Quick Prep Chocolate Rice Pudding

This rich and indulgent chocolate rice pudding takes only 5 minutes to prepare, then can be left alone in the oven until it’s ready. Hooray!

Childhood Favourite

What could be more comforting and decadent than a gorgeously creamy, sweet bowl of freshly cooked chocolate rice pudding?!

This is one of my quick prep oven recipes. That is, it takes only about five minutes to prepare and then you can pop it in the oven and let the oven do the work while you get on with other things in life. Minimal input but maximal taste! So although the overall cooking time is longer than with many of my other recipes, the time and effort you need to put in is really very minimal. 

I really, really love a good rice pudding! This quintessential English dessert has a place in the hearts of so many of us. It reminds us of a simpler, carefree time when we were kids, when the highlight of many a meal was the creamy, sweet pudding at the end.

I don’t think there’s any harm in turning to comfort puddings of our childhood, especially when we might need a bit of a boost in life to cheer us up. I really think this quick prep chocolate rice pudding fits the bill perfectly for a pick me up.

If you’re looking for some other quick prep classic comfort food, I’d recommend checking out my Quick Prep Bread & Butter Pudding. Or if you’re after something deliciously sweet and indulgent that takes only 5 minutes to make from start to finish, check out some of my (many!) mug cake recipes. See my 5 Minute Chocolate Fudge Mug Cake recipe, my 5 Minute Banoffee Mug Cake recipe and finally my 5 Minute Coffee and Caramel Mug Cake to name just three.

Rice Pudding – The Global Treat

Although rice pudding is such a classic British dish, it’s perhaps not surprising that it originated from elsewhere. Rice of course does not grow in Great Britain. Instead, it is native to Asia where rice pudding is thought to have originated many centuries ago. In fact, there’s evidence that this dish was produced in India as early as 6,000 BCE!

Rice pudding eventually made its way to Europe via trade routes around the 11th century and became increasingly popular in Britain after that time. 

So as we can see, it’s a mistake to think of Britain as having a monopoly on rice pudding, as so many countries all around the world have their own version of this creamy dish. This is completely unsurprising considering rice pudding is cheap, filling, versatile and really delicious! There are so many ingredients you can add to make the perfect rice pudding. I can’t help but think that chocolate ranks among the best though.

Quick Hints and Tips

So, how do we manage to make this quick prep chocolate rice pudding so quick to prepare? Well, the key is not messing about too much with the ingredients before they go into the oven. It’s basically a case of throwing everything into a bowl, whisking it together and voila! (I think some of the very best recipes follow this exact format!)

The only crucial step prior to throwing all the ingredients in together is the dissolving of the cocoa powder. It’s important that you dissolve the powder into a little splash of milk first, before adding everything else, or it risks becoming a lumpy mess. This doesn’t take more than a few seconds of stirring though, and you’ll end up with an intense, chocolatey paste that forms the backbone of the chocolate rice pudding flavour. 

In addition to the coco powder, I also like to scatter in a few cheeky milk chocolate chips in my chocolate rice pudding. This just effortlessly gives you a bit of a chocolatey boost to that really elevates the taste. These aren’t essential, however if you can add extra chocolate then why on earth not ?!

Remarkable Rice

The rice of course, is an integral part of this quick prep chocolate rice pudding recipe and it’s important you choose the right variety.

Here in the UK, you can (helpfully) purchase bags labelled “pudding rice”. When you see this in the store, there’s no doubt or confusion; this is what you need! However, other countries don’t have such obvious labelling. What you need, is short-grained white rice. This type of rice ensures you get a soft and ‘sticky’ end result from a grain that will mop up all those lovely creamy, chocolate flavours. 

Basically, any short grain rice will work just fine for this quick prep recipe. A common short grain variety available is Aborio – an Italian rice used to make risotto. This definitely works well for rice pudding. As long as the grain you choose looks short and plump, you won’t go far wrong. 

Dreamy Dairy

Binding together the rice and chocolate is the milk and the cream. Now, it’s perfectly possible to make a decent rice pudding with just milk alone. However, we’re going for decadent luxury here, so double (heavy) cream is definitely the way forward! Just a small amount really brings out the creaminess which is why I’ve included it here.

Smooth Vanilla

Vanilla essence is the final crucial flavour in this quick prep chocolate rice pudding. Vanilla really enhances the flavour and sweetness of so many desserts I find, and that includes chocolate-based ones. This is why I’ve added a dash here as it just blends in really beautifully with all the flavours.

I am never without a bottle of vanilla essence in my store cupboard at home. Remember to use essence and not ‘vanilla flavouring’ though, as the latter is not usually made from real vanilla pods and therefore lacks the genuine flavour that we need.

Now, lets take a peak at a step by step guide to making the perfect quick prep chocolate rice pudding, with some useful pictures to help guide you….

Quick Prep Chocolate Rice Pudding – Step By Step Method

Makes 4 Servings

STEP BY STEP

Step 1

Start by pre-heating your oven to 160c / 140c fan (320f / 285f fan)

Grab yourself a medium casserole dish. In this, add 3 levels tablespoons of cocoa powder. Pour in a splash of milk (a few spoonfuls) and stir together with a spoon to form a smooth and lump-free paste. This shouldn’t take longer than about 30 seconds.

Step 2

Into the casserole dish, add 600mls (20 fl oz) of milk (any type is fine but I use semi-skimmed). Then add 200mls (6.7 fl oz) of double (heavy) cream, 4 level tablespoons of golden caster sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence. Whisk everything together until combined. About 20 seconds or so. I use a hand held whisk for this but there’s no reason you can’t use an electric one if preferred.

Step 3

Add to the casserole dish 100g (3.5 oz) pudding (short grain) rice and 3 tablespoons of milk chocolate chips. Give everything another quick stir to mix it all. Don’t worry if it all looks rather watery and the rice is ‘lost’ inside… it will all cook down beautifully and the rice will absorb those yummy flavours as the dish thickens up.

Step 4

Now it’s ready for the oven! Place the uncovered casserole dish into the preheated oven and cook for 2 hours until thick and creamy. Remove from the oven and serve!

Note there will be a ‘skin’ lying on the top of the cooked rice pudding. Some people like to peel this back and serve the skin-free pudding underneath. However, I like to add it all to the serving bowls – skin included – for extra flavour and texture, mmm.