Twinkie Trifle - A Completely Silly Bit of Foodie Fun

I needed a dessert that went together quickly, where most of the prep could be done in advance, and would still appeal to a variety of eaters.

So I decided to revisit a dessert I did years ago, with a slightly different take:  a Twinkie Trifle.

Let's first define what an English trifle is:  "a traditional English layered dessert featuring sponge cake or ladyfingers soaked in sherry or fruit juice, layered with custard, fruit (fresh or jelly), and topped with whipped cream, often garnished with nuts or cherries."

My American trifle used the iconic Twinkie, that golden sponge cake filled with a white cream center.

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia.

I bought a big box with 16 Twinkies in it, individually wrapped.  That was one prep step completed.

For a custard, I bought a big box of instant pudding; the flavor was chocolate fudge.  I mixed it with milk the day before I needed the dessert so it had time to set up in the refrigerator.  I used just a little less milk than the recipe called for to make sure it was thick.

I used fresh strawberries, sliced and lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Again, I did this the day before the gathering.  The next day, the berries had released a lot juice, which was my goal.

Also the day before, I whipped heavy whipping cream with just a little bit of powdered sugar.

So all the prep was done, and just before I needed the dessert, I assembled it in a glass serving bowl.

The layers were:  Twinkies, pudding, strawberries, repeat all.  Then I spooned the whipped cream over the top and sprinkled sliced almonds.  The shape tilted inward, so I didn't fill the entire bowl as that would have been too much.

Pictures!

Bottom layer.

Pudding layer.

Fruit and whipped cream on top.  Did I forget to take a picture of just the fruit layer???

Nutty.

Notice that the second layer of Twinkies were broken up into smaller pieces than the first layer had them.

Some of my guest tasters don't consume alcohol, so I didn't sprinkle the Twinkies with anything.  

Once it was assembled, I served it up.

The Verdict

Despite my best efforts, it was pretty sweet.  It was fun to look at, brought laughter at the table because I used Twinkies, and we all tried it.

I liked it, especially with the strawberries.  The nuts were a nice touch, adding a crunch to an otherwise soft dessert.  Some of my guest tasters enjoyed it, too, although we were already pretty full from the preceeding dinner.

Success!

However, there were leftovers, which were so much better the next day.  I believe that the liquid from the fruit had soaked into the Twinkies overnight.  This seemed to even out the sweetness factor, making the entire dessert much better and appealing.  Success again!

Years ago, I made this with milk chocolate pudding and canned cherries.  I cooked the juice the cherries were in to thicken it with cornstarch and added a little sugar and orange liqueur.  Once that cooled, I put the cherries back into the juice.  I also sprinkled the Twinkies with a little orange liqueur.  I think I put some powdered ginger in the whipped cream, too.  That was also a fun and tasty dessert.

You can see this is a playful dessert that you can adjust to suit your tastes and preferences.  Use the concept of an English trifle to guide your choices.  Let me know what you did!

Pudin de Lolita, Lolita's Pudding -- a Pinedo recipe

On page 215 is this pudding, dedicated to Lolita.  I wish I knew who she was.  There are other puddings dedicated to other women, some of whom are clearly Encarnación Pinedo's nieces.  This could be to one of her nieces who was referred to by a nickname.  Or it could be to a family friend or cousin.  

What is intriuging about it is that it is a sweet pudding (one and a half pounds of sugar!!!) but it also has meat in it.  It reminds me of the old (early 1800s and prior) ante recipes.  They were originally designed to be served at the beginning of the meal (thus ante or "before") which did have meat and sugar in them.  Later they were declared to be desserts, and typically did not have meat in them.  Pinedo put several ante recipes in her book.  I made one previously, which you can view by clicking here:  Ante de Camote y Pina - A Luscious Dessert with Sweet Potatoes and Pineapple (pg 16).

The questions I had with this recipe are:  Exactly what kind of pudding is it?  She offered a variety of pudding styles, from boiled to steamed to baked to baked in a bain marie.  She mentioned using crumbled bread, so is it like a bread pudding?  But with the requirement of cream and eggs, presumably lots of them, I wondered if it were more like a baked custard.  I still don't know exactly what a "kettle cup" is, but I presume it is around what we call 2 cups or 16 ounces.  She said three kettle cups, which is six of our cups.  That is a lot of cream!  

