Nothing comforts the soul quite like grandma’s cooking. Fresh, nostalgic, and made with love, what’s not to like about these meals? A good old-fashioned rice pudding recipe is a perfect example. This sweet and creamy treat is an ideal comfort food with all its soft, silky sweetness. Plus, compared to other desserts like a fresh apple pie or peach cobbler, it’s super easy to make.
Still, with all the measuring and mixing involved, your kitchen still may devolve into a sticky mess when you make this dessert. That’s where one simple ingredient swap can come in. To craft a perfect bowl of rice pudding with practically no effort or mess, try using a can of sweetened condensed milk in lieu of rice pudding’s other ingredients, namely milk, sugar, and butter.
Made simply of milk and sugar, is there anything a simple pour of sweetened condensed milk can’t fix? Not to be confused with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk is thick like caramel, so it elevates the textures of desserts like rice pudding. It’s decadently sweet, too, and brings a sugared depth to the dessert’s flavors. Simply put, it’s the perfect thing to pour into this dessert to make it luxurious.
Here’s what sweetened condensed milk can do
Instead of making your kitchen a mess by pouring milk, sugar, and butter into three separate measuring cups, you can swap out all those additions with a can of sweetened condensed milk instead. Because this creamy ingredient is so thick on its own, you won’t need to use thickeners like eggs, either, as you would in other recipes. This saves you from having to temper, so you won’t have to stress about any curdled eggs ending up in this dessert or having a watery end product. Sweetened condensed milk brings a consistent smoothness to this recipe without the added stress.
There are so many ways to customize a bowl of rice pudding, from adding a sprinkle of cinnamon to dropping in pat of butter and some garlic for a savory twist. Still, there are just as many ways to enhance the base ingredients of this dish, too. (And if you’re curious, this isn’t the only genius hack for your can of sweetened condensed milk.)
