My grandmother, or MorMor as we call her, was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. She came to the United States to marry my grandfather and start her little family. She is an amazing woman! I am so grateful to be her granddaughter and for all the ways, big and small, that she has influenced my life. She brought many traditions from Denmark with her and we still follow them today. One of my favorite traditions is Danish Christmas Eve. We gather as a family and share the traditional Christmas Eve dinner – pork roast, candied potatoes, red cabbage, and rice pudding for dessert.
The rice pudding will have one whole almond hidden in it and whoever gets the almond in their dish of pudding wins a prize. We always have all the small children in the family get an almond in their pudding so they win a little prize of some sort – this year it’s warm and fuzzy socks! The adults have real competition – there is only one almond between them all. It’s fun to see everyone choose their dish, looking for any sign of the almond. Once we start eating everyone tries to trick each other into thinking they have the almond. Everyone is guessing left and right as to who they think has the almond. It’s not until the last bite of pudding is eaten that the true winner will come forward. There is always lots of laughter! The adults will usually win a prize of chocolate and marzipan and sometimes if we can find one, a marzipan pig! I always thought that was so funny! A pig made of marzipan!
This recipe is really quite easy to make, however I will tell you that when I first tired making it my first two batches were flops! I tend to worry about things and I was worried about ruining the recipe and that’s what I did, ruined it! My MorMor passed away several years ago, so she was not here to ask advice. Thanks to my cousin who has made this a hundred times I didn’t give up – she encouraged me to keep going and it did work out! It tasted just like MorMor’s! I did start out making half batches because like I said I was worried about messing it up and didn’t want to waste ingredients. I’m so glad I kept going because it gives me such a feeling of accomplishment to have successfully made something that connects me to my dear little MorMor. This is flavored with almond extract and chopped almonds so it has a nice nutty flavor. One thing I like to do is add just a little less than half the amount of sugar and then taste. If I want it a little sweeter I’ll add just a little more until I have the amount of sweetness that I like. I rarely use the full amount of sugar as it is just a little too sweet for my taste.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much was I do! Merry Christmas!
See the Happy!
| Servings |
| 25 1 cup servings |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 30-50 minutes | At least 4 hours |
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This is the traditional dessret served st Danish Christmas Eve. It's subtle almond flavor is a delight and topped with fruit sauce it will add a simple elegance to your holiday table.
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- 1/2 Gallon whole milk
- 1 1/3 cup Arborio rice (white long grain rice will work, too)
- salt to taste
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 pint whipped cream
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
- 1 box Junket Danish Dessert mix
- Bring milk to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Add rice and bring to a boil again; reduce heat to simmer and cover pot with lid.
- Every 10 minutes stir rice until it has reached desired doneness. Do this for 30-50 minutes. Make sure to cover pot with lid when done stirring. Rice should be soft.
- Add salt to taste. Pour into a bowl and immediately cover with plastic wrap. Don't just cover the bowl with the wrap, actually place the wrap directly onto the rice. This will eliminate any layer of skin forming over the top of the rice mixture.
- Let cool and then refrigerate. Keep in refrigerator for several hours until completely chilled. You can leave in the fridge overnight if desired.
- After the rice has been chilled add in the sugar, vanilla and almond extract.
- Fold on the whipped cream. (Make sure you have whipped the cream prior to adding it to the rice mixture. Fold in about half and then determine if you like the consistency, add more as needed). Fold in the almonds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Make the Danish Dessert according to the directions on the back of the box. There are various sets of directions on the box. Be sure to follow the directions for the fruit sauce.
- Serve warm sauce over chilled rice pudding in small desert dishes or bowls.
**Note: Make sure as you allow the rice to simmer that you check it every 10 minutes to see if it is soft enough. This process can take anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes, so don't give up!
Start with half the amount of sugar and taste. Add more sugar if desired until you reach the amount of sweetness you want. Sugar can also cause the pudding to become runny so this is another reason I start with a lesser amount of sugar.
Make sure to whip the cream prior to adding it to the rice mixture. If you don't whip the cream your pudding will be super runny - it will taste good but it will be more like soup than pudding!