I decided to create it as a custard pudding, with the eggs and cream being the major support and the other ingredients making it interesting.  I was very tempted to bake it in a bain marie, but decided she would have specified that if she felt it was important.  Puddings like this need to be baked in a very low oven so the custard doesn't curdle or cook up like scrambled eggs.  I also chose to interpret a kettle cup as one of our 8-ounce cups, at least at the beginning of making the recipe, until I saw how the thing was going together.  Then I would adjust as needed.

She did mention early in the pudding section that puddings should be put into shallow baking dishes.  Instructions noted!

Her recipe

My Translation

My Redaction

1 pound sliced almonds

1 1/2 pounds sugar

8 ounces chicken breast, already cooked

3 cups cream

1/2 ounce butter, melted

1/2 cup bread crumbs

6 large eggs, separated

For crumbs: I started with two 3-inch diameter rolls, broken open to dry, & pounded in the mortar.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Butter the inside of a large, shallow ceramic dish.  (See Notes.)

Chop the chicken breasts into about 1/4-inch pieces.  

In a large bowl, mix the cream and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the melted butter and mix well.

Separate the eggs.  Beat the yolks well and then mix them into the cream mixture.

Mix the bread crumbs into the cream mixture.

Mix the chicken and almonds into the cream mixture.  

Whip the egg whites to stiff.  Fold them into the cream mixture.

Fill the baking dish.  

Bake for 1 hour (see Notes), until the center jiggles when the pan is shaken but stops when the movement stops, and the top is browned.  

Let cool at least a little before serving.

Chopped chicken.

Cream, sugar, yolks, and breadcrumbs, all mixed.

With the chicken and almonds.

With whipped egg whites.  That is one full bowl!

My Notes

Instead of two chicken breasts as she specified, I decided the one really big one I had on hand would suffice.  I weighed it instead of counting the quantity.

The chicken breast was previously cooked on a grill after being rubbed with olive oil and ground black pepper.  There was not a lot of seasoning on the piece I chose, so I don't think the pepper influenced the flavor of the dish.

I did some reading in my Ratio book by Michael Ruhlman in order to get a sense of how many eggs were "necessary."  Believing this would be a custard-like dish, I decided to use 6 eggs for 3 cups of liquid, giving a ratio of 12 ounces eggs to 24 ounces cream.  Keep in mind that eggs are very carefully sized for us, whereas Señorita Pinedo made do with whatever eggs were available to her.  They could have been all different sizes.

I had no idea how much volume the recipe would make, so I ended up using two ceramic baking dishes; one held 2 1/2 liters and the other 2 liters.  It helped to use a ladle to move the batter into the dishes.  

I thought it was done after 45 minutes of cooking, but once I broke through the crust on the top, the middle looked liquid, so I put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.  It is possible it was ready at 45 minutes -- it was browned and it certainly smelled good.  

Ready for the oven.  Two full baking dishes.

After 60 minutes of baking time.

The Verdict

Letting the pudding cool a little seemed to give it a chance to set up in the middle.

The browned top was a crunchy crust.

My first bite was ... interesting.  Wow, was it sweet!  But the flavor of the meat came through, which was intriguing when combined with the almonds and the sweet.

The custard I expected was more like the matrix which held together the chicken and almonds.  It was not dense; I suspect because of the whipped egg whites.  

It tooks a few bites before I really liked it.  My mouth had to adjust to the concept of meat and sweet.  But then I liked it.  The almonds added a nice crunch.  

It was sweet, as I said, and it was rich.  I will have more, as will my guest taster who was trying to guess all that was in it and thought there was some fruit in it.   He certainly enjoyed it.

In thinking about this blog post, I had trouble deciding if it was a dessert (but it had meat in it!) or a side dish (but it was sweet!).  My guest taster thought you could have it as either, depending on what you wanted for the meal.  I think that is good advice.  

I then shared this with two other guest tasters.  One, quite the foodie, thought it wasn't very sweet at all (I was astonished) and liked that because he doesn't really like sweet foods.  He also felt, at first, that it had undercooked bread in it but then later decided that wasn't it and it wasn't a problem.  He loved the nuts and how crunchy they were.  He was surprised to know there was meat in it.  

