Serving Up {Dessert}: Raspberry Rice Pudding

Rice pudding may not be everyone's cup of tea.  I don't know that it was even mine until six years ago when my best friend and I went to NYC to celebrate our (milestone) birthdays that year.  While we were scouring the town for good deals and good eats, we stopped in one afternoon for a treat at Rice to Riches - a Rice Pudding "parlor" near the downtown shopping.   Be still my heart!  It was like an ice cream parlor with a dozen or more different flavors of rice pudding to choose from.  And then there were the toppings!  Everything from granola to crushed candy to fresh fruit.  I was hooked.  Since then, I happily order Rice Pudding whenever it's available and relish in it's delightful goodness!

Although I haven't had a chance to master a dozen different flavors (a goal I will someday accomplish), I did stumble across this recipe for Raspberry Rice Pudding on a local television morning show a few years back.  It keeps my cravings for rice pudding in check and the raspberry/almond combination wows when I take it to a summer picnic potluck.

Be warned... as written, this recipe makes a LOT!  You either need to be feeding a large group or you need to REALLY like rice pudding :)

RASPBERRY RICE PUDDING     
printable version

8 cups half & half
4 cups cooked medium grain rice
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Pour 7 cups of half & half, as well as cooked rice, sugar and salt into a 4-quart stock pot. Stir at medium heat with a wooden spoon constantly until the mixture thickens (it should take about 45-55 minutes). After the mixture has thickened, remove from the heat.
In a separate bowl, add 2 eggs that have been whipped and acclimated to room temperature. Slowly add one tablespoon at a time of the thickened pudding to the eggs while whisking to bring the eggs to the pudding temperature. Then add eggs to the pudding and fully incorporate.
Add the final cup of half & half, the vanilla and raspberries to the mixture.
Transfer the pudding to a large bowl. Cover pudding immediately with plastic wrap to prevent a skin and serve warm or cold.

Serving Up {Soup}: Chilled Raspberry Soup

It's hard to believe that Easter is just around the corner.  Partly it's hard to believe because I'm not sure how it became April so darned quickly and partly it is because I'm used to warm (Vegas) spring days preceding Easter.  It's just too cold here in the Northwest to lay any claim on spring just yet.

I may still be stuck in cold "soup weather", but hopefully you are not and you are open to a recipe for a refreshing Chilled Raspberry Soup.  It would make a beautiful addition to your Easter menu, if you are still in the planning phases of trying to decide what to serve.

This soup is super easy to put together and can be made beforehand - in fact I like it better the day after it's made because the flavors have a chance to blend together.  My sister-in-law served this as part of her wedding reception buffet - which was held outside on a beautiful June evening.  I wasn't counting, but I'm pretty sure that a large number of guests went back for seconds :)  Most recently my mom and I served it at a baby shower for my brother's wife - we were welcoming twin girls and wanted as much "pink" as we could get in the menu!  This soup was perfect for both events and if you don't serve it at Easter, definably consider serving it for Mother's Day.  It just fits the bill when you are looking for something that says "spring", "light" and "luscious"!

CHILLED RASPBERRY SOUP     Pin It
(recipe from Sheri D.)

printable version

1 cup Cran-Raspberry juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbs. lemon juice

3 whole cloves

32 ounce container raspberry yogurt

16 ounce container sour cream

1 pkg. fresh or frozen berries

Stir together the juice, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and cloves in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.  Warm over medium-low heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes to allow the spices to release their flavors.  Remove from heat and strain out the whole cloves and put the juice in the refrigerator to chill.  Once chilled through, add the yogurt and sour cream and whisk until well combined.

When ready to serve, garnish each serving with fresh or frozen berries on top.