Riskrem., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.
This is my entry for the Festive Food Fair of 2007, which honors global and festive food, hostd by Anna at Morsels and Musings. I still haven't learned the "clean" way to link back to a website, so you'll find a long link at the bottom of the post so you can head over to Morsels and Musings and check out the roundup starting December 10th! Enjoy!
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I grew up in a very Norwegian household, I've been to Norway, and I'm extremely proud of the Norwegian within me. In fact, I feel 100% Norwegian (even though in reality I'm also 25% Irish and 25% German, just don't tell anyone). I believe that Norway and everything within it, is possibly the greatest country in the world.
Alright enough blatant Norway loving and onto the recipe. Riskrem or Rice Cream is a wonderful traditional norwegian dessert. It's creamy, sweet, smooth, light, fluffy and a little chewy. It's generally served at Christmas and sometimes there is a whole almond hidden within it's creamy depths. Whoever finds the almond gets a prize, generally a marzipan pig. I hated the way marzipan tasted as a child but I loved the little pink marzipan pigs with their little chocolate eyes. So whenever I received a pig for x-mas my grandmother would put in the freezer and take it out every so often so I could oogle it for a while, or, as much as I hate to admit it, pet it a bit. After a month or so of this, in the trash it went.
Riskrem is delicious, I urge you to make it! It's really simple and is so light and fluffy. It's really nothing like rice pudding, so if you don't like pudding, or rice pudding I think you'll like it. It's not thick like traditional pudding, a generous helping of sweet whipped cream makes this dessert extremely light and airy. And if you do like pudding or rice pudding, you will surely like this stuff. I've never met a person who doesn't like Riskrem. Just be careful, the bowl can dissapear quickly. Riskrem is made by cooking down milk and pearl rice for a very long time, adding sugar, (I added vanilla bean too) and a little salt. You then let this mixture cool in the fridge. Once the rice has cooled enough you add a generous helping of freshly whipped cream. Viola! You have a wonderful yellow bowl full of fluffy sweet dreamy dessert goodness.
Recipe: Riskrem
3/4 cup pearl rice
1/4 tsp salt
1 qt. milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (you could also use almond) extract
2 cups heavy cream, whipped and sweetened to taste
1 whole almond (optional)
Berry Sauce (traditionally lingenberry) also optional
Directions:
1.Cook rice, salt, and milk in double boiler until rice is soft and mixture is thick - about 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours.
2. Add sugar and extract.
3. Chill until thoroughly cold.
4. Add optional almond.
4. Stir in whipped cream.
5. Serve with a red fruit sauce (lingenberry, raspberry, etc.).
Serves appx. 8.
Enjoy!
A quick disclaimer: The photo shown in the post is the riskrem cooling, the whipping cream has not been added yet.
Check out the roundup and the lovely Morsels and Musings blog at: http://morselsandmusings.blogspot.com/2007/10/festive-food-fair-2007.html