The other guest taster did not enjoy the food.  He felt his mouth was "conflicted" because of the meat and sweet combination.  It was "okay" but not something he would want to repeat.  But he did think that he could get used to it if he other opportunities to try it.

Success!

It was just as good warmed up the next day.  Maybe even better, as I got more of the custardy part in each spoonful.

I hope Lolita would be pleased with my result.

If I were to do this again, I would use half the amount of chicken and almonds, and I would use about 1/3 of the amount of sugar.  But I would still use the same amount of cream and eggs and bread crumbs because my mouth kept wanting more of that matrix around the meat and nuts.  I think changing the amount of butter is optional.

If I did this as a modern "upgrade," I would reduce the amount of sugar a lot, try using whole milk instead of cream, and consider using raisins as a delightful bit of chewy sweet.  But still use chicken, because I think it surprises people, and that is always fun.

Vanilla Caramels, one of my Most Favorite recipes

I reserve the last post of the year for one of my favorite recipes.  (I still did a Pinedo recipe posted today but on the Pinedo-only blog, pinedo1898.blogspot.com.)  This year I dithered and fretted and wondered which recipe to pick.  I'm not sure why; it is not like I don't have any choices.  I have a little book which I purchased in the mid-1980s that I designated as my "Favorite Recipes" book.  It is one of those blank books with lined pages so you can fill in as you please.

When I bought it, I had no idea I would ever be writing a blog.  I didn't even know what a blog was, and the internet wasn't very developed, so writing in a book was a great way to document what I liked so I could find those recipes again easily.  I have tapped into this book several times over the 14 years of writing this blog.  So, while dithering yet again, I brought it down off the shelf and perused it.  

Aha!  My vanilla caramel recipe appealed so much, because it is a good recipe (hey, it is a favorite for a reason!) and I have an upcoming social gathering where I wanted to bring something to share.  This group has tasted my experiments before, so I had a standard to uphold...

The recipe is dated 12/21/87 and is the second recipe in the book.  I put a note that I got the recipe from the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper (does anyone know what a printed paper newspaper is these days?).  It is fun and easy to make, and I added a comment at the end which I will add at the end of this post.  Here goes!

Vanilla Caramels

1 cup white sugar (see my notes below)

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup butter (or margarine, but really.)

1 cup cream

2 teaspoons vanilla 

A simple list for such a good candy.

Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Let boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until a few drops of the mixture in cold water form a firm ball.  (240 degrees F or soft ball stage on a candy thermometer).  Remove from the heat and pour into a buttered 8 x 8 inch pan.  Cut when cool and wrap in waxed paper.

My Notes

It is important to expand on the simple directions regarding cutting and wrapping the candies.  See the end of these notes.

Be generous in buttering the pan.  It is easier to remove the candy if it is not sticking to the pan.  Prepare the pan before starting the cooking process.

I used a 6 x 10 inch pan instead of an 8 x 8.  I used a glass pan.  Metal also works.

I used my homemade vanilla sugar instead of just white sugar.  Either is fine, but I really like hitting hard on the vanilla flavoring.  I also used my homemade vanilla extract, which is vanilla beans soaking in vodka.  You can read about vanilla sugar by clicking on this sentence.

The saucepan shape I recommend is tall and narrow.  Not that I have that, but using a narrow pan (small diameter bottom) allows the mixture to be high enough to properly cover the candy thermometer, and tall gives room for the mixture to rise while cooking so as not to overflow.  I chose small diameter.

To get medium heat, I set the burner to 4 or 5 out of 10.  There is a point in the cooking where the mixture bubbles up and rises quite high, even though you are stirring it constantly.  Turn the heat down as needed to keep it from overflowing, then turn it back up again when the mixture settles back down again.

You really do have to stir it continuously.  Don't worry, you won't have issues with the candy sugaring or other problems.  Stand at the stove and keep the mixture moving the whole time it is cooking.  It doesn't take a long time to reach the right temperature.

Mostly pour the candy out into the pan.  Be careful about using a scraper to get the mixture sticking to the pan, because it is typically cooked to a higher temperature than the bulk of the mixture, and will change the way you feel it when you are eating it:  it brings in a crunch or other hard parts.

Ready for cooking.

At about 200 degrees F, the level rises, threatening to overflow.

At temperature.  Note the level is back down.

Cooling now.

