Have you ever had a sudden craving for something completely random? A craving so strong, nothing can stop you from thinking about it. Well..I have! A while back I, all of the sudden, developed an intense craving for rice pudding. Yes, you read correctly. I was craving for that mushy, gooey, overly creamy rice “soup” that doesn’t seem to be interesting in any way. My craving started when I was watching a Food Network Show called “The Best Thing You Ever Eat.” And they did one on the famous NY rice pudding bar, “Rice to Riches.” I’d heard about this place long before, but never had an urge to pay it a visit. Maybe because it’s right next door to my favorite frozen yogurt place, Pinkberry….ummm Pinkberry, yum yum!

Anyhow, back to the topic of rice pudding, my craving was so strong that I had to get it overnight-shipped to me. And ordering from Rice to Riches online comes with a hefty requirement and a hefty price tag, You have to order at least the SUMO size that feeds around 5 and you can only choose overnight shipping because it’s perishable. But at that point nothing could part me from my rice pudding any longer and then it came, 24 hours later, a brightly –colored carton of cold creamy goodness, that was far from bland. I ordered the “Coast to Coast Cheesecake” flavor, which is now my all time favorite from there.

Needless to say that the sumo-sized carton of rice pudding completely satisfied my craving and converted me into an official rice pudding lover; so it was only expected for me to suddenly crave a bowl of creamy rice pudding yesterday. However, it’s not quite the same since Rice to Riches hasn’t developed a way to ship my beloved addiction to a different continent yet. So I have to make do with my own version of cheesecake rice pudding.

I did not waste any time and started googling for a Rice to Riches pudding recipe. The only one I found was for a chocolate version, which could be found here:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/90900/nys-rice-to-riches-chocolate-chip-flirt-rice-pudding.html

Since I’d never made rice pudding before, I did not know if that recipe sounded right, so I just thought I would just use it as a starting point and start adapting to make my own cheesecake version.

Nida’s Cheesecake Rice Pudding (inspired by Rice to Riches)

Ingredients:

• 1 liter full-cream milk นมไม่พร่องมันเนย
• 250 ml creamครีม
• 3/4 cup brown sugar น้ำตาลทรายแดง
• 1/2 cup short grained rice ข้าวเมล็ดสั้นหรือข้าวทำรีซอตโต้
• 1 block of Philadelphia cream cheese ครีมชีส
• 1 tsp vanilla extract กลิ่นวานิลลา
• a dash of cinnamon อบเชยเล็กน้อย

Instructions:

• Put everything, except the cream cheese, into a heavy based saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.ใส่ทุกอย่างยกเว้นครีมชีสลงในหม้อ และตั้งไฟให้เดือด คอยคนบ่อยๆด้วยนะคะ
• Simmer 30 minutes until rice is tender and mixture thick and creamy. ตั้งไฟ 30 นาทีจนข้าวอ่อนตัว และ ส่วนผสมเป็นครีมข้น

  

  
  

• Remove from heat and add cream cheese. Stir until the cream cheese has dissolved or leave chunks if desired. ยกออกจากเตาและคนครีมชีสเข้าไป เลือกได้ตามใจชอบว่าจะคนจนละลายหมด หรืออยากเหลือครีมชีสไว้ให้เคี้ยวโดนบ้างค่ะ

  

• Serve warm or cold. สามารถรับประทานได้ทั้งร้อนและเย็น

  

This version does not taste as cheese-cakey as the original version. However the texture was right – it was thick, gooey, and oh-so-creamy just like the original version. I could not make myself add anymore cream cheese to it after tasting the rice pudding for the first time considering the amount of fats that had already been dumped into the saucepan, so this version had to make to. And don’t get me wrong, it’s already a pretty darn rich rice pudding. Just not as rich as the original version…god knows what they put in there! So I bid you good night since I’m off to finish my half eaten heart attack in a bowl before it’s too close to bed time.

Bon Appétit