The World's Best Ice Cream Ever: Black Cherry Goat-Milk Ice Cream

This icecream was so groan-inducing, so rich, so fragrant, so tart and sweet... dear Lord. The recipe is adapted from the Vitamix Whole Foods Cookbook's Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe.

Throw the ingredients into your Vitamix (or reglar ole blender, if you must):
1 c. half/half
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. dry goat milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. ice cubes
2 c. frozen black cherries

If you are of the Vitamix tribe, tamp the ingredients down, blend for 20-60 seconds until the four mounds form. Serve quickly! It melts! If you are of the reglar ole blender tribe, just blend it until it's blended, and then throw it all in the freezer for a while.

Sacred Holy Orange Rolls

Sacred Holy Orange Rolls:

From a well-used notecard

2 Cups milk

1/2 cups shortening (yikes! It was good with butter)

1/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/4 tsp sugar

3 beaten eggs

2 teaspoons salt

5 3/4 cups flour

 1 grated orange rind

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

 1/4 cup melted butter for the tops

 Here's the instructions as they're written in my mom's handwriting:

"Melt shortening, sugar and milk (scalded)-- cool, soak yeast in water and sugar-- combine milk yeast eggs in big bowl-- stir in salt and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth and glossy. Add rest of flour, mix well. Cover and let double [about 45 minutes] (quite sticky)-- punch down-- roll out to 1/3 inch rectangle (let the rectangle rest if it won't roll out again)."

 Combine the orange rind, 1/2 cup sugar and butter. Spread orange rind mixture on rectangle.

Roll the rectangle up. Cut rolled dough into 3/4 inch slices, and twist them into knots or blobs or bows. Place them in greased muffin tins or on a greased sheet, and let them rise for half an hour. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.

Joy’s Orange Ice Milk

Joy’s Orange Ice Milk

Combine in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved:

1 ½ tsp orange zest

1 ½ c. sugar

1 ½ c. orange juice

¼ c. lemon juice (my oj was really tart already—I just subbed OJ for the lemon juice)

¾ c. mashed bananas

Stir the mixture gradually into:

4 c. very cold whole milk

Pour into your ice cream maker. Voila!

Rating: A

Notes: Custard ice cream always works better for me—they freeze better, thaw better—but this is VERY good, and firmed up very nicely after a night in the freezer.

Joy's Butter Almond Ice Cream

Joy’s Butter Almond Ice Cream

1 c. packed brown sugar
½ c. water
1/8 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 c. whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. lightly beaten heavy cream
½ c. chopped toasted almonds

Boil the brown sugar, water and salt, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil for 2 minutes. Beat the eggs, and slowly beat the syrup into the eggs. Cook in a double boiler until the mixture thickens slightly. Add and stir the butter until it melts. Strain and refridgerate overnight. When you’re ready to make the ice cream, add the milk and vanilla, and cream. Freeze in your ice cream maker, and when the ice cream is almost frozen, toss in the almonds.

Rating: A+. Why do I bother with these ratings? Of course this is superlative. It’s amazing. Astounding. Mind bending. Give in. Go ahead. You will never be the same. You’ll certainly NEVER feel the need to buy ice cream again…

Aunty Adele Loo's Shockingly Delicious Bread Pudding

The name says it all, folks:
Aunty Adele Loo's Shockingly Delicious Bread Pudding

2 c. warm milk
5 c. bread cubes
2 beaten eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. raisins (optional)
3 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 300. Pour warm milk over bread cubes in a large bowl. Add and mix together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and raisins. Pour into a greased 8" pan. Top with dots of butter and bake for 45 minutes until knife comes out clean.
Aunty Adele adds in all caps, "Please note, I usually double the recipe and bake in a 9x13" pan"

Rating: A slobbery and infatuated A+
Notes: Aunty Adele brought this to a potluck and knocked all the other ladies on their butts. She finally acquiesced to our begging for the recipe by bringing about 50 printed copies to church. My copy, crunchy now with butter and milk stains, is folded cozily into the jacket of my Joy. But I figured I should put it here for safe-keeping, too. Thanks Aunty!

Whipped Cream

Whipped Cream
Yes, this is shockingly basic. But it's the kind of thing I seem to be always looking up to double check...

1 c. cold heavy cream
1 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp corn starch

Put the cream into a chilled bowl (put it in the fridge for a while, or put it in an ice bath, or this morning's choice, balance it precariously on a frozen bag of edamame). Whip the daylights out of it. When it's about halfway there (thickening but not really taking shape) add the sugar and corn starch. Whip it some more-- if it's for a topping, stop when it's still glossy but is just starting to hold soft peaks. If it's for decorating, whip it stiff-- till it's practically butter. Yum!

How To Cook Everything's Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate Pudding

2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch salt
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. half and half
2 tbsp softened butter
1 tsp vanilla

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or small saucepan. Meanwhile combine the sugar with cornstarch and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and half and half. Stir the liquid into the powders and heat over medium heat, whistk to eliminate lumps and then stir until the mixture thickens. The recipe claimed 10 minutes, but after 25 I finally cranked the heat to medium high and got the job done in another five. Add the melted chocolate, and stir to combine. Add the butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, directly on the surface of the pudding. Refrigerate.

