Vanilla-Chocolate Swirl Pudding & Ice Cream

Throwback: Let's stroll down Memory Lane, all the way back to ... April 2016.

I like to take homemade pudding, and put it in the freezer to make "ice cream." Some varieties of pudding work better for this than others. In this case, I made vanilla pudding (without egg), and wanted to turn it into Vanilla-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. So, I added some chocolate chips to the cooling/still-very-warm pudding. When I went to mix them in, the chips, of course, melted, and turned into this swirl, on the left. The resulting "ice cream" is on the right. It was cold, sweet, and much like ice cream in some ways, so that was enough for me. 

Traditional Rizogalo (Greek Rice Pudding)

This is another Greek Rice Pudding recipe from Kouzouna's Kitchen . I'd only made a small batch of the other one from a few days ago, so I decided to make a complete batch of this one. I couldn't get it as thick as the other one, but it was soft and creamy. I really liked the flavor that a cinnamon stick gave, when cooked in the pudding, as well as some vanilla extract.

Kouzouna's Kitchen Website, Traditional Rizogalo Recipe (Greek Rice Pudding)

Kouzouna's Kitchen Facebook

Rizogalo (Greek Rice Pudding)

This is from a recipe by Kouzouna's Kitchen. The original recipe contained coconut milk, but as I had some regular milk opened, I used that, instead. I noticed that the website's other rice pudding recipe called for a cornstarch-milk mixture to thicken it; I decided to use that idea to thicken this pudding, as I didn't have quite enough rice. The pudding smelled heavenly, with the cinnamon stick cooked in it and the vanilla added at the end. Later, after it was cold, I tried some. This pudding was very thick and creamy, sweet but not too sweet. Awesome recipe!

Kouzouna's Kitchen Website, Rizogalo: Greek Rice Pudding

Kouzouna's Kitchen Facebook

Vanilla Mahalabia (Middle Eastern Rice Pudding)

This was made with rice flour, according to SmileyGirl230's recipe on YouTube. It's very thick and luxurious, and I added some ground cardamom in addition to the vanilla extract. Very soothing and creamy after a spicy meal, or just when you need a little pick-me-up during the day!

SmileyGirl230 YouTube, How to Make Mahalabia - Easy Rice Pudding

Vanilla Muhalabiya (Pudding) Ice Cream with Pomegranate Syrup

The ice cream, which was a Middle Eastern pudding that I froze, wasn't photographing well by itself. (My camera has trouble with very light monocolor foods like this.) Since I'd eaten it a few times served with the syrup, I tried that approach of photographing it; this seemed to work better. For the syrup, I boiled some pomegranate juice with a simple syrup, and it was successful, if a bit too sweet. I must say, though, that it went very well with the ice cream! 

Chocolate-Buttermilk Squares cake, 

with Muhalabiya Vanilla Ice Cream

The above is Chocolate-Buttermilk Squares cake, with Muhalabiya Vanilla Ice Cream sprinkled with cinnamon. The cake recipe is from Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking, while the muhalabiya is from Habeeb Salloum's Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa. After the cake cooled, I covered it and kept it in the fridge, where it lasted for a couple of weeks.

Although I often just try to make the muhalabiya thick, and then put it in the freezer when cool, this time, I put it in an ice-cream maker before the freezer. The cake recipe uses buttermilk and baking soda, rather than eggs; I used leftover whey (liquid) from making paneer, for the buttermilk. I also used oil, rather than butter, and regular unsweetened cocoa powder, rather than Dutch-process as in the recipe.

Muhallabiyah (vanilla pudding)

Another dish, with chocolate chips.

Muhallabiyah, Vanilla Pudding (with some chocolate chips).

Based on recipe in Habeeb Salloum's Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa. This is one of the few recipes I found for any kind of a vanilla pudding that didn't contain eggs. After it's cooled in the fridge a bit, I like to put most of it in the freezer, for a light "ice cream."