› Browse Recipes › Special Rice Pudding — Three Flavors: Mocha, Dulce de Leche & Lemon

by Victor Heredia

recipe medium Peruvian

Special Rice Pudding — Three Flavors: Mocha, Dulce de Leche & Lemon

Three premium versions of Peruvian-style rice pudding for street food business: mocha (coffee + cacao), dulce de leche (manjar blanco), and lemon. Each uses a cinnamon-clove infusion base, whole milk blended with powdered milk, and an evaporated milk finish with butter.

download Extracted 2026-04-01

20m Prep

45m Cook

1h 5m Total

3 Servings

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Ingredients

Base (per flavor batch)

150 g White rice, short/medium grain, high starch (rinsed once lightly — do not over-wash or starch is lost)
500 g Cinnamon-clove infusion (strained, used to cook each rice batch)
500 ml Whole UHT milk (blended with milk powder before adding to rice)
20 g Powdered milk (blended into whole milk to intensify dairy flavor)
200 ml Evaporated milk (added at the very end for a final boil)
11 g Salted butter (adds gloss and creamy dairy finish)

Dulce de Leche Flavor

220 g Dulce de leche (manjar blanco) (added once rice is fully cooked and liquid is thickening)

Infusion (shared for all 3 batches)

10 g Cinnamon sticks (broken into pieces to release essence)
5 g Whole cloves (whole)
2 liters Water (for infusion)

Lemon Flavor

180 g White sugar (cooked into a syrup with lemon juice and infusion before adding to rice)
2 lemons Lemon zest (grate only the green/yellow outer layer, not the white pith)
to taste Lemon juice (juiced from the side to avoid seeds; cooked down as a syrup with sugar and infusion)
4 drops Green food coloring, lemon shade (stirred in gently at the end) optional

Mocha Flavor

150 g Brown sugar (add only once rice is fully cooked)
15 g Instant coffee (blended with milk and cacao powder)
10 g Cacao powder (blended with milk and coffee)

Steps

1

Make the infusion: combine 10 g cinnamon sticks and 5 g whole cloves in 2 liters of water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 10 minutes, then turn off heat and let steep until needed. This one infusion serves all three flavor batches.

Tip: Keep the infusion covered after turning off heat so it stays warm and continues to infuse.

~10 min
2

For each flavor batch: rinse 150 g of short/medium grain rice once lightly — do not scrub or over-wash or the starch needed for creaminess is lost. Place in a pot, add 500 g strained infusion. Cook over low heat, stirring every 2–3 minutes until the infusion is fully absorbed. Total cooking time 35–40 minutes.

Tip: Once it reaches a boil, stir constantly. Never leave unattended — the high starch content means it will stick and burn quickly.

~35 min
3

Blend 500 ml whole milk with 20 g powdered milk until fully combined. Once the rice has absorbed all the infusion, add this milk mixture. Bring to a gentle boil on low heat, stirring constantly.

~10 min
4

Once the rice is fully cooked (verify by tasting — grains should be completely soft), add the sweetener for each flavor. Mocha: add the blended coffee+cacao+milk mixture and 150 g brown sugar. Dulce de leche: add 220 g manjar blanco. Lemon: add the prepared lemon syrup (see step 5).

Tip: Always add sugar AFTER the rice is fully cooked. Adding it too early prevents the rice grains from softening properly.

~5 min
5

For the lemon version only — make the lemon syrup: combine white sugar, freshly strained lemon juice, and approximately 50 g infusion in a small saucepan. Cook until reduced to a light syrup. This step is essential to break down the citric acid so it does not curdle the milk when mixed in.

Tip: Never add raw lemon juice directly to milk — it will curdle. The syrup technique neutralizes the acid first.

~8 min
6

Add 11 g butter to each batch and stir to melt. Then add 200 ml evaporated milk, bring to one final boil and turn off heat immediately.

Tip: For the lemon version, stir in 4 drops of green food coloring after turning off heat.

~5 min
7

Allow to cool slightly before serving. The puddings thicken as they cool. Stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on the surface. Can be served warm or chilled.

Tip: Cold rice pudding has a lower glycemic index than warm — prefer serving cold when possible.

Nutrition (per serving)

380

Calories

Protein

65g

Carbs

10g

Fat

Fiber

Cultural Context

Arroz con leche is one of Peru's most beloved street desserts, sold in markets, picanterías, and by walking vendors across the country. Victor Heredia presents three flavored variants designed for small business owners who want to differentiate their product. The mocha version blends the Andean love of cacao with café culture, while the manjar blanco (dulce de leche) flavor is deeply rooted in colonial Peruvian confectionery tradition.