Short-grain rice cooked very slowly in whole milk with vanilla and sugar until thick, creamy and spoonable. The French family dessert, usually eaten cold from little pots, made with arborio rice from any Canadian supermarket.
Riz au lait is one of those French desserts that costs almost nothing. A litre of milk, ⅔ cup of rice and a vanilla bean, and the stove does the rest.
Thick, cold and eaten from little pots
Rice simmered in sweetened milk until the grains are soft and the milk turns thick and creamy. In France it's a family dessert, served cold, sometimes with a spoon of caramel or jam. It's also sold in individual pots in every supermarket dairy aisle, which is how a lot of French kids first eat it; spooned into small jars or ramekins, the homemade one looks the same.
Arborio, not long-grain
French recipes call for riz rond, a round, starchy rice sold for desserts. Canadian stores don't sell it under that name. Use arborio: the short, round risotto rice releases starch and makes the milk creamy.
Avoid long-grain, basmati and jasmine: the grains stay separate and the pudding stays thin.
Avoid parboiled or converted rice: it never turns creamy.
Keep the heat low
Milk catches on the bottom of the pot easily, so keep the simmer barely moving and stir often, especially near the end.
Making it in Canada
The 2 French ingredients, and what to buy for them in Canada.
Riz rond (riz à dessert)→Arborio rice
Short, round grains release starch and make the milk creamy, like French dessert rice. Long-grain and parboiled rice stay separate and thin. Short-grain sushi rice also works and gives a slightly stickier pudding.
🛒 Unico Superfino Arborio (750 g) at Metro and Real Canadian Superstore; Aurora Superfino Arborio (750 g) at Walmart and Metro. It's shelved with the rice, often beside the risotto and Italian products. One 750 g bag makes six batches.
Gousse de vanille→2 tsp pure vanilla extract, or a vanilla bean if you have one
A bean gives the black specks and the fullest flavour. Extract works well: add it at the end, off the heat, so it doesn't cook off.
🛒 Look for the word 'Pure' on the bottle: Club House Pure Vanilla Extract (46 mL and 125 mL) at Metro, Super C, Maxi and Walmart. The small Club House bottles labelled Imitation or French Vanilla are flavouring, not extract.
Good to know: Arborio is in the rice section of any big supermarket, usually in 750 g bags. Don't rinse it under the tap. The 2-minute blanch in step 1 takes off just enough loose starch to stop it catching, and the rest thickens the milk.
Ready to cook?
Rice Pudding
Riz au lait
Short-grain rice cooked very slowly in whole milk with vanilla and sugar until thick, creamy and spoonable. The French family dessert, usually eaten cold from little pots, made with arborio rice from any Canadian supermarket.
Prep time
5 min
Cook time
55 min
Resting time
2 hr
Total time
3 hr
Servings
6
Chill at least 2 hours if you serve it cold, the French way.
Ingredients
Original recipe: 6 servings.
Instructions
Blanch the rice. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add the rice and boil 2 minutes, then drain. This French habit rinses off loose starch so the milk doesn't catch as easily.
Heat the milk. In a heavy saucepan, bring the milk to a gentle simmer with the vanilla bean (scrape the seeds into the milk), salt and zest if using.
Simmer slowly. Add the rice and cook on the lowest heat, uncovered, for 35–45 minutes, stirring every few minutes and more often towards the end, until the rice is very soft and the milk is thick and creamy.
Add the sugar. Stir in the sugar for the last 5 minutes. Added at the start, it makes the milk more likely to catch on the bottom.
Cool. Remove the vanilla bean and zest (and stir in the extract, if using). Spoon into bowls or small jars. Serve warm, or cool and chill at least 2 hours.
Notes
Keeps 4 days in the fridge, covered.
Whole milk (3.25%) is what makes it creamy. With 2% milk the pudding is thinner and less rich.
If it catches on the bottom, don't scrape: pour the pudding into a clean pot and leave the burnt layer behind.
For a teurgoule-style version, add ½ tsp cinnamon with the sugar.
Course: Desserts · Cuisine: French · Adapted for Canadian kitchens
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Lait entier is 3.25% milk, labelled homo or lait 3,25 %. Demi-écrémé is closest to 2%. What changes in crêpes and custards when you only have 2%, plus lait ribot, babeurre and lait concentré on Canadian shelves.
