Hawaiian Rice Pudding

This Hawaiian-inspired tropical rice pudding is bursting with coconut, banana, and pineapple flavors. It makes a perfectly indulgent breakfast or dessert.

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Hawaiian Rice Pudding

Cooking time
PREP TIME 10 mins
Cooking time
COOK TIME 30 mins
Servings
SERVES 4
Ready in
TOTAL TIME 40 mins

Ingredients

    Rice Pudding:
  • 1 bag Success® Jasmine Rice
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp freshly grated lime zest
  • Pineapple coconut syrup:
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut cream
  • 1/4 cup pineapple juice
  • 4 bananas, sliced crosswise
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • Take your taste buds on a trip to the pacific with this delicious Hawaiian Rice Pudding made with Success® Jasmine Rice, heavy cream, vanilla and homemade pineapple coconut syrup.

    Step 1

  • Prepare rice according to package directions.

    Step 2

  • Rice Pudding: In small saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together heavy cream, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is very tender and mixture has thickened.

    Step 3

  • Stir in vanilla and lime zest. Let cool completely and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve (or serve rice pudding warm, if preferred, in Step 6).

    Step 4

  • Pineapple coconut syrup: In large skillet set over medium heat, melt butter. Add brown sugar; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until brown sugar dissolves. Stir in coconut cream and pineapple juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken.

    Step 5

  • Stir in bananas and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes or until bananas start to soften and caramelize.

    Step 6

  • Spoon rice pudding into serving bowls and top with bananas mixture.

    Mocktail Pairing:

    Pair Hawaiian Rice Pudding with vanilla or orange flavored coffee. Use a flavored creamer of choice or an infused oil to add a bit more flavor to your everyday coffee.

    Banana’s Foster Style Rice Pudding

    To give this delicious and indulgent rice pudding a banana’s foster twist, make sure to only slice the banana in half length-wise before cooking and make sure not to stir too much. While the traditional sweet treat is traditionally cooked with rum, this alcohol-free version uses other juices from pineapple. Serve each portion with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and garnish with chopped pecans and a pinch of additional cinnamon, if desired!

What is Heavy Cream?

Heavy cream is essentially a slightly more decadent version of whipped cream. As the two ingredients are very similar in taste, you can normally use both interchangeably. That being said, despite their similarities, these two creams do have a difference in consistency. Heavy cream will normally give your meals a richer creamy texture, whereas whipped cream will give your food a lighter creamy texture. 

Heavy cream can also be used in more savory recipes, for example this Creamy Parmesan, Chicken and Rice, this Rice Primavera or these Blue Stuffed Mushrooms.

No Vanilla Extract in the Pantry?

Don’t worry if you don’t have any vanilla extract in the kitchen, there are a few different ingredients we can use as a substitute. 

Almond Extract: With more of a nutty flavor than vanilla extract, it’s best to use almond extract sparingly to avoid the flavor overwhelming your taste buds.

Rum, Brandy or a Vanilla Liqueur: These spirits offer a great replacement for the rich caramelly taste of vanilla extract, though be mindful if you are planning on serving your rice puddings to children or anybody who doesn’t drink alcohol. 

Vanilla Paste: Made using a mixture of vanilla extract, vanilla beans and sugar, vanillla paste has a much smoother texture and makes a great replacement for vanilla extract. 

Vanilla Powder: Made from ground vanilla beans, unlike vanilla extract, vanilla powder won’t tint your rice puddings. 

Vanilla Sugar: You can kill two birds with one stone by replacing the sugar in this recipe with vanilla sugar as you won’t have to flavor your rice pudding with vanilla extract.

For more desserts with a vanilla flavor, check out this Vanilla Raisin Rice Pudding, this Polynesian Rice Dessert or these Strawberry Shortcake Rice Pudding Parfaits.   Are you looking for a new dinner idea? Try our: Spanish Rice Recipe.