The 24th of December is finally here. The tree is decorated and has wrapped presents underneath. The Christmas roast is being prepared in the oven. It’s a pork roast with crispy crackling. Flæskesvær. Now, all there is missing is the iconic rice pudding dessert. Made with the leftover rice porridge from the dinner on the 23rd. This is my recipe for risalamande with cherry sauce.
Christmas traditions are funny. They exist on many levels: religiously, culturally, nationally and of course in each family. In a series of recipes I go through all the classic dishes, we eat for Christmas in Denmark. Maybe you wanna try them too?
If you are just here for the recipe, you can press the button underneath to be automagically transported to the recipe:
In the 1800’s it had been a tradition of serving rice porridge, risengrød, to your guests in the wealthier households. The rice and the cinnamon were very expensive imports, so it was only available to people who had more of a disposable income.
Around the turn of the century, rice and cinnamon were much more acceptable in price, so serving risengrød at Christmas had become commonplace. Which of course meant that the wealthy citizens had to take it to the next level.
So the rice porridge would be mixed with whipped cream, filled with expensive almonds, and served with a sweet cherry sauce.
Mandelgave – The almond present
So we have a tradition called mandelgave. We put a whole almond in the dessert and the person who finds it gets the almond present.
The traditional present is a pig made from marzipan, but since there are so many snacks on Christmas, it’s become more common to find something else. My Mom will often buy a book of funny stories or something like that.
The tradition itself is meant to be influenced by the French tradition to hide a bean in the cakes that are eaten on Epiphany.
The person who gets the bean gets to be King for the night, whatever that entails.
Rationing during WWII made the dessert popular
During rationing throughout and after the second world war, the rislamande became the preferred Christmas dessert. The housewives learned that you could stretch the rice porridge further by adding whipped cream.
Because almonds were almost impossible to get, they’d add a button in place of the almond, so that there’d still be a competition for the present.
A couple of notes
To make this recipe you will first need a portion of rice porridge. I will usually make it the day before and just let it rest in the fridge.
This recipe contains both alcohol (in the cherry sauce).
If you or anyone who needs to eat it, can or shouldn’t eat alcohol, just omit it from the recipe.
If lactose is a problem, you can substitute it with lactose-free whipping cream, and if animal products is a something you’d like to avoid, you can just use plant-based whipping cream.
The conclusion of this risalamande recipe
What is important for a perfect risalamande?
A wonderfully creamy pudding with the taste of full-fat cream (unfortunately we cannot get double cream in Denmark)
and The taste of some awesome almonds. Get the best that you can. My local nut shop has some delicious Marcona almonds from Spain.
A sweet and deeply flavored cherry sauce.
The almond-present.
This rice pudding has all of these things in abundance. Well, at least if you remember to add the whole almond and buy the present.
Please share this recipe for risalamande on social media
This is my recipe for risalamande. If you like the recipe please consider sharing it with like-minded dessert lovers on social media.
If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.
First, you should make a portion of rice porridge in your fridge and let it cool completely.
1 kg rice porridge
Make Cherry Sauce
To a pot add: 500 grams or 4 cups sweet cherries, 120 grams or ½ cup sugar, the juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange, 1 vanilla pod, split in half, the zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon, in strips.
500 g sweet cherries, ½ dl kirsch, 1 tbsp amaretto, 120 g sugar, 1 lemon, 1 orange, 1 vanilla pod
Optionally add: ½ dl or ⅕ cup of kirsch, and 1 tablespoon of amaretto.
½ dl kirsch, 1 tbsp amaretto
Bring it to a boil, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Then after the 20 minutes, reduce the heat all the way done. Fish out the vanilla pod and the zest.
Then dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in some water.
1 tbsp cornstarch
Add it to the sauce; it’s vital that it isn’t boiling, or it might clump. Then stir gently to distribute the cornstarch.
Then bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
Then pour the sauce into a scalded jar, and seal it while it’s still warm. That will ensure the jar is airtight.
Then let it cool on the counter until it’s handleable, then put it in the fridge until you need it.
Make homemade vanilla sugar
Split 2 vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds into 2 tablespoons of sugar. Squeeze the seeds into the sugar until it’s well distributed.
2 vanilla pods, 2 tbsp sugar
Put the sugar in the bowl and keep it until later.
Make risalamande
Then whip 5 dl or 2 cups whipping cream to soft peaks.
5 dl whipping cream
Put 1 portion of cooled rice porridge in a bowl, and add the vanilla sugar on top.
1 kg rice porridge
Then add about one-third of the cream into the porridge and mix it to make it looser. Add 100 grams or 1 scant cup roughly chopped almonds.
100 g almonds
Then fold in as much cream you like until it has the consistency you’d prefer. Don’t forget to add a whole almond for the present.
1 almond
Cover it and refrigerate it for at least an hour. Serve cold with copious amounts of cherry sauce.
