If you like rice pudding, you're going to love Risalamande, a churched-up Danish version of rice pudding that's full of almonds, velvety whipped cream & topped with a cherry sauce.
I know. I don't even like dessert and I think it looks delicious. More shocking is the fact that I think it tastes delicious. My favourite dessert is an extra salty bag of potato chips washed down with feta cheese brine.
Although if I'm being honest over the past few years, sweet things have crossed my mind & mouth a lot more often.
This Danish Christmas Eve dessert is a good transition dish if you're thinking of venturing into the world of sweet because it's sweet but not sickeningly so. No offence to all you full time sweets people.
Also just so you know, Danes love butter and whipping cream, just as a general rule. And that is why we love the Dane's. Of course they offset all that goodness in their diet by eating pickled herring. Nobody's perfect.
Risengrød (rice pudding) has a long history of being loved in Denmark. Then in the 1800's, rich people decided that it was awfully embarrassing to be loving the same dessert that the peasants loved. At the same time they weren't willing to give up their bowls of rice pudding. I mean, who would? So the rich bougied their rice pudding up with the addition of expensive ingredients like whipping cream & almonds.
I love it.
I'm a big fan of rice pudding precisely because of the fact that it isn't too sweet. It's rich and creamy and everyone knows that all the best desserts are made with rice. Just ask my good friend Mango Sticky Rice.
Risalamande (translates to almond rice) is what's traditionally served on Christmas Eve in Danish households. Except my childhood Danish household apparently, where tradition was to pass around Creme de Menthe and ashtrays.
Making this dessert is really simple. You cook some basic rice pudding, stir in some almonds and whipped cream then top it with cherry sauce.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- white rice (long grain or arborio)
- whole milk
- sugar
- salt
- almonds (chopped, blanched)
- 1 almond (whole)
- whipping cream
- vanilla
- Cherry Sauce
- frozen cherries
- sugar (or to taste)
- water
- cornstarch
- water
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
You're just going to make rice pudding and mix in whipped cream really, then a quick cherry sauce and you're done.
Make the rice pudding. When it's finished cooking you can stir in the almonds. Now start whipping the cream.
Fold the whipped cream into the rice pudding. Also - don't forget to add one whole almond.
Cook or warm up the cherry sauce.
Spoon the warm sauce over the rice pudding and serve.
The one extra special thing about Risalamande are the almonds. And not just the almonds, but the one, single whole almond that gets added to it.
The tradition is to serve all of the rice pudding and whoever gets the whole almond wins a prize. If you're the one who finds the almond you're supposed to tuck it in your cheek or hide it so no one knows it's been found.
That way everyone is forced to eat all the rice pudding in the entire house thinking the almond might still be available to be found.
Leftover rice pudding is a sin worse than carpeted bathrooms in a Danish household.
You can go as complicated or as easy as you want with the cherry sauce. I made my own out of frozen cherries, sugar and water but if you like things easy and just want to dump a can of cherry pie filling on top, feel free.
Just don't expect it to look like this if you do. Cherry pie filling will be a bit gloppy, although if you heated it up it will become runnier.
Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding
Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding
Ingredients
Rice Pudding
- 1 cup white rice (long grain or arborio)
- 6 cups whole milk
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup almonds (chopped, blanched)
- 1 almond (whole)
Whipped Cream
- 1.5 cups whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 bean vanilla
Cherry Sauce
- 16 oz cherries (frozen)
- 3 tablespoon sugar (or to taste)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Rice Pudding
- Add rice, milk, sugar and a pinch of salt to pot and heat until small bubbles start to form around edge of pot. Stir occasionally.
- Once bubbles form, cover pot with lid and simmer for apx 1 hour until rice is soft.
- Remove from heat and add in chopped almonds and 1 whole almond. Allow to cool.
Whipped Cream
- Whip 1.5 cups of whipping cream. Once it starts to thicken, add the sugar.
- Once whipped, gently stir in the seeds from one whole vanilla bean.
Cherry Sauce
- Mix together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water to form a slurry.
- Simmer cherries, ¼ cup of water and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a pot until the cherries are softened.
- Once softened and warm, add the slurry to the pot of cherries and bring to a slight boil. Simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.
