Vanilla Raspberry Rice Pudding

Vanilla Raspberry Rice Pudding
By: Gale Gand with Lisa Weiss

For the rice pudding:
½ cup Arborio rice
2 cups milk
¼ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
6 Tablespoons sugar
½ pint raspberries

For the lemon-vanilla caramel:
¾ cup sugar
½ cup corn syrup
¾ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a strainer, rinse the rice under cold water for 1 minute, moving it around with your hands to remove some of the starch.

To make the rice pudding, in a medium saucepan combine the rice with the milk and vanilla bean and bring to a simmer. Cook until very tender, 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the sugar.

For the lemon-vanilla caramel, put the sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla bean in a medium high-walled saucepan (this will help protect you from the bubbling hot caramel) and bring to a boil. Cook until it turns golden amber. Using a wooden spoon, carefully stir in the lemon juice; the hot caramel will spatter a little at first. Once the caramel is smooth, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool. Transfer to a container and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To serve the pudding, divide about half of the lemon-vanilla caramel among 4-6 stemmed glasses, and then portion half of the chilled rice pudding on top. Add the raspberries and cover them with the remaining rice pudding. Finish by covering the surface of the puddings with another layer of caramel, which will ooze down to the bottom!

Vita’s Ricotta Donuts

Vita’s Ricotta Donuts
By: Gale Gand with Lisa Weiss

6 large eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
1lb whole or skim milk ricotta cheese
2 ½ cups flour
1 heaping Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
Powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar (optional)

In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, granulated sugar, ricotta, flour, baking powder, and vanilla until combined, being careful not to overmix the batter.

In a deep, heavy pot fitted with deep-frying thermometer, heat 2-3 inches of oil to 325 degrees. Drop the batter by small ice cream spoonfuls or small spoonfuls (use 2 teaspoons) into the oil and fry for 3 minutes, turning often, until golden brown on each side. You may need to fry the doughnuts in 2 batches to avoid crowding the pot. Break open a doughnut to make sure it’s cooked all the way through. Scoop out the doughnuts with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels or a brown paper bag to drain. Let the oil come back up to temperature and repeat with the remaining batter.

Dust the doughnuts with or roll them in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar and serve hot.

Cinnamon sugar is 1 teaspoon cinnamon combines with 1/3 cup granulated sugar (you can double or triple this and keep some in your pantry for whenever).

For a more traditional doughnut taste, along with the vanilla, add a pinch of nutmeg to the batter.

Makes 16 doughnuts