Countdown to Christmas Day 14: Rice Custard over Vanilla Ice Cream

Happy Dec 14th! You are in for a treat with the recipe for today! It is for my Grandma Owsley's (dad's mom) or as the grandchildren call her "Granga" recipe for Rice Custard. As long as I can remember I have been enjoying this sweet indulgence every Christmas at my grandparent's house in Elizabethtown, KY. After we are stuffed full from my grandma's homecooked Christmas dinner and homemade Granga bread, we open presents and relax awhile watching Christmas movies...and then it is time for her famous rice custard along with all other kinds of fabulous homemade desserts like blackberry jam cake, Italian cream cake and peanut butter fudge. In less than two weeks I will be reliving this wonderful Christmas tradition again with my dad's side of the family.

So tonight I made an honest attempt to re-create her custard recipe. Too bad she wasn't standing beside me in the kitchen helping me every step of the way. I was lucky enough though to have her show me how to make her homemade biscuit recipe about a year ago, so I will definitely have to share those with you another time as well, but let's get back to the rice custard for now.


First you mix all your ingredients of sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and milk together to thicken over water on the stove.


Then you prepare an ice bath too cool the custard mixture.


Strain the custard.


Add in the rice.


Cool custard over chilled water.


Pour custard into glass jar and place in refrigerator to chill until ready to serve.

Grandma Owsley's Rice Custard

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
4 beaten egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup white rice (cook as package directs)

• Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in bowl. Add milk and egg yolks.
• Cook mixture in heat proof pan over boiling pot of water on stove until it starts to thicken, about 30 minutes.
• Remove pan from stove and strain custard mixture into a bowl.
• Stir in the rice.
  
• Place bowl of custard in a pan of ice water to cool.
• Add vanilla.
• Chill custard in refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Makes 1 quart.
• For an extra special treat serve rice custard over top of a bowl of vanilla ice cream...YUM!
  

ENJOY!