Putting it all together
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the rice pudding. Serve in bowls or cups, topped with the warm cherry sauce.
Notes
Don't be alarmed at all the steps. It's not hard to make, but there are 3 components: the rice pudding, the whipped cream and the cherry sauce.
It even looks Christmassy which guests will appreciate, because not to appreciate something that looks like this - would be lunacy.
Of special interest to anyone who is dieting, this dessert contains no calories at all provided you just look at it.
I love rice pudding and used to make it all the time - back when whole milk was the only milk and making dessert (every night) was just normal stuff a mother did. OMG, that was almost eighty years ago - where did all that time go? I will make rice pudding today so my grands know what it is. I remember being shocked about 30 years ago when my co-worker, a young man just out of school went to lunch with us and he ordered a milk shake in this old bakery/cafe. He was shocked at how it tasted - so good. He had never had a real milk shake - only the McDonalds kind that is made with some kind of faux milk. He sure added the age to me!
With the exception of the whole almond, this was one of my mom's fancy desserts but we know it as "Cherries in the Snow". It was always served in one of her crystal bowls. We have no connection to Denmark - not even teak furniture. Merry Christmas
Goddag, Karen! I believe I made a version of this recipe a few years and loved it. I'm making it again this year. Can't wait! (I also love your About Me intro - so inspiring, especially since I'm about to start a blog!). God jul!!
Good luck with your blogging Charlotte! ~ karen
I know I am a little late posting but I made this a few nights ago. It is wonderful! My husband is not a sweet fan but he loved this desert; I even catch his eating it without the cherry compote. He's usually a one piece of cake/pie and done kinda guy. He's eating this every night. I suspect we will have it again before the Christmas season is over. It is his new favorite desert. Thanks for posting the recipe.
I'm so glad! Thanks for letting me know. It really is a good one for someone who doesn't like dessert. If you get a chance, leave a starred review (along with your already glowing written review). It helps! ~ karen!
How do you keep the milk from curdling from cooking it for so long? Does the starch in the rice help in some way? (Obviously I've never made rice pudding, though my mother did when I was growing up.)
The same question popped into my head; I'm interested in the answer, too!
Hi Ellie and Celia. The starch in the rice does indeed help keep the milk from splitting. As does bringing it up to a simmer very slowly. And then not boiling it. A simmer is all you need. ~ karen!
You never fail to make me laugh! "where tradition was to pass around Creme de Menthe and ashtrays." Those were the days... Thanks for the fun, useful info!
I love your blog, Karen. It's a feast for the eyes. Beautiful! Your sense of humour is the cherry sauce on top of everything you share with us. Thanks for being fun.
Thank you very much Hettie. :) ~ karen!
I do luv me some rice pudding, usually with just a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon. But the added decadence of the whipped cream and cherries sounds amazing. I will definitely give this one try and share the recipe with family and friends.
I do so love a good salt lick if I am having dessert, but rice pudding has always been a favourite. (Maybe because I am half asian) This one one looks delicious. And the best thing is that no one else in the family likes rice pudding … so All for me! Besides everyone knows that Christmas food has no significant calories.
No one in your family loves rice pudding? I'm so sorry to hear you are surrounded by such questionable characters but yeah, more rice pudding for you! ~ karen.
Do you or your family have a recipe for Danish liver paste? When I was much younger, I knew a family (he was Danish born) that made a batch of this very tasty treat nearly every year. They would freeze the paste in smaller aluminum disposable tart forms. It was difficult waiting for the contents to thaw since the liver paste was so good.
Ah. leverpostej. My dad loved the stuff, I wasn't a fan. I'll see if we have my grandmother's recipe hanging around and let you know. In the meantime if you Google that word - leverpostej - you'll find traditional Danish recipes for it. ~ karen!
Blanch the almond first so it is white and blends in.
Hi Karen, I’d like to make this for New Year’s Eve, but would prefer only a half portion. Would it work to just halve all the ingredients?
Wow! So yummy! I'll be making this a lot more often.
I took a picture but I don't see where I could post it.
Made it last night – rave reviews despite my usual failure to follow the recipe accurately. Whoever got the almond kept quiet about it.
