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You are here: Home / Dessert / Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) with Cherry Sauce

Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) with Cherry Sauce

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A portion of Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in a glass sundae dish. Pinterest image.
Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in glass serving dishes. Pinterest image.on a traditional Danish table cloth.

Traditional Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) with Cherry Sauce is a creamy and delicious rice pudding laced with sherry and almonds, served with a sweet, warm cherry sauce.

The History of Risalamande

Risalamande finds it origins in the French Ris à l’amande and  has been served on Christmas Eve in Denmark since around 1900.

A Personal History of Risalamande

As I am half Danish I remember always feeling quite lucky as a child to have two Christmas celebrations! The first was on Christmas Eve where we had a traditional Danish meal usually with goose or duck and Risalamand. This was followed by singing Danish songs (mum playing piano) and dancing around the Christmas tree which was lit with traditional white candles (never a problem)!

Then we’d open our presents and often go off to the midnight service (when I got a bit older). The next day we’d go to my English grandparents and have a traditional English Christmas meal (always turkey and my gran’s homemade Christmas Pudding) and more presents.

A portion of Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in a glass sundae dish.

As a child I didn’t like any rice or semolina based desserts but the thing that got me eating Risalamande was the hidden almond because if you found that you won a prize! I remember one particular Christmas eve at one of my aunt’s houses in Denmark one of the prizes was a  gorgeous marzipan pig! 

Being the worlds No 1 marzipan fan I’d have done anything to win it. I must have eaten 3 bowls of Risalamande but to no avail, sadly my morfar (granddad) was the lucky winner. I seem to remember he didn’t even choose the pig as his prize but a box of cigars!

Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in glass serving dishes. on a traditional Danish table cloth.

Anyway as I grew older I learned to appreciate Danish rice dessert with cream and almonds and have usually left it to my mum to make. This year I decided to make my own interpretation of my mother’s recipe which was a few scribbled notes I’d make many years ago.

My observations on making Danish Rice Pudding with Cherry Sauce

After a couple of trials I am happy with this version as my hubby was a great critic telling me that my first attempt wasn’t like my mother’s version!

A portion of Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in a glass sundae dish.

It also didn’t help that the frozen cherries I bought for my first attempt were sour (which I didn’t notice until after I’d cooked them). So check the packaging when purchasing, you need sweet cherries!

Every Dane has their version of Risalamande and the two stipulations that my mother has are that there aren’t too many chopped almonds in the rice pudding (otherwise too bitty) and also that it isn’t too sweet as the cherry sauce provides the sweet contrast to the creamy rice pudding.

For more sweet Christmas recipe inspiration check out:

  • Danish Vanilla Wreaths (Vanille Kranse)
  • Finsk Brød (Finnish Shortbread)
  • Hallon Cookies 
  • Bestmore’s Kransakake
  • Cape Brandy Pudding 

Pin for later!

Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in glass serving dishes. Pinterest image.on a traditional Danish table cloth.

 

It just remains for me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas or Glædelig Jul! 

xx

NB: Previously published Dec 2014.

A portion of Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) and cherry sauce in a glass sundae dish.
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Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding) with Cherry Sauce

Traditional Risalamande (Dansih Rice Pudding) with Cherry Sauce is a creamy and delicious rice pudding laced with sherry and almonds served with a contrasting sweet cherry sauce.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Danish
Keyword Christmas, pudding, traditional
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 6
Author Camilla Hawkins

Ingredients

  • For the Risalamand:
  • 1 ltr Full fat milk
  • 100 g Pudding rice
  • 2 tbsp Caster sugar I keep a vanilla pod in mine
  • 2 tbsp Sherry
  • 15 g Flaked almonds chopped
  • 1 whole almond
  • 250 mls Whipping cream
  • Flaked almonds to decorate optional
  • For the Cherry Sauce:
  • 350 g Frozen cherries
  • 400 mls Water
  • 80 g Caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp High juice blackcurrant squash or cordial
  • 1 ½ tbsp Potato flour or cornflour
  • 1 ½ tbsp Ice cold water