I let it cool overnight.  To remove it from the pan, I used a wide spatula slid between the candy and the pan's side and pushed to separate the two.  Once I had gone all the way around, I used the spatula to start lifting the bottom up.  This is when generously buttering pays off.

Once the candy slab was free, I flipped it out of the pan and onto a piece of waxed paper.  

Then I buttered the blade of a butcher knife and cut the slab into rods.  After that, I cut the rods into small, bite-sized pieces, about 1/2 by 1/2 inch.  Not much bigger!  

The waxed paper wrappers are cut into no smaller than 2 by 3 inch pieces; 3 x 3 is probably better.  You need enough to go around the candy with overlap (the smaller dimension) and then "wings" that are twisted to hold the wrapper closed.  My preference is to twist so that the edge of the overlap is being pulled toward the candy.

I recommend cutting the wrappers while the candy is cooling.

Push!

Cooled candy, ready for cutting

Rods, about 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide

Cut candies, ready to wrap.

Wrapping process.

The Verdict

One batch produced about 120 candies.  A good supply for trying and sharing!

Ooo!

This batch was very good.  The candy cooked to 240 degrees F stuck more to itself than to the pan or my teeth.  It was soft so as not to stress my jaw with chewing but firm enough to hold its shape without flowing.  It had a lovely vanilla flavor without being too strong.  Success!  Adults like this because it is not bitingly sweet.

In the past I have cooked it to 250 degrees F, which is still softball stage but makes a firmer candy.  I recall it being stickier and chewier, which is not always pleasant.  Aim to 240 degrees and pull it off the stove right away.

I have wondered if I should add the vanilla extract after the cooking is done.  I have never tried it. 

The final comment in my written book is this:

Variation - leave out the cream, boil until it forms a crunchy ball in cold water (soft crack stage), add sliced almonds to make almond brittle or anything else that sounds good!

I vaguely recall doing that a few times, but can't really comment on it other than it must have worked or I would not have written it in.

Also, in the past I have kept some candies for a while to see how they would store.  I recall that they absorbed water from the air and their texture changed, not for the best.  This gives you an excuse to eat them, I'd say within a month, and to share them with friends.

Apple Snow-Balls - A recipe from the American Civil War

In 1830 in Philadelphia, Louis Antoine Godey began publishing Godey's Lady's Book offering advice for women regarding fashion, current events, popular culture, and more.  

In 1837, Sarah Josepha Hale took over as editor where her high standards and willingness to publish original works from women writers, as well as her advocacy for women's rights and responsibilities, helped to expand readership.  When she took over, it was at 10,000 and, by 1860, it was over 150,000.  

The most popular features of the magazine included hand-tinted fashion plates in each issues, patterns for women to use in making garments at home, sheet music for piano, and short stories by authors like Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94), and Washington Irving (1783-1859), among others.  It also included news and features. (click here for citation)

Godey's also contained recipes, as listed under the general heading of "Receipts, &c."  This section included advice on running and maintaining the kitchen, and sometimes on health and medicine, because often the woman of the family was responsible for treating the family's ills.

Last year I participated in a Civil War reenactment as a cook, and I was in charge of desserts.  One that I prepared was such a hit - and easy! - that I wanted to share it on my blog.  It was published in the January 1863 edition, found on page 90.

I did not have the room in my kettle at the reenactment or at my home to make six of these.  My recommendation is to make up to as many apples as will fit in the pan that can hold the boiling water.  Think 2 to 3 servings per apple to help you plan for your meal.  

My Redaction

Per apple:

1 apple

1 long slice of lemon zest

1 to 2 inch long piece of cinnamon bark or 1 to 2 whole cloves

1/4 to 1/2 cup rice

1 large cloth napkin, big enough to wrap around the apple and still have some room

1 piece of string long enough to tie up the napkin

One big kettle of hot water

Don't forget the cloth!

Get the water to boiling (it takes a while), then keep it at a simmer until you put the apples in.

Dampen the cloth and spread it out on the counter.  It should be moist, not dripping.  Set the string nearby.

Cut each apple into fourths, cutting from the top down.  Remove the core, stem, and flower end.  Start reassembling the apple, placing the zest and spice into the space left from the core.

Pour the rice into the middle of the cloth, then spread it around in a circle with a radius about the same as the height of the apple.

