cherries.

Video

Notes

How to make arroz con dulce your way

Each person seems to have a favorite consistency for this dish. This is what I prefer (rice is very soft and the pudding very creamy). Later on, when preparing this dish again you can adjust the liquids to obtain the texture you prefer.

How to make arroz con leche "amargo"

If you want to make the sugar-free rice pudding that is served for breakfast, do not add the sugar listed in the ingredients, and instead of the teaspoon of salt listed in the recipe, add salt to taste.

How to make rice pudding using cooked rice

Ah, my mom's favorite trick to reuse old arroz blanco... This is also a super rice quick easy recipe to make arroz con leche using pre-cooked rice: Mix the cooked white rice and the rest of the ingredients listed above (except the 4 cups of water!) and jump straight to step three. You can choose to make it savory or sweet.

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