How to Make Kozy Shack Rice Pudding

Start to Finish: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Intermediate

Kozy Shack makes a packaged rice pudding with a creamy, custard base and small grains of rice that some people find irresistible. The ingredient list is short and recognizable -- containing just rice, milk and sugar, with a little egg and flavoring too. You can duplicate Kozy Shack rice pudding at home with the right ratio of ingredients and a little cooking care. Whole milk and short-grain rice are key to rice pudding success.

• 5 cups whole milk
  
• 2/3 cup short-grain white rice
  
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long
  
• dash of salt
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
  
• 2 large egg yolks

Short-grain rice produces more starch when cooking, which helps thicken the pudding. If you substitute medium- or long-grain rice, you won't get Kozy Shack-like results.

Place the milk, rice, sugar, butter, cinnamon stick and pinch of salt in a large pot over moderate heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from burning on the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least one hour or until the rice is thick and a little mushy. Remove from the heat, take out the cinnamon stick and stir in the vanilla.

If you don't have any sticks of cinnamon on hand, you could add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon as the rice cooks.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Add a cup of the warm rice pudding to the eggs and stir until well mixed. Add the blend back to the large pot and incorporate fully.

For food safety, ensure the egg mixture and cup of rice pudding mixture reaches about 160 F when read with an instant-read thermometer. If it doesn't come up to temperature, place the egg and small amount of rice pudding into a small pot over medium heat until it does warm up enough.

Place the rice pudding in a large, non-reactive bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but preferably several hours or overnight. It will thicken and gain the desirable creaminess of Kozy Shack rice pudding as it chills.

As the pudding cools, it develops a "skin" over the top. Simply skim it off for Kozy Shack-like pudding underneath. The skin is perfectly safe to eat, though.

Add a handful of raisins to the pudding after you've whisked in the eggs. Kozy Shack doesn't offer raisins in its original rice pudding, but it can add a bit of textural variety and a sweet punch to the creamy pudding.