Risalamande

We are in Denmark and it is Christmas. So far, during this year and a half, my favorite danish food has been a dessert: Risalamande. This is a traditional Danish dessert serve on Christmas. This post is so we don't forget the recipe since this year my wife and I decided to start our own Christmas traditions, being this year, the first Christmas we spend by ourselves.

(Note-This recipe comes from this source. I am just posting it here so we don't lose it over the years)

For this recipe you will need:
3 dl water
180 g ‘grødris’(pudding rice), approx 2½ dl
1 litre milk
And the rest:
100g blanched peeled almonds
2 vanilla pods, use the seed (we used vanilla powder instead - 6 tsp)
4 tbsp sugar
¼ liter of double cream, 38 percent

Cherry sauce – buy a good one in the supermarket for the best result

Rice porridge:

1. Bring the water and rise to a boil and then, stir constantly for 2 minutes to avoid the rice to stick and burn in the bottom.

2. Add the milk. Our milk was cold so it took a few minutes to get to a boil. Once it was a bit foamy on top, we reduce the heat to low and kept stirring for 10 minutes.

3. Put a lid and leave it for 40 minutes with an ocassional stir in low heat. We did it every 8 minutes just to be sure.

4. After the 45 minutes, check if the grains are soft but "not to soft." If ready, put in the fridge so it colds down. If not, you can leave it another 10-15 min and check again.
5. Put the porridge in the fridge to get it cold. In the original recipe says to leave it overnight. We started in the morning so we leave for approximately 7 hours.

Blanched almonds:

Peeling raw almonds is super annoying. However, there is a way to make this easily (and fun):

1.   Bring water to a boil.

2. Add the almonds and let them in there for 1 minute.

3. Drain the water and cold them down with cold water.

4. Dry them with a paper towel and squeeze each almond with your fingers. The almond will shot away and the skin will stay in your fingers (see the whole process here).

To finish, chop the almonds exept for one. Mix the porridge with the sugar, vanilla and chopped almonds. Put it back on the fridge for a couple of hours. Before serving, add the whole almond and mix the porridge. Then, heat up a little bit the cherry sauce. Serve!