Holding the parts of the apple together with one hand, set the apple in the middle of the rice layer.  Use your free hand to start pulling the corners and sides of the cloth up over the apple.  Work around the cloth; after doing half the cloth, use the free hand to hold the apple and cloth together and the other hand to pull up the rest of the cloth.

Bring the corners and edges together over the top of the apple.  Do not pull them snugly around the apple, but don't make them too loose.  Tie them with the string.  Make sure all the edges are above the string.

Set the bundle into the simmering water.  After all the bundles are in, make sure the water reaches to the top of the apples (where the tie is).  

Bring the water to a gentle boil and set the timer for 45 minutes.  About halfway through, turn the bundles over.

They are done when you poke the side with your finger and you can feel that the rice is soft.

Pull a bundle out of the water, letting it drain for a few seconds.  Place on a plate and remove the tie.  Open the cloth about halfway off the apple, then place another plate or bowl on top.  Flip the two and then remove the cloth.

With luck, the result will look just like a snow ball.

Quartered.

Cored.

Nice long lemon zest.  Use more cinnamon.

Spread that rice.

Reassembling the apple.

Hold it while bringing up the sides of the cloth.

A nice bundle.  

Get the water up to the ties, if possible.

Put the entire bundle in the water!

My Notes

It does take a while to heat up the large amount of water, so start early.  I recommend filling it to a bit less than you think you'll need to cover the bundles, because the level will rise when they go in.  Then add more hot water as needed when starting to cook.

I used one red (Gala) and one green (Granny Smith) apple.  Green apples tend to be tart.

The first time I did this, I just used zest as I didn't have whole cinnamon quills and not everyone likes the bold taste of cloves.  This time I used zest and cinnamon.

The amount of rice is up to you.  I didn't measure it the first time; for a reenactment, I just scooped and poured until it looked "right".  This time I used 1/2 cup.

Make sure the cloths are completely inside the kettle in the water, not hanging over the edge as one picture shows.  You don't want to set the cloth on fire.

I used my hand to pull the bundle out of the water.  It is hot.  You could use tongs or a slotted spoon instead.  

Out of the pot.

Start opening it up.

Flipped!

The Verdict

I served them with these garnishes:  butter, cream, maple syrup, and a cardamom-sugar mix.  My guest taster and I could put any or all of these on our servings.

At the reenactment, they looked just like perfect snowballs.  At home, they were close but had broken open around the apple.

Not perfect, but so what?

The rice was cooked through and the apples were tender.  It was easy to use a serving spoon to scoop up a piece of apple and some rice.  Then we added toppings as we liked.

One serving (of many)

We both tried both apple bundles separately.  My guest liked the tartness of the green apple best, and I liked the sweetness of the red apple.

The first thing I noted was that if you don't put the butter on right away, it won't melt into the rice.  We both agreed that it didn't need butter anyway.  We liked adding a little cream, and we especially liked the maple syrup.  The cardamom-sugar mix was also very tasty.

We loved the texture and the flavor of apple mixed with rice.  The lemon was lightly persistent throughout, as was the cinnamon.  Adding more toppings just made it better.

Success!

At the reenactment, people enjoyed it very much.  One person came back for seconds and then for another helping for a family member.  

We found it to be a "wholesome and satisfactory food" for everyone!

A thought I had later was that you could season it differently - using more savory spices such as black pepper - and serve it as a side dish to roast meat.  

Final note:  I have been going through Godey's to collect the recipes in one place.  Then I discovered that many of their recipes are word-for-word copies of recipes from N.K.M. Lee's The Cook's Own Book, published in 1832/1833.  That is another good source of period recipes.  Lee's book has several versions of snow balls.

Pudin de arróz - Rice Pudding, a Pinedo recipe

I’ve mentioned before that I have a sweet tooth, and it kicked in when I was choosing the Pinedo recipe for this post.  I’ve been eyeing her rice puddings recipes for a while.  Today I chose one that takes a long time to prepare because, well, I had the time!

On page 216 she lists two rice pudding recipes, and the first one intrigued me.  The rice is cooked in milk for three hours.

  My Translation

So, let’s get started. I chose to make a half quantity of her recipe.  At the beginning I wasn’t sure if she wanted the rice to be cooked first and then simmered for three hours, or if the rice was only simmered in the milk for three hours.  I chose the latter.

