Risalamande, A Traditional Scandinavian Christmas Recipe by A.M.Westerling

My husband is Danish and this is one of the fun little customs we keep going.  

Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding

1 cup pearl rice

5 cups milk

¼ cup sugar

½ cup slivered almonds

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups whipping cream

Cherry Sauce

Boil rice in milk over low heat 45 minutes. Cool, then add sugar, almonds and almond extract. Whip cream until stiff and fold into rice mixture. Chill. Turn into bowl and top with Cherry Sauce or spoon into individual dessert dishes and top with sauce. Makes about 12 servings.

Cherry Sauce

1 16 ounce can dark sweet cherries.

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Reserve about 1 teaspoon cherry liquid. Turn remaining liquid and cherries into saucepan and heat to boiling. Blend cornstarch with reserved liquid and stir into boiling mixture. Cook and stir until well blended, then cool sauce and chill.

Now here comes the fun part. Place a whole almond in the pudding and whoever finds the whole almond wins a little prize, usually a marzipan pig. As our family has grown, I now use 2 almonds.

This recipe comes from the late 19th century so perhaps was not made during the time of the Cariboo Gold Rush.

Barkerville Beginnings is available online here