Black Sticky Rice Sundae w/ Caramelized Pineapple

I fused together two traditional Thai desserts and gave it a bit of a twist, and the result was absolutely divine! Warm and luscious black sticky rice pudding with creamy coconut ice cream, refreshed by sweet-tart caramelized pineapple. It’s a beautiful dessert that can be easily made in advance, not to mention it’s gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan!

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4-6

• ½ cup Thai black sticky rice 
• 2 Tbsp white sticky rice
• Half a pandan leaf
• ⅓ cup finely chopped palm sugar (packed) or substitute a scant 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp tapioca starch
• Good coconut ice cream (See note)
• Caramelized pineapple (recipe follows)
• Sprinkles: roasted peanuts, unsalted, roughly chopped

Caramelized Pineapple

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup pineapple, cut into small pieces
• 3 Tbsp sugar

Note: It’s really important that you use good coconut ice cream with very pure coconut flavour. Look at the ingredient list and it should not contain any dairy products, and should be made almost entirely of coconut milk, with few other ingredients for maximum coconut flavour. If you can find young coconut ice cream, even better! If you really cannot find coconut ice cream, good vanilla ice cream should work as well.

INSTRUCTIONS

For the black sticky rice pudding: Combine the two types of rice and wash the rice 2-3 times. Soak in room temperature water for at least 3 hours and up to overnight. Drain, rinse, and place into a medium sized pot.

Cover the rice with 2 cups of water, add pandan leaf band bring to a boil. Once boiled, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30-35 minutes, stirring frequently once the rice starts to thicken. Once the water dries up, keep adding more water, about 2-3 Tbsp at a time, and continue to stir over low heat until the rice is done. The rice is done when the pudding is very thick and creamy, and the rice grains have split—this should take at least 30 minutes. You can remove the pandan leaf any time after it has infused for 15 minutes.

Add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve. Dissolve the tapioca starch in just enough water to dissolve it, and add half of the starch slurry into the pudding, stir until the rice is thickened and starts to bubble again. If you want it to be thicker, stir in the other half. Remove from heat.

For the caramelized pineapple: Add butter to a flat saute pan and turn the heat on to medium. While the butter is melting, toss together the pineapple and sugar. Once the butter has melted and the bubbling has stopped, add the pineapple and spread it out into one layer. Let cook without stirring until the pineapple is well browned. Once browned, give the pineapple a quick stir and remove from heat.

To assemble: In a sundae cup, a martini glass, or a small bowl, place the warm black sticky rice pudding on the bottom (as much as you like!). Place some pineapple on the rice and top with the coconut ice cream. Sprinkle roasted peanuts on top, and enjoy!

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Black sticky rice sundae