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.
Give it another year or two and when someone asks me are you a "salty or sweet" person I'll be able to reply with both a slap and a kiss because I will be both.
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.
I love it.
But I'm generally 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.
A couple 5 years ago I thought I'd try it out myself to see if it's a Danish tradition I'd like to resurrect for my annual Christmas Eve party.
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.
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.
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 fat in their diet by eating pickled herring. Nobody's perfect.
Just a photographic reminder to add the whole almond because it's easy to forget when you're in a velvety whipped cream coma.
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.
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Martina
Ya, Norwegians have this dessert too. I love it.
Have you ever tried glorified rice? Very Midwest America dish. Rice dessert with marshmallows, pineapple etc. I remember years ago a friend would grumble this time of year because her MIL insisted that friend make glorified rice for every Christmas Eve dinner. Friend thought dish was ghastly.
Jan in Waterdown
Gawd that sounds awful lol! Reminds me of that 3 cup salad with canned Del Monte fruit and marshmallows and something else...... uch
Jamieson
FunFactTM: Growing up in the 70s and 80s, our bathroom not only had carpet in the bathroom, it was wall-to-wall avocado green SHAG carpet. It was also in the hallway and throughout the kitchen. At least it matched the avocado green appliances, which was a coincidence because the carpet was repurposed from my mom's office after they renovated (it was virtually new when we got it).
Jody
This sounds very much like a recipe my mom got from the Old Mill restaurant many many many years ago. It is so delicious. I like the whole almond tradition. something like having a money cake for your birthday.
Debbie
Crème de Menthe and ashtrays had me cracking up! I'm going to try this even though we're predominantly Scottish and German and due to a second marriage Polish on my side. It may not be "traditional" but it sure sounds delicious!
Eileen
I'm on board with this, except for the whipped cream. If I leave that out then it's just almond rice pudding instead of Risalamande, right? 'Cause whipped cream makes my tummy hurt and my tongue go "yuck."
Karen
Yup, then it's just rice pudding but that's O.k. I happen to love "just rice pudding". ~ karen!
Beth Kollé
YES, you can make the rice part the day before serving, just warm it slowly on the stove, adding small amounts of milk as necessary to get it smoothe, because the rice will have absorbed some of it overnight.
YES - use a kind of rice that gets mooshy when cooked in milk for an hour. There is a kind of rice that holds its shape through that process, though, and it just is the wrong kind of rice. Sorry, I don't remember which kind, so you'll have to experiment.
OTHER FRUIT you can use for riskrem (Norwegian name) would be lingonberries. In a pinch, use Lingonberry Jam from IKEA, it's a bit tart, tastes great!
Beth in Seattle
Jen
I could eat oatmeal for every meal and rice pudding for every dessert. And probably never poop again.
Karen
I love oatmeal too!!! ~ karen
LISA STEELE
Yum! My mom and grandmother used to make rice pudding. We'r Finnish, so slightly different, but pretty much the same! I am going to try your recipe. Also, the Danish almond tradition was just featured on one of the Hallmark Christmas movies! The film crew must have been peeking in your window while you were making yours!
Karen
I don't doubt it! They're probably keeping an eye on me due to my Hallmark movie obsession, lol. ~ karen!
Marilyn Meagher
Creme De Menthe and ashtrays ....🤣🤣🤣🤣. I’m having company for dinner Saturday night.im making this! It looks amazing!
Karen
I gave some to Lisa because I had SO much and she lovedddd it. For myself I'd do less sugar and a tiny bit less whipped cream, but any normal person would want it as I've written the recipe here. ~ karen!
Peter Oster
We always had it hot with a dab of butter and cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top but no almond. (Almonds showed up as almond paste in the almond ring on Christmas morn.). You also forgot the gallons of strong coffee served at all holiday meals.
Jenny W
We are a tree nut free house here, but I am definitely going to try this rice pudding with whip cream and cherry sauce instead of raisins and brown sugar sauce - so festive looking!
Birgitte Lyngsø
We do eat risalamande every christmas eve. However we serve it in a bowl
so everybody seach for this whole almond . The sauce will be served on the side and some prefer it a little warm to give a nice contrast to the cold pudding.
It is an easy dessert because you mostly make it the day before Christmas Eve.
By the way I put only a spoonful of sugar in mine....the cherry sauce makes it sweet enough to me. Glædelig Jul!
Karen
Yes, a lot of Danes have barely sweet dessert. In North America they like it sweeter. I prefer it less sweet. Probably somewhere between a true Danish version and a North American version. ~ karen!
Kris
This looks and sounds delicious!
Karen, your photos are so beautiful!
Karen
Thanks Kris. Get ready for my photos to be bad again in a few days. I got a new camera and I'm just figuring it out, lol. ~ karen!
Jo
How much of this can I do the day before? Can I make the rice pudding the day before? Can the whip cream be made the day before? I got the Cherry sauce covered that's easy. I'm trying to do is less stress as possible over the Christmas season. Thanks for the help. This sounds great!
Sigi
You can definitely prepare the rice pudding the day before, as Risalamande is often made with leftovers of risengrød: hot rice pudding eaten with cinnamon sugar and butter. Also delicious !
Karen
The rice pudding can be made the day before, just remember it sets up quite stiff in the fridge so you can either mix it and mix it to loosen it up or add some milk. I wouldn't whip the cream the day before. Do that and mix it together the day of. ~ karen!
Anita Jensen
I have been following you for quite a while now. I am always admiring your energy and spirit and the multitude of projects you take on (and with such great results). Your name suggests some kind of Danish connection, but I was not sure. I am so glad and proud to learn that you are indeed Danish!
Karen
I am indeed. Half Danish and almost half Irish (just found out the Irish part a year or so ago, lol) My father's parents were from Denmark. ~ karen!
Caryl
Am I missing when the chopped blanched almonds enter the pudding or do we eat them while concocting the rest of this memorable concoction?
Sande
Step #3 under Rice Pudding but does sound like a good idea to add extra almonds to snack on as you’re making it.
Karen
??? Did I miss putting that in, lol?! I'll go correct it now. Thx. ~ karen!
Louann
The Norwegians also eat it for their Christmas eve meal. It's yummy but so so rich.
KATHLEEN HARTZELL
Oh, this is so fun! We had Swedish rice pudding, with a whole almond, which meant that the person who found it would be next married. Only later on did I stop to think this rather bizarre, as my father was Already married, duh, so....
We also had another pudding which my Swedish grandmother made which was, roughly spelled to replicate her translation in English: “sheet pudding”. And my mother, gasping to stop her laughter uttered the words, yes, I am certain that it is that. Oh my, how could anyone ruin any meat in such a fashion as to have it deserve that name!!!!
And we Swedes LOVE our pickled herring. I took it to a holiday potluck and it was eaten up, but I saved a few pieces for appetizers tonight, and my non Swede husband gobbled it up, as usual. We always buy the jarred versions at the market and add our own sour cream,
Karen
Nooooo, lol. I just couldn't do it. I still can't eat liver pate either. ~ karen!
Karen Packer
I grew up in a Danish household and we have always had this dessert on Christmas Eve. The prize for finding the whole almond was a marzipan pig. However, lately the prize has been a Terry’s chocolate orange since so few people enjoy marzipan these days!
BTW Karen, I used to live down the street from you but moved to Alberta several years ago. Love your posts!
Karen
Thanks Karen! ~ karen
Loreen
Every year I like to try a festive desert, thanks for making it so easy this year. I still get teased about my pomogrante reduction topping that was pucker tart and the panda cotta too sweet, but it did look good.
Karen
This will look good to, PLUS it's pretty hard to screw up. ~ karen!