It's hard to keep quiet about chewing an almond in the midst of mushy rice pudding, lol. ~ karen!
My Danish neighbour used to make this every Christmas for us until we moved. Except she didn’t add the almonds! And the rice pudding was not the least bit sweet but the cherry sauce was. I didn’t realize how much I missed it till I saw your recipe, I will definitely be making this tomorrow! Thanks!
My son is the real cook in this house and will be making this beautifully festive dessert for Christmas. I just know my eyes will roll back in my head from the deliciousness. Thank you!
Hope you love it! ~ karen!
Carpeted bathrooms are a sin everywhere. Just one short step from gold toilets, and a lot less hygienic.
Then there are the wood toilet seats ... ~ karen!
The gold toilet wouldn't be so bad, gold has antibacterial qualities. That's also why ear piercing earrings use to have to be plated with 18-24k. Helps prevent infection. Nowadays nobody cares if they infect you or not (or if the holes will even stay open. The initial piercing hole shrinks which is why they use to use 16 gauge earrings for piercing. To cut back on price they have used cheaper and cheaper materials and used smaller and smaller gauges.) Not to get off topic or anything lol. But yeah, carpeted bathrooms? Yuck! Your feet wouldn't be as cold, but yuck! Lol.
Both gold and silver are antibacterial. Untold millions insist on gold posts on earrings because they have heard that they are allergic to silver. As a jewelry maker I was told this a lot. In fact, it is not the silver they are allergic to but the nickel used in most ear nuts. If people would ask for nickel free ear nuts then most people could wear silver posts and save a lot of money. I buy them in lots of 1000 to give to people with this 'problem' and cured them on the spot. I live to serve. :). Remember: the only thing that separates us from other animals is our ability to accessorize.
That is excellent insider information! Thanks. ~ karen!
Now this will be interesting Christmas Eve dinner and multinational. In my family it was always tortiere before midnight church service -- or whatever -- and then oyster stew made with fresh oysters, never canned and cream and butter. Dessert was cookies, fruit cake, and any number of other choices, never rice pudding but this year....? Well, it will be an odd one for sure so might as well make it truly odd with tortiere as the main course served with chow chow and/or cranberry sauce and a green veg, followed by, you guessed it, this amazing rice pudding. I have lots of frozen cherries and some kirsch so here's to the Danes. It has been our tradition to have many friends join us for Christmas Eve tortiere but given we are childless and have only our elderly Sheltie as family living with us, we will probably get royally soused (not with the green stuff, though. yuk!), toast Bonnie Henry who has been amazing although she has ruined our Christmas Eve tradition, eat far too much and enjoy the Danish flavour with more alcohol, perhaps my homemade cherry brandy. Cheers!
Yay for tortiere! ~ karen
Yum, lovely excuse to eat lots of whipped cream.
About the pickled herring....wouldn't be Christmas without it. We embellish it with red as well. Pickled red beets. diced red skinned apples, thinly sliced red onions and dressed with sour cream. Bring on the calories! January is weeks away.
It wouldn't be a German Christmas without it!
No longer being able to eat fish or raw onions really sucks.
(Dear Santa, all I want for xmas is to be able to eat those things again...oh, and garlic).
: /
I guess I'll just have to make the Danish rice pudding?
I like allllll those things. Just somebody remember to throw out the pickled herring please, lol. ~ karen!
I love rice pudding - but mine is always a slightly off white color never glorious white as you have shown. What gives it that brightness? I can't believe something that I thought was totally out of style and left to the dust bin of history is a Christmas tradition - I WILL certainly make this for my Christmas Eve dessert as my whole family adores my cream colored rice pudding. and not as cottage cheesy looking since mine is less rice individualized so maybe I cook it too long? Resulting in a yellower, bumpless dessert? How could I love it more? I'm going to try and find out.Maybe tonight just to be safe for Eve eating.
I think this is called “photoshop white”’
I wrote "snicker" but it didn't show up. Weird.
It might be the arborio rice making it whiter! ~ karen
This is absolutely delicious. We love it. Thanks so much for sharing .
I'm glad you liked it Deni! ~ karen