Cuba's creamy rice pudding, rice slowly simmered in milk sweetened with condensed milk and perfumed with cinnamon, lime peel and a touch of vanilla, served warm or chilled.
Brought to the Caribbean by Spanish colonists, arroz con leche has Moorish and medieval Iberian roots in milk-and-rice puddings. Cuban cooks made it their own with the island's beloved sweetened condensed milk and a fragrant infusion of citrus peel and cinnamon, turning it into a comforting everyday dessert found in homes and cafeterias across the country.
Lusciously creamy and gently sweet, the tender rice melts into a milky pudding scented with warm cinnamon and a whisper of lime. A cool spoonful is soothing; a warm one is pure comfort.
Slow simmering releases the rice's starch to thicken the milk into a creamy body, while condensed milk adds both sweetness and richness; infusing cinnamon and lime peel during cooking perfumes the pudding from within.
Variations
with raisins, with a splash of rum, extra-thick set version, served cold with extra cinnamon
On the Palate
Where Arroz con Leche Cubano sits in the Cuban flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 10 min
- 120 min
Rinse the rice and simmer in water with a cinnamon stick and lime peel until tender.
Watch outSimmer the rice in the water until fully tender before the milk goes in — the milk will slow it from softening further, so it has to be soft now.
- 25 min
Pour in whole milk and bring to a gentle simmer.
- 32 min
Stir in sweetened condensed milk.
- 425 min
Cook slowly, stirring often, until thick and creamy.
Watch outCook low and keep stirring, scraping the bottom — the milk and starch scorch in a heartbeat and a burnt patch taints the whole pot; pull it while still a touch looser than you want, it thickens as it cools.
- 51 min
Add a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla.
- 61 min
Discard the cinnamon stick and lime peel.
- 72 min
Spoon into bowls or a serving dish.
- 84 min
Dust with ground cinnamon and serve warm or chilled.
