I took the plunge and bought a pound of vanilla bean the other day off the internet. The vanilla arrived in a small box and was vacuum sealed in a plastic bag; it made me feel like our UPS man was a drug dealer.  The second I opened the box, my kitchen was instantly perfumed with the heady scent of Tahitian Vanilla. My excitement grew knowing how many recipes I could knock out with this vanilla hoard at my disposal. I quickly flipped through the latest issue of Donna Hay Magazine, knowing that there was a beautiful spread about rice pudding. I located the recipe Vanilla Ginger Crumble Rice Pudding and dove right in.

Creamy arborio rice mixed with vanilla beans, drizzled with maple syrup and topped with crumbled gingersnaps. It’s simple and comforting and it was exactly what I needed after spending the morning at a damp & foggy pumpkin patch surrounded by 3 year olds. Think dessert risotto with a slight ginger spike! I promise you won’t need a store bought air-freshener when you have the intoxicating scent of vanilla rice pudding cooking your stove.

And we’re off!

Ingredient party. It’s a small party, the best kind.

Vanilla bean gets scraped. Put that bean into a jar of sugar. Instant vanilla sugar!

Ingredients are placed in a large saucepan.

A little boiling happens and then a lid goes on.

A few gingersnaps get crumbled. Maple syrup comes out of hiding.

Rice pudding gets stirred a bunch of times and then it sets.

A little rice pudding is placed in a nice bowl.

And that that bowl is topped with gingersnaps and drizzled with maple syrup.

All is right in the world when you’ve got a bowl full of Vanilla & Ginger Crumble Rice Pudding.

I’m pretty sure of this.

Vanilla & Ginger Crumble Rice Pudding

Serves 4

(recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazine)

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 8 ginger snaps, crumbled

Place the rice, milk, sugar, vanilla and ground ginger into a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes or until rice is tender. Drizzle the cooked pudding with maple syrup and top with crumbled cookies to serve.