Arkansas - Chocolate Rice Pudding

Arkansas - Chocolate Rice Pudding

*I did not forget the alphabet - Arizona will be next!  : ) 

Rice and Arkansas - who knew? 

I had absolutely no idea that Arkansas is the top producer of rice in the United States.  In fact, 48% of the rice grown in the U.S. each year comes from Arkansas and 1.3 million acres of the state’s land is dedicated to rice.

Rice 101

There are about 20 rice varieties grown commercially in the U.S. All can be classified as long, medium or short grain.  Arkansas produces medium and long grain varieties. 

Long Grain Rice

Long and slender, these grains are 4 to 5 times as long as they are wide. Cooked grains remain separate and fluffy. The perfect choice for side dish, main dish or salad recipes.

Medium Grain Rice

Plump, but not round. When cooked, the grains are more moist and tender than long grain rice. Ideal for dessert, casserole, bread and stir-fry recipes.

Short Grain Rice

Almost round, the cooked grains tend to cling together when cooked. Great for stir-fry recipes and puddings.

What’s the best sweet you can make with Rice?  Rice Pudding! 

I’m not even going to attempt to pinpoint the exact origins of Rice Pudding in Arkansas’s culinary history - because frankly it could have come from anywhere!  Just about every culture has their own variation of Rice Pudding so we’ll just give credit to the melting pot that is the United States and jump right to the recipe!  

Oh yeah... finally something chocolate!  

The simplicity of Rice Pudding lends itself to many flavor variations, so I decided to make Chocolate Rice Pudding.  We were long overdue for a little chocolate on Sweet State of Mine!

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked Medium Grain Rice 

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

❉  Sift together cocoa powder and sugar to remove any lumps

❉  Mix uncooked rice, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt together in top of double boiler

❉  Add milk and mix well 

❉  Place over simmering water 

❉  Cover and cook over hot water for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until milk has cooked into rice and mixture is pudding consistency

❉  Stir occasionally during cooking 

❉  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract 

❉  Transfer to a bowl, place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and place in the refrigerator

❉  Once chilled, serve with thin cream or whipped cream 

I really like Rice Pudding and this was a very simple, low maintenance recipe to make. If you make this recipe, be sure you use medium grain rice and if you don’t love cinnamon with chocolate, you may want to pull back on the amount of cinnamon you use or leave it out all together.  

If you want to really experience Rice Pudding, check out Rice to Riches in SoHo, NYC!  Their flavor options are insane, they have a huge menu of toppings / mix ins, and their packaging is really fun! 

Enjoy!

mbf

ps - would anyone in my building like some medium grain rice?  apparently they don’t sell 1 pound bags around here and i am 100% sure that this 3 pounder (minus 1/2 cup) will be spilled all over our kitchen before we can consume it.  lemme know - seriously.  ; )  

2 Comments 

Mukund

This looks delicious as always. I am sure we could use some of the rice. I will send Armaan over.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 07:21 PM

Kate Lindsey O'Reilly

As an Arkansan, I've gotta say that I love rice pudding. My mom always made it on snow days, but I've never had the chocolate version.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 07:26 PM