I’m incredibly, incredibly excited about sharing this one. For months I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Bailey’s Almande (a vegan version of Bailey’s traditional Irish Cream! Excitement endorphins, start your engines). Since it recently became available at my local LCBO (or lick-bo as I’m typically wont to call it), I of course had to buy it. And then immediately find uses for it to check out how versatile it can actually be. What better combo, thought I, then making mango sticky rice? (which I’ve also never made, but really love whenever I have it), but instead of using only coconut milk, replacing it (at least partially) with vegan Bailey’s? Yes, one could say I’m being a bit liberal about what I’m deeming “Irish” here, but, whatevs, just keep eating more of this alcohol-infused dessert and you’ll forget all about it, I promise đ . And so arrives this week’s themed post, Ireland meet Thailand, Thailand, meet Ireland. Your mashup country name will of course be “Thaireland”. Don’t let my completely and just this minute invented name fool you however. It will not be a land composed entirely of tires (although frankly, that sounds kind of fun. Like instead of walking around everywhere like a sucker, you could bounce from tire to tire! Doesn’t that sound gloriously trampoliny and fun? Mother nature really needs to start rethinking how she’s created the landscapes of the world. I’m waiting on my invite from her to join the Topographical Invention Council (TIC might not be the best  acronym for an outdoorsy based council, but at least it’s fitting đ )).
For those who are interested however, I will begin with a completely and unabashedly honest (and unpaid for in case you were wondering) review of how Bailey’s Almande stacks up to my admittedly long ago memories of traditional Bailey’s:
The very minute I brought the bottle into my house, it was instantly opened by moi so that it could be tasted immediately (we had just come in from grocery shopping and I didn’t even wait to put anything away. I’d already been waiting too long for this dammit!). First impression? Super smooth, creamy, delicious. I loved it, it tasted way better than I thought it would. Full disclosure however, it does not taste like Bailey’s. If you too decide to procure this delightful product, I strongly suggest going into it expecting it to taste like deliciousness in it’s own right, because although it’s admittedly been a long time since I’ve had real Bailey’s, this did not have that Irish Cream flavour that I remember. This discovery would have absolutely no bearing on my intention to use it in mango sticky rice however, so let us soldier on here shall we?
It’s actually funny to me how much I enjoy rice based desserts (rice pudding, mango sticky rice etc.) because I find rice in savoury dishes is typically bland and dry and I am thus not the biggest fan and usually either avoid it completely, or use the bare minimum necessary to absorb the liquids included in whatever dish I’m having. Unfortunately however, Kevin is the complete opposite from me. He’s cool with rice with dinner, but despises it in dessert form. And thus, I almost never make rice pudding or anything else reminiscent of rice pudding đ . Too bad for you this time around though Kevin…bwahahahahaha!!!!! (although that being said, he actually seemed to like this one, so who knows, maybe his dislike is strictly confined to rice pudding. Still sad for me, but perhaps slightly less sad đ ).
Anyway, now that I’ve got that out of my system (how much Bailey’s did you have there Amber? What?? I had to do multiple taste tests to ensure the quality of my opinion and that it wasn’t just a one sip fluke. I also needed to try it in various formats. On it’s own, in coffee, mixed with almond milk, mixed with cashew milk, poured over ice cream. I’m serious when it comes to science đ ).
Please enjoy my complete lack f skill with slicing a mango. Now you can feel better about yourself đ .
Yield: 2 large or 4 small servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sticky rice (or if you’re me and can’t find official sticky rice, use calbrose rice)
- 2/3 cup water
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup Bailey’s Almande
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon custard powder (or cornstarch)
- 1 ripe mango
- toasted coconut for topping (optional)
Directions
- Combine rice, water, and salt in a medium saucepan and set over moderate heat on the stove. Once the water comes up to a boil, reduce the heat all the way down to low, cover, and let cook for 10 â 15 minutes, or until all/ most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat.
- In a small pot, bring the coconut milk, Bailey’s, brown sugar and shredded coconut to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove about 1/4 cup of your coconut mixture and set aside.
- Stir the remainder of your coconut/Bailey’s mixture into the pot of cooked sticky rice. Cover, and set aside, allowing the rice to absorb most of the liquid (about 10-15 minutes).
- While it’s absorbing, in a small bowl whisk together custard powder and a couple of teaspoons of water. Whisk into your 1/4 cup of coconut/ Baileys mixture and add a little bit more brown sugar to taste and heat in a small saucepan on the stove for a couple of minutes, or until thickened slightly (you could easily do this in the microwave as well if you don’t want to mess up  another pot. Just keep an eye on it in the microwave). If you’re mixture gets too thick, add a little non-dairy milk to thin it out to your liking.
- Slice your mango into strips (or whatever size you desire).
- To serve, place rice in a bowl, top with mango, drizzle with thickened coconut/ Bailey’s mixture and sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired.
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