My Redaction

¼ pound white rice

1 quart whole milk

about ½ tablespoon butter (plus more to butter the dish)

½ cup raisins

½ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

2 egg whites

½ tablespoon orange blossom water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put rice in a sieve and rinse it well.  Add the rice to the milk in a large saucepan.  Cover the pan and bring the milk to just a bare simmer – bubbles were forming and it looked “foamy.”

Remove the cover, stir the rice well, reduce the heat to the lowest possible, and set the time for 1 ½ hours.  Stir occasionally. 

When the time is up, add the raisins, butter, and sugar.  Stir them in well and set the timer for 1 ½ hours.  Watch the rice carefully, stirring often, especially after the first hour when the mixture starts getting thick.

When the total of three hours of cooking is over, remove the rice mixture from the saucepan and into a big bowl.  Allow it time to cool, at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees if using a glass or ceramic pan).  Butter an 8 x 12 inch baking dish.

While the mixture is cooling, separate the eggs.  Beat the yolks well.  Beat the whites to stiff peaks.

Once the mixture is cool enough not to cook the eggs, mix in the yolks, cinnamon, and orange blossom water.  Stir them in well.  Then fold in egg whites.

Spread the mixture in the pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the center is somewhat firm.

Serve warm.

My Notes

I chose to cook the rice slowly in the milk because I couldn’t see how to boil the rice to “done” without overheating the milk.  I believe that Pinedo wanted the milk to be cooked very slowly the entire time and never brought to a boil. 

After I brought the rice and milk to a simmer, I noticed the rice was sticking to the bottom of the pan.  So I stirred it with the intent to break the rice away from the bottom.  I was successful.

I first put the saucepan on a simmer mat over the lowest flame on my stove (1 of 10).  After the first 1 ½ hours, the rice was barely cooked and a “skin” was on the surface.  So I removed the simmer mat.  That cooked the rice a lot faster, which is why you need to watch it closely in the second 1 ½ hours so it doesn’t overcook.  Feel free to remove it from the heat earlier if the mixture is very thick and threatening to stick to the pan.

When the mixture went into the bowl to cool, it smelled good.  The white milk, rice, and sugar had all changed to a lovely golden color.  That long, slow cooking gave the sugars in the milk and sugar a chance to caramelize. 

I didn’t wait until the rice mixture to be completely cooled, just cool enough to “not cook the eggs.”  It was comfortably warm to the touch.

Finally looking like it is cooking!

Done.  Needs to cool.

With everything in it.

Ready for the oven.

Ready for my mouth!

The Verdict

I served it warm as dessert after dinner. 

Not too thick, not too thin.

The first thing that I noticed was how very delicate the rice pudding was.  Most rice puddings that I have tried are served cold and are creamy and somewhat heavy because they are thick.  I expected this baked rice pudding to be similar in texture to a bread pudding.  I think folding in the egg whites “in a snow state” made the pudding soft, fluffy, and delicate because the egg whites act as a leavening agent.  (Similarly, the second rice pudding recipe on that page uses “yeast powder,” which is baking powder, also a leavening.)

I also thought the pudding was surprisingly sweet.  Not overwhelmingly sweet, but I only put in ½ cup sugar, and it tasted sweeter than what I expected from that quantity.  Was it the caramelization?  Was it the raisins?  I don’t know, but I thought the sweetness level was just right.  The cinnamon amount was right, too, because I think if there had been more added, it would distract from the delicate texture. 

I did not think the orange blossom water was very noticeable, but my guest taster identified it immediately.  When I focused on my tastebuds, I could get a sense of it.  It was a subtle support flavor that was quite appropriate. 

It was also moist without being wet or cloying.  I appreciated that.

Overall, success!  It was tasty warm from the oven, cold the next day, but even better the next day warmed up slightly.

If I did it again, I would add more raisins.  I love raisins!

If you put it into a smaller baking dish, you would get a thicker pudding.  That might affect the baking time.  I liked the thickness.  I think it emphasized the delicate aspect of the pudding.

We who cook on a stove instead of a fire like Pinedo did and live our lives faster than I think she did don’t generally think of cooking something for hours on end.  I found it easy – once the milk and rice were cooking, I could do other things nearby and I just had to walk over to check on it occasionally.  I recommend trying this recipe.  It is different from a standard cold rice pudding, and I think you will enjoy it.