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Rice was imported into Elizabethan England, therefore it was usually listed in household account books with other luxury items, such as spices and almonds. It was usually cooked in puddings and pottages. The "farms" mentioned in the original recipe refers to the containers in which puddings were cooked and stored. It is probably a variant dialect of our word "form."

Original recipe:
Take halfe a pound of Rice, and steep it in new Milk a whole night, and in the morning drain it, and let the Milk drop away, and take a quart of the best, sweetest and thickest Cream, and put the Rice into it, and boyl it a little. Then set it to cool an hour or two, and after put in the yolkes of half a dozen Eggs, a little Pepper, Cloves, Mace, Currants, Dates, Sugar, and Salt, and having mixt them well together, put in great store of Beef suet well beaten, and small shred, and so put it into the farms, and boyle them as before shewed, and serve them after a day old.
Gervase Markham
The English Hous-wife

The modern version:

Combine rice and milk in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes or until rice is soft. Drain off excess milk if you wish. Add cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and blend thoroughly. Add to rice and stir to distribute evenly. Cover and cook for 5 minutes over low heat. Serve warm or chilled.

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