Risalamande is a Danish national dessert eaten in nearly every household on Christmas Eve. It is made of rice pudding, vanilla, sugar, cream and almonds, and traditionally it is served with lukewarm cherry sauce.

Risalamande can be eaten all year round but for some reason, most people only eat it at Christmas time.

Every household has got their own recipe. Some like their Risalamande quite firm, others without almonds but I like my Risalamande to be airy and with lots of almonds.

If you don’t like cherries, serve the Risalamande with any fruit sauce e.g. black berry sauce.

Most Danes feel strongly about the cherry sauce, and some would be really offended if anything else but cherry sauce was served but feel free to serve it with any sauce you like.

As far as I can remember, my mother has always served Risalamande with whatever she had in the freezer: Blackberry, blueberry, raspberry or strawberry, and it tasted wonderful.

When you eat Risalamande on Christmas Eve, you are surposed to play a game. The winner gets a small prize, usually a pig made of marzipan, a small board game or some chocolate.
Learn how to play.