Instructions

  • For Risalamande:
  • Put milk into a non-stick pan and bring to almost simmering point – add the rice.
  • Keeping the heat low (probably lowest setting) cook the rice for 30 minutes with the lid on stirring at regular intervals. (Very important not to burn).
  • Then remove lid and cook for further 15 - 20 minutes simmering and stirring until rice is cooked and porridge like.
  • Once cooked stir in the caster sugar, sherry and chopped almonds into the rice porridge.
  • Put in a bowl to cool and then refrigerate until chilled. (Overnight is fine).
  • Whip the cream into soft peaks
  • Fold a little cream into the rice porridge to loosen it and then carefully fold the rest of the cream in, then add the whole almond.
  • Place in a glass serving dish and decorate with a few flaked almonds if wished and put back in fridge to thoroughly chll..
  • For Cherry Sauce:
  • Put the cherries, water, sugar and blackcurrant squash in a pan, bring to the boil then turn down heat to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  • Mix the potato flour and 2 tbsp ice cold water together to form a paste and lowering the heat stir into the cherries cooking for another minute to thicken.
  • Take off the heat, put in a bowl and serve with the Risalamande warm or cold (any leftover sauce can be re-heated)..
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. brenda heads

    08/04/2015 at 10:35 pm

    It look delicious I will have to give it a try.

    Reply
  2. Heather Haigh

    28/03/2015 at 5:20 pm

    Looks simply delicious!

    Reply
    • Camilla

      28/03/2015 at 11:49 pm

      It really is Heather:-)

      Reply
  3. Sarah Cooper

    20/03/2015 at 1:50 pm

    Haven’t tried anything like this before. Must try this. 🙂

    Reply
    • Camilla

      20/03/2015 at 10:35 pm

      It’s well worth the effort:-)

      Reply
  4. Lynn Fancy

    16/03/2015 at 10:16 pm

    Sounds delicious! Yet another for my list – you really should do a book you know!

    Reply
    • Camilla

      16/03/2015 at 10:38 pm

      Aaw, how lovely of you to say. When I was 18 that was my ambition to be a cookery book writer but blogs didn’t exist back then so I’m making up for lost time doing this now:-) Authors need to be “showmen” too these days, gone are the days of the reclusive writer so I’m not sure that’s me LOL:-)

      Reply
    • Mette

      15/12/2020 at 8:01 pm

      Looks like a real Danish ris a la mande – so delicious. I can recommend to add a vanilla pod to the rice and milk from the start when you cook it. Wish you a merry Christmas – and thanks, you’re blog is always such an inspiration to me.

      Reply
      • Camilla

        15/12/2020 at 9:40 pm

        Thanks Mette, have a very Merry Christmas too:-)

        Reply
  5. Ursula Hunt

    13/01/2015 at 12:50 pm

    Didn’t have any cherries but used raspberries and it was delicious

    Reply
    • Camilla

      13/01/2015 at 6:10 pm

      Oh fabulous – so glad you enjoyed it. I’m sure raspberries equally good:-)

      Reply
  6. Jacqueline Meldrum

    01/01/2015 at 3:43 pm

    I do love rice pudding Camilla and I bet it tastes great with that cherry sauce. Thanks for submitting it to No Croutons Required festive round. The roundup is now live

    Reply
    • Camilla

      01/01/2015 at 5:17 pm

      Thanks Jacqueline – I beat you to it and left a comment in the small hours LOL:-)

      Reply
  7. Maya Russell

    30/12/2014 at 6:53 am

    The sauce looks rich and delicious.

    Reply
  8. Carole Cambridge

    29/12/2014 at 4:40 pm

    Looks divine… a real step up from my usual rice pudding! I’ll definitely give it a try x

    Reply
    • Camilla

      29/12/2014 at 5:31 pm

      Fab:-)

      Reply
  9. Ursula Hunt

    29/12/2014 at 9:11 am

    Showed my sister this recipe who got very excited, she really loves rice pudding but unfortunately usually out of a tin, you never know it might tempt her to start cooking 🙂

    Reply
    • Camilla

      29/12/2014 at 12:44 pm

      This is like a super pimped up rice pudding and nothing like the usual rice pudding – I’m sure she’d love it:-) I must admit I never usually make ordinary rice pudding but buy the odd tin for hubby – shocking I know but it just doesn’t get me excited, must make more effort as I have the rest of the pudding rice to use up now!

      Reply
  10. Alica

    29/12/2014 at 12:57 am

    I must try this, it looks amazing!

    Reply
    • Camilla

      29/12/2014 at 12:47 pm

      Thank you:-)

      Reply
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