Horchata Cinnamon Rice Pudding

Image: 8 ounce ramekin filled with rice pudding, and garnished with a brown cinnamon glaze and a cinnamon stick.

Description: If you’re a fan of sweet Rice Pudding, you’re going to love this version which has an awesome cinnamon Horchata liqueur glaze on top!

Yield: Recipe makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Rice pudding:

• 1 1/2 cups Mahatma long-grain rice, or Arborio Rice

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 6 cups oat milk (or preferred milk)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 cinnamon sticks

• ½ teaspoon cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

Horchata Cinnamon glaze

• 1 cup Horchata liqueur

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold horchata

• Pinch of grated nutmeg

Directions:

Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves to a piece of cheesecloth and close up the cloth with a string or tie into a pouch.

In a large saucepan, combine rice, sugar, almond milk, vanilla extract, and the pouch with the cinnamon sticks, and cloves.

Bring to a boil and then lower heat to low heat and simmer the rice until it is very soft and achieves a thick, pudding-like consistency, about 40-45 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Remove the pouch of cinnamon sticks and cloves.

While the pudding is resting, make the glaze. Add the horchata, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg in a pan on very low temperature over 10 minutes. You want to warm the liquid just enough so that you can make a gravy-like creamy syrup from the horchata without cooking out the alchohol in the liqueur. Don't let the mixture boil.

Use the cornstarch/cold horchata mixture to make a thickening slurry. Add the slurry to the warming horchata, whisking constantly. After a minute or so, you should start to see the mixture in the pan thickening up and even out. Once it’s thickened, quickly remove it from the heat to stop cooking.

This rice pudding can be served warm or chilled. Drizzle the Cinnamon Horchata sauce over the rice pudding and top with a cinnamon stick. Enjoy!