On Christmas Eve
households in Sweden would traditionally serve a bowl of
Julegrot
or
Risgrynsgröt
to sweeten tummies
and to please their little
♥
you may have seen drawings of tomte
he’s a little storybook creature
with a white beard and
colorful clothes
he brings gifts on Christmas Eve
♥
that little almond on top
is stirred into the
Risgrynsgröt
and served
the lucky person who finds the
almond in their bowl is the next to be
married
♥
Risgrynsgröt ~ Julegrot ~ Swedish Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tbsp butter
- pinch of salt
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 3 cups 2% milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup half and half cream
- 1 almond
Instructions
- Measure rice into a sieve and rinse under cold water to remove all starch until water runs clear. Add rice, water, butter, pinch of salt and one small cinnamon stick to a medium-sized pot and put on high. Once the rice mixture boils, turn to simmer and finish cooking until all the water is absorbed. This takes about 10 minutes.
- In a medium-sized bowl, measure out milk and eggs and whisk together. Whisk in sugar, vanilla and salt to blend.
- Once rice is cooked, pour the milk mixture into the pot. Bring back to a simmer then cook for an additional 40 minute or so, until the rice pudding is thickened. Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup half and half cream, this makes the pudding whiter in colour which is so much prettier!
- Remove from heat and stir in 1 almond.
What a lovely tradition. I can imagine a warming meal like this on Christmas Eve would be just what you’d need on a cold winter’s night xx
Dearest Smidge:
I feel your Swedish Christmas could only be complete with the addition of this 1962 holiday album. I cannot tell you what in the heck they are warbling about (most happily, and-oh-so Northernly) but how could you possibly deck the Swedish halls with out this?
http://ge.tt/2m29c6U/v/0?c
PS After much fumbling around, button-clicking (!!) and anguished appeals for help from Number Four, I discovered that you must download this file NOT by clicking the “download” smack dab in the centre of the page, but rather, underneath the “GE.TT” icon on the left side. At which point, Number Four sang and mumbled along in mock-Swedish … before falling off my bed in a fit of laughter … X
You had me laughing too.. hilarious music and I managed to get it open, no problem, Jacqueline. You two are hilarious!! And it is the perfect warble to add to my post!
I love rice pudding. Since I usually make the baked kind I am glad to have your stove top recipe, which, as usual, looks beautiful.
I love family holiday traditions and when it is cold damp and miserable a delightful rice pudding with a little hint of cinnamon and vanilla is just what the doctor ordered. I did not know the tale behind the almond, interesting. My mom used to make a rice pudding but it was served cold I would much rather have a warm version like you made. Will your kids be home for the holiday? I am sure they miss mom’s laundry facilities and kitchen. Take Care, BAM
It’s 6 am and the dog has me up.. so I’m going to have this pudding cold, Bam.. I’ll let you know how it goes:D
I love the story that accompanies this lovely dessert. I really love rice pudding and I’d love to incorporate some of this lovely tradition into our Christmas Eve. However, I’d eat this any time of year. It’s a wonderful recipe. I pinned it to my Pinterest board for safekeeping. I suspect it won’t be many days before I make this for my family. 🙂
Pinterest is my vault for so many recipe ideas too, Deb:)
Delicious idea…riz a la creme is a very popular and traditional dessert here. I like the almond on top:)
🙂
hi
And hi again:)
I adore recipes with a special prize, it just makes it deliciously fun. What a creamy, sweet delight.
Perfect looking pudding.
My husband’s family is Swedish, and we always have this on Christmas Eve. It’s the best!
Barbara, this is Christmas for me – My grandma was champion on Risgrynsgröt – just before it was finished she toke it of the stove and wrapped in a blanket and put on the kitchen sofa to rest.
We eat it on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day we mix the left over with whipped cream and serve it with warm cherry sauce, as the Danish do. The best way to eat it.
Have got the almond so many times … still not married.
You are doing very well with your Swedish Christmas (Svenska Jul.
Well done, Barbara.
So when I land in Calgary I can expect risgrynsgröt????
Of course! But you need to share that Cherry Sauce recipe first:D
I LOVE this recipe!! i just might make this on XMas morning!! xox
Loved the almond thing. I used to have that with any sour jam as a child at my grandma’s in Romania…but without the almond story :))
Gosh, such a nice tradition and recipe! I’ve heard of this dish but never tasted it (and obviously never made it). Something I should be making, though – thanks for this!
i love Scandinavian rice pudding. i just had some yesterday at a Christmas festival.
What a nice tradition, Barb! I love rice pudding but have never tried it warm and, for the life of me, cannot figure out why. It sounds so good, perfect for a cold Winter’s night. I have to warn you, though. If I find the almond in my dish, I’m swallowing it before anyone notices. 🙂
Hahaha!
I so love hearing about others traditions…this is a fun one. Thanks for sharing.
That’s such a cute tradition, learned something new, thanks. It is cold and damp, a bowl of that rice pudding would be very comforting.
I grew up with rice pudding made from leftover rice from the night before which, I’ll grant you, has some of the similarities of this dish … which is interesting to me because my ancestry is Danish, but never for a minute did I imagine this dessert made from leftovers (which I actually grew to love) was Scandinavian (influenced …). What a treat it is to read such a lovely post and depiction of the tradition that goes with this dish. And what a treat it is to see what you’ve done with a dish that is too often maligned. The story and that bowl creates a warmth that makes me want to run downstairs right now and make this. A beautiful contribution ….
This method is very similar to how my mom made her rice pudding. No almond, but I love this cute idea! Such a bowl of comfort and warm memories!!
i made this tonight. i had some issues making it though. iv never made a full stovetop rice pudding before. its always more of a baked custard when i make it. i had a lot of curdling issues. i tempered the milk/egg mixture before i added it into the sauce pan and the more it cooked the more it separated. 🙁 is that normal? from the pics i kinda envisioned it to be a smooth silky sauce.
I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s been a while since I’ve made this recipe but I do remember it being creamier. Some research says that too high of a temperature can be the issue. I wonder if allowing the mixture to cool a bit before adding in the tempered milk/egg mixture would have helped? I’m slow when I make new recipes and maybe this happened just as a matter of course. Then once incorporated, keep everything at a low temperature. I totally understand if you won’t give it another go, ingredients are expensive. I’ll try it again on this end and see if I can make any more suggestions.xx