This one of those traditional old school British desserts - which we call puddings - that really deserves to find favor on this side of the Atlantic too: with its rich breadcrumby custard base and meringue topping, a layer of jam between the two, this is a very aptly named dessert.
For a frozen yogurt that’s dense and creamy—not icy and rock-hard like most versions—the key is controlling the water in the base so that the number of large ice crystals that formed during freezing was minimized.
If bread pudding is mostly bread, it makes sense that the better your bread, the better the pudding. I usually make my bread pudding with challah, the way Luther liked it best. For this book, I decided to mix things up a little. This recipe uses raisin-cinnamon bread for that hint of spice I love. The big secret, as with all bread pudding, is to use stale bread; otherwise, it will disintegrate in the custard.
Cupboard staples, flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and milk combine over heat into a luscious chocolate pudding.
One summer, my family and I went on vacation to Scotland, where I ate haggis every day and enjoyed truly the best fish-and-chips in the world in the lovely little seaside town of Anstruther. On the short drive from Anstruther back to St. Andrews, a pasture full of Holstein-Friesian cows caught our eye. We just had to stop. Turns out, they were grazing in the pasture of a dairy that had a restaurant. Stuffed though we may have been, we just couldn’t keep ourselves from buying some fresh cheeses and several desserts. This one was our favorite. Thank you for the recipe, St. Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company!
This version of banana bread is more cake than bread, and I wouldn’t be able to get away with saying “There’s banana in it, so it’s basically breakfast!” because no, this is not breakfast. This is a chocolatey, buttery, almost decadent thing and probably not appropriate for anyone to eat first thing in the morning. While mascarpone will give you the richest, moistest cake with the best flavor, sour cream or yogurt will get the job done; just make sure they are full-fat.
This recipe is old-fashioned in the sense that it doesn't involve any canned milk, powders, or artificial flavorings. It results in a flan that is not too eggy thanks to the use half-and-half instead of milk to help thicken it.
Most countries have their own version of rice pudding, and this has a bit of a Scandinavian vibe, with the inclusion of cardamom, a favorite Nordic spice.
As I said in the introduction [of Desserts LaBelle], “Sweet Talk from Patti,” sweet potato pie is in my blood. Any and every sweet potato pie I make is compared to the OG: Chubby’s version, which was also the inspiration behind my dear friend Norma’s recipe. (It’s in my first cookbook, LaBelle Cuisine. If you don’t have the book, last time I checked the recipe was also online.) Why I can’t leave a good thing alone, I don’t know. This is my current rendition, which starts with Chubby’s pie and throws in some new tricks, too. If you have been boiling sweet potatoes for your pie, try the microwave method here. It is a lot quicker.
While there is no consensus on how Lemon Chess pie got its name, there is Splendid Table consensus that Lemon Chess pie belongs on the Thanksgiving Table. Bright and light, it is exactly the counterpoint we need at the Thanksgiving feast.