Helping Danish Canadians connect with their roots
Taking over a beloved cultural institution could intimidate some. But not Kristine Mathers, her brother Jacob Beck and his partner Joanne Moyes. Building on their parents’ legacy at The Danish Place in Puslinch was a challenge to be met head-on.
[continue reading this article and get the recipes for Mathers’ risalamade]
Kristine Mathers' Risalamande
This rich, lightly sweet rice pudding is topped with a warmed tart cherry sauce and served on Christmas Eve in Danish homes. According to tradition, the pudding is made to keep the Nisse (a mischievious elf-like creature) happy so they won’t cause havoc (rot the crops, scare the farm animals, sour the milk). Before taken to the table, one whole almond is added to the pudding. Whoever finds it wins a prize, traditionally a marzipan pig. Recipe courtesy of Kristine Mathers of The Danish Place in Puslinch, Ontario.
Ingredients
For the tart cherry sauce
- 300 g pitted canned sour cherries (250ml)
- 60 ml sour cherry juice or water
- 30 ml sugar, to taste
- 5 ml cornflour
- cherry liqueur, to taste
For the rice pudding
- 1 L milk, as needed
- 250 ml starchy medium- or short-grain rice, such as arborio or pudding rice
- 15 ml sugar
- 10 ml vanilla extract, divided
- 30 ml icing sugar, as needed, divided (optional)
- 1 blanched almond
- 250 ml heavy or whipping cream
- 15 ml icing sugar
Instructions
For the tart cherry sauce
- Add juice or water, sugar, and cornflour in a heavy saucepan and whisk until smooth. Set the hob to medium and bring to a boil. Stir until slightly thickend (about a minute or two). Add the cherries, stir and let cool. Warm the sauce before serving.
For the rice pudding
- Boil milk, rice, sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a heavy-bottomed pot. Stir occasionally so the rice doesn't catch at the bottom of the pot.
- Boil for a few minutes before lowering the flame to a slow simmer. Stir often until the rice is cooked and has absorbed the milk--if necesssary, add more milk if the pot looks as if it will boil dry before the rice is tender and firm, but not mushy nor with a hard centre. This stage will take 30-45 minutes.
- Remove from heat and cool completely before covering with cling film and placing in the fridge.
Before serving
- Whip cream, icing sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to firm peaks.
- Fold into the cold pudding, a couple spoons at a time, until the pudding has reached the consistency you prefer (you may have some leftover cream). Stir in the almond, and decant into an (opaque) serving serving bowl for the table. Serve along side the warmed tart cherry sauce.
Notes
A version of this recipe appeared in my profile of Kristine Mathers for my World of Food column for Grand Magazine (November-December 2019).