Mother Knows Best
Published in Food Network Magazine
We asked the moms of five Food Network stars to share some favorite family desserts—and dish about their kids.
Alex Guarnaschelli, the host of Alex’s Day Off, used to plead with her mom to stop repeating the same dessert and try something new. She was tired of her mom’s signature charlotte—a classic French cake made of ladyfingers, Bavarian cream and fruit. “But Alex’s dad was in love with it!” says Maria, a renowned cookbook editor. It turns out Dad wasn’t alone: Alex’s entire elementary school fell for the dessert, too. After Maria made one for a bake sale, administrators started begging for more to sell at scholarship fund-raisers, garnering $100 a pop. “I even made my own ladyfingers. I got so sick of making charlottes—for years I cranked out one a month,” she says. Inspired by the family’s frequent trips to Paris, she tried chocolate, strawberry and raspberry varieties, and the raspberry one became her family’s all-time favorite.
Alex’s Mom: Charlotte Russe with Raspberries
ACTIVE: 1 hr 5 min l TOTAL: 1 hr 5 min (plus chilling) l SERVES: 6 to 8
2 ¼-ounce packets unflavored gelatin
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
2½ cups whole milk, warmed
8 large egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
18 to 20 ladyfingers
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 cups raspberries
1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur
1. Sprinkle the gelatin over 3 tablespoons water in a bowl; let stand, 5 minutes. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water, stirring (do not let the bowl touch the water). Remove the bowl from the pot and slowly whisk in the milk; keep warm.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon vanilla in a large heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over the pot of hot
water and cook, stirring constantly with a
rubber spatula, until smooth and custardlike,
3 to 5 minutes. Slowly stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cook until it coats a spoon,
3 to 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pot and whisk in the gelatin mixture until smooth. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover and refrigerate until the mixture just begins to set, about 1 hour.
3. Line the walls of an 8-inch springform pan with ladyfingers, standing them up (trim the bottoms, if desired). Beat the heavy cream in a large bowl with a mixer until it holds soft peaks; sift 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar on top, add the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir. Gently fold 1½ cups whipped cream into the chocolate custard until smooth. Carefully fill the pan with the chocolate cream. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours.
4. Remove the sides of the pan and transfer the dessert to a platter. Gently toss the raspberries with the liqueur and the remaining 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar in a bowl, then arrange the berries on top of the cake.
Lots of kids get their start baking cakes from boxed mixes, but Secrets of a Restaurant Chef star Anne Burrell was making this Rose Geranium Cake from scratch by age 13.
Her mom, Marlene, who sells five varieties of rose geraniums in her upstate New York flower shop, first started baking the cakes based on a recipe she got from a friend: She puts a few leaves in the sugar overnight, then removes them before she adds the sugar for the icing. She also lines the cake pan with the delicate leaves and discards them after baking. It tastes like home to Anne. “She grew up in my garden,” Marlene says. “When she was 5, I’d pay her to pick herbs and flowers, two cents each.”
Anne’s Mom: Victorian Rose Geranium Cake
ACTIVE: 50 min l TOTAL: 1 hr 20 min (plus overnight infusing) l SERVES: 8
FOR THE CAKE
16 to 18 rose geranium leaves, rinsed
and patted dry
2
sticks unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
3
cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cups sugar
6 large egg whites
FOR THE FROSTING
4
rose geranium leaves, rinsed and patted dry
1½ cups sugar
2 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
5 drops red food coloring
1. Infuse the butter for the cake: Rub 6 rose geranium leaves to release the oils. Wrap the leaves around the butter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Infuse the sugar for the frosting: Rub 4 rose geranium leaves, then combine with 1½ cups sugar in an airtight container and let stand at room temperature overnight.
3. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350˚. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Rub the remaining 10 to 12 leaves and arrange in the pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, ¾ cup water and the vanilla. Unwrap the butter and remove the leaves. Beat the butter and 1¾ cups sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the egg whites, two at a time. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Pour the batter into the pan; bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; invert the cake onto a rack and remove the leaves.
4. Make the frosting: Remove the leaves from the sugar. Put the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and ⅓ cup cold water in a large heatproof bowl and beat with a mixer, 1 minute. Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. Beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the food coloring and beat until spreadable, about 2 minutes. Spread the frosting over the cake.
Unless he’s on the road taping Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Guy Fieri has no problem making it to his mom’s house on Mother’s Day: She lives right next door. Over the years, the two have celebrated with countless pecan pies, using a recipe handed down from Guy’s grandfather, a Georgia native. The pie is special, Penny says, because it’s not too sweet and has an extra layer of pecans on the bottom. She also sometimes adds a dash of vanilla to her homemade whipped cream. “That stuff from cans and tubs should be outlawed!” she says. Pecan pie was a real treat for the family when Guy was growing up because Penny rarely made dessert; she says she stuck to cooking “hippie food, like brown rice and steamed veggies.” When Guy gave
up chocolate as a 12-year-old, telling his mom, “It makes
you hyper,” Penny was relieved that he would still
indulge in this family favorite.
