This is partway to a rice pudding as it’s not baked, but simply cooked in a double boiler until all the milk is absorbed. With a cinnamon stick, vanilla and lemon zest, this dessert rice is fragrant and satisfying, but doesn’t involve heating the oven on a hot Indian summer day. Serve it with a spoonful of cold cream over each warm bowl of rice.

Dessert Rice Ingredients

3 cups Kalona SuperNatural™ milk
2/3 cup white rice, preferably medium or short grain (long grain will also work)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise in two (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract added at the end)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Kalona SuperNatural™ unsalted butter

Desert Rice Directions

Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler. To speed things up a little, separately warm the milk, then pour it into the top of double boiler and add the remaining ingredients. Once the water boils, lower the heat to maintain an active simmer, cover the pot, and cook until all the milk is absorbed, 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours maximum. You can ignore the cooking for the most part, but check the water in the bottom of the boiler after an hour to make sure there’s plenty, and do check the top after an hour and every ten minutes or so thereafter, until the milk is absorbed. Scrap the seeds from the vanilla pods into the rice and set them aside to use again or to flavor sugar. (If using extract, add it now.) Transfer the rice to a serving dish, and spoon it into smaller dishes. Dust with cinnamon and serve with Kalona SuperNatural™ whipping cream to pour over.