Rating: B-
Notes: Sad, huh! It seems so right! But the Joy of cooking vanilla recipe was just so much better. And the half and half and butter were excessive-- they didn't add anything. Too bad. Still infinitely better than anything instant, with a nice dark chocolate flavor. I'm just convinced there are better chocolate pudding recipes out there.

Joy's Quick Coffee Cake

Joy's Quick Coffee Cake

1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/4-1/2 c. sugar
1 large egg
2/3 c. milk
1/2 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp lemon zest

Struesel:
combine until crumbly:

1/3 c. sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon,
1/4-1/2 c. ground nuts

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a pan-- cake or cupcake. Sift together the flour, powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter and add the sugar till fluffy. Add the egg and milk. Add the dry ingredients and the vanilla. Stir until smooth. Spread in the greased pan. Top with the Struesel. Bake about 25 minutes

Rating: A. Why do I bother with these ratings? If I put it on here, I thought it was delicious. So. A. So good, so buttery-- in fact, maybe (dare I say this blasphemy?) a little too buttery. Next time I might halve the butter. But amazing with tea for a Sunday brunch.

Happy Birthday Matt Trifle

Trifle is Matt's favorite, and this year I made a good 'un.
Happy Birthday Matt! Trifle

Pound cake
couple teaspoons of rum (or more, if you're WILD and WICKED. Or a pirate.)
Doubled recipe of vanilla pudding
Strawberry preserves
Thinly sliced green apples
purple seedless grapes, cut in half

In a glass bowl, put down a layer of cake slices, and sprinkle them with the rum. Around the edges of the bowl, arrange a layer of the apple slices and grapes so they're visible. Then pour on half of the pudding (still warm and unset is fine). Then another layer of cake slices, more jam some more fruit, and the rest of the pudding. Arrange the rest of the fruit artistically on top. Chill a bit before serving. Voila! You may get reviews as spectacular as I got: "Wow, Becca, this is a good--fruit salad?"

Joy's Vanilla Pudding

After this, you will never deign to put one of those Yellow #5 powdered jello atrocities together again. This... is the true and perfect meaning of pudding. Testify.

Joy's vanilla Pudding
Mix thoroughly in a medium saucepan

1/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt

gradually stir in, making a smooth runny paste

1/4 c. milk

whisk in:

1 3/4 c. milk

stirring constatnyl, heat over medium heat until the mixture just comes to the simmer. Remove from the heat and stir 1/2 c. of the milk mixture slowly into:

1 large egg, well beaten.

Stir this back into the milk mixture, bring to a boil over medium heat, and continue to cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Stir in:

1/2 tsp vanilla.

Pour the pudding into a bowl or individual cups, then press plastic wrap directly onto the surface. refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Rating: A+ Try this. Just..... try it.

Coconut Rice Pudding

With coconut water, rather than milk or cream, this is a really light-tasting pudding. The intensity of the coconut flavor will depend on your liquid. We have a samoan coconut tree that makes huge generous coconuts full of very mild flavored water-- about a half gallon per nut!

Coconut Rice Pudding

1/2 c. sugar
3-4 c. coconut water
1-2 c. cooked white rice
Splash of Cream

Combine everything in a saucepan, and simmer for a long time. Maybe 40 minutes? Until the rice expands and absorbs all the liquid, and the pudding plops and glops (technical culinary terms, those.) Garnish the servings of pudding with drizzles of cream.

Apple Juice Gell-o

Apple Juice Gell-o
This recipe comes from the Knox gelatin box.
4 packets unflavored gelatin
1 c. cold apple juice
3 c. boiling hot apple juice

Sprinkle the gelatin on the cold juice, let it stand one minute. Add the hot juice and stir. Pour into a pan and chill. This is stiff enough that you can cut shapes out of it with cookie cutters! Wheee!

Cat Cora's Custard Ice Cream

Here it is! The vanilla ice cream I've been searching for my whole life:

Cat Cora's Custard Ice Cream

4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 vanilla bean, split
1 1/2 c. heavy cream

In a large saucepan, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, and salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture, and throw in the open bean. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and "coats the back of a wooden spoon." (one of those baffling culinary directions that has befuddled me for years-- I just watch for a slight thickening.)
Strain the mixture into a cold bowl, cover and refridgerate over night. Add the cold cream and freeze in your ice cream maker. Go to heaven.

Rating: A drooling and besotted A+

Joy's Vanilla Ice Cream

For Christmas I got my husband two vials of vanilla beans and we've been carefully hoarding them until we can find some recipes worthy of the black beauties. This seemed to be a good one to start on...

Joy's Vanilla Ice Cream

1 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. sugar
pinch salt
1 vanilla bean
2 c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk

Combine one cup of cream, the sugar and the salt in a saucepan. Split and scrape the vanilla bean in, and add the open bean. Bring to a simmer and dissolve the sugar.
Pour into a bowl and add the remaining cream and milk.
Refridgerate overnight, remove the bean, and freeze in a ice cream maker.

Rating: A. Totally easy and very yummy.