Guy’s Mom: Southern Pecan Pie
ACTIVE: 20 min l TOTAL: 1 hr 10 min (plus cooling) l SERVES: 8
1
sheet refrigerated piecrust
(half a 15-ounce package)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
5⅓ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups toasted pecan halves
Freshly whipped cream, for serving (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 375˚. Unroll the piecrust and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhang under and crimp the edge with a fork or your fingers. Bake the crust until light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a rack. (Leave the oven on.)
2. Whisk the corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl, then whisk into the corn syrup mixture.
3. Finely chop ½ cup pecans and spread evenly over the piecrust. Roughly chop another
½ cup pecans and mix into the corn syrup mixture, then pour the filling into the crust. Arrange the remaining 1 cup pecans on top
in a decorative pattern.
4. Bake the pie until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a rack. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
This family recipe stays tucked away in a vintage cookbook, on a note card written by Duff Goldman’s grandmother, but it’s certainly not sacred. “We adapt it to include whatever we happen to have in the house,” says the Ace of Cakes star’s mom, Jackie. “It’s the kind of thing you can’t screw up that badly,” she says. Jackie swaps in pecans when she’s out of walnuts and switches between pulpy and strained orange juice. Duff’s grandma once used white wine instead of sherry; this year, when Jackie ran out of sherry, she used Bénédictine. “It was so fantastic, we’re considering changing the recipe for good!” There’s also some wiggle room about when you can serve the dish: Duff remembers having the sweet, nutty Jell-O as a dessert, while Jackie prefers to eat it as a side with dinner, like cranberry sauce. Either way, there’s no debate about its deliciousness. “It’s definitely not something they’re teaching in culinary school,” Jackie says, “but every time Duff sees me, he asks me to make it for him.”
Duff’s Mom: Cherry-Walnut gelatin Mold
ACTIVE: 20 min l TOTAL: 25 min (plus chilling) l SERVES: 8 to 10
1
pound pitted sweet cherries
(frozen or canned), thawed if frozen
1¼ cups walnut halves
1 large (6-ounce) package cherry Jell-O
1 cup sherry
½ cup orange juice
Cooking spray
1. Drain the cherries and pat dry. Break the walnuts into pieces, then stuff each cherry with a nut. Reserve the extra nuts.
2. Combine the Jell-O and 2 cups boiling water in a bowl and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Stir in the sherry and orange juice.
3. Mist a 6-cup gelatin mold or glass bowl with cooking spray. Pour in the gelatin mixture and scatter the stuffed cherries and remaining walnuts evenly in the mold. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 8 hours or overnight.
4. Before serving, place the mold in a shallow bowl of hot water to loosen, about 5 minutes. Gently invert onto a platter.
Growing up, Cooking for Real host Sunny Anderson and her family moved constantly—23 places in 29 years—because her dad was in the military. But whether they were in Virginia or Germany, one thing could make anywhere feel like home: Mom’s funnel cake. Sunny’s mom, BJ, combined two recipes she snagged from a friend, and 9-year-old Sunny and her older brother, Tommy, started making the dessert once a month, no matter where they lived. Funnel cakes are great for kids to help with, BJ says, because “even the ugly ones taste good.”
She serves the sweet fried dough with a
pick-your-own-toppings bar of canned pie filling, strawberry coulis, whipped cream and even hot chocolate powder. Young Sunny loved this dessert because “you can usually only get it at a carnival or fair,” BJ says. “It’s such a novelty at home.”
Sunny’s Mom: Easy Classic Funnel Cake
ACTIVE: 25 min l TOTAL: 25 min l SERVES: 6
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup milk, plus more if needed
Canola oil, for frying
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Whipped cream and/or fruit sauce,
for serving (optional)
1. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg with the granulated sugar until pale. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture, then gently fold into the flour mixture. It should be a bit thicker than pancake batter but thin enough to pour. Add up to 3 tablespoons milk to loosen the batter, if needed.
2. Heat about 2 inches of canola oil in a large high-sided skillet or pot over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375˚. Meanwhile, mix the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Hold a funnel in one hand with your finger plugging the hole at the bottom. Pour 1 cup batter into the funnel. Hold the funnel over the hot oil and remove your finger from the hole, letting the batter drop in a spiral pattern all over the surface of the oil. It will look like lots of individual pieces at first, but as you continue to add batter, the pieces will fuse together. Cook until the batter floats and the underside is golden brown, about 30 seconds. Flip with tongs and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 30 more seconds. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and repeat to make 5 more funnel cakes. Dust with the cinnamon-sugar and serve with whipped cream and/or fruit sauce, if desired.
