Are your chickens so generous that you have extra eggs?  Blogger Michele Cook shares ideas and recipes for desserts that use lots of eggs.  Everyone needs dessert now and then..

What’s your favorite way to eat eggs? This is probably the most popular question I hear each week as I hand over cartons of eggs to eager customers at the Clifton Forge Downtown Market. My answer always comes as a surprise. You see as much as I like a good bacon, egg and cheese sandwich my sweet tooth wins the war over any savory cooking when it comes to terms like ‘favorite’. So, when people ask me what my favorite way to eat eggs is, my answer always involves an egg heavy dessert.

Lemon Curd

My youngest son is a big fan of all things citrus, so when a friend of mine made some lemon curd and described it as “rich and delicious, it tastes like summer sunshine” I had to give it a try. She wasn’t lying. This recipe is adapted from the food network is a great way to use up some extra eggs. This simple dessert calls for four whole eggs and can be made in about 20 minutes. You can use the curd in cakes (and use up more eggs) or pour it over cookies as a glaze. It’s a quick and delightful way to use up some of those extra eggs your chickens are blessing you with. Besides, who doesn’t want to taste summer sunshine?

Frozen Peach Custard

Frozen peach custard is a summertime favorite in our house. When the peaches start coming in, the not so subtle hints follow. “Wow, these peaches are great, these would make awesome ice cream” my husband might say. Quickly followed by one (or all) of our children nodding their heads in agreement. Thanks guys, I get the hint.

It took me a few tries to get this recipe just right but now it has the perfect balance of peach flavor and sweetness.

Frozen Peach Custard Recipe

Ingredients

5 Peaches
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar (divided see instructions below)
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

Peel and cut peaches. Chop 4 peaches very fine (I use a food processor for this) and chop the 5th peach into ¼ inch chunks.

Put the finely chopped peaches in a strainer over top of a bowl or pot and sprinkle with ¼ cup of sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour.

Combine egg yolks and remaining ½ cup of sugar in a bowl and whisk until the mixture is a pale yellow.

Heat milk, cream and salt in a saucepan until it just comes to a boil.

Ladle the milk/cream mixture into the egg/sugar mixture slowly and while whisking the eggs briskly. (A stand mixer or an energetic child helps with this part.)

Once you have combined about half of the milk/cream mixture with the egg/sugar mixture put both together in the saucepan. Heat to 170 -175 degrees or until the back of a wooden spoon is coated and stays separate if you run your finger through it.

Stir in the juice that is below your strainer and the vanilla

Chill 3 – 4 hours

Put into an ice cream machine following the manufacturers instructions for time. Put in finely chopped peaches about 10 minutes before the ice cream is complete and the larger chunks a minute or two before it is complete. Custard will be a soft serve consistency, pop in the freezer to get a harder custard.

Makes about 2 pints.

Chocolate Cake (gluten free)

Now that we have talked about my family’s favorite egg heavy desserts, let’s talk about mine. I love chocolate. Sometimes I eat it for breakfast. (don’t judge). If you look up chocoholic in the dictionary, there is a good chance you will find my picture next to it. With that information it should come as no surprise my favorite egg heavy dessert is chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting. There is just one little hitch – I can’t eat gluten.

After I was diagnosed with a severe gluten allergy, I played with different recipes and different flour mixtures trying to find a gluten-free chocolate cake that didn’t taste gluten-free. I might not be able to eat gluten but I wanted my cake and I wanted to eat it too.

One day I attended a church function and there sat a chocolate cake, it looked delicious. My mouth watered in a very Homer Simpsonesque fashion, but I dared not touch it. Then someone whispered in my ear “it’s gluten-free shhh”.

Quicker than you can say “Amen” I scooped up a piece and grabbed a fork. Maybe it was just because I was in church, but I am pretty sure I heard angels singing when I put that first piece in my mouth. This was one of the best chocolate cakes I had ever eaten, with or without gluten! After I indulged in another piece (okay two) I tracked down the wizard who had created the cake.

I begged for the recipe expecting some strange mix of exotic flours that would cost me an arm and a leg, imagine my shock when I learned it was a box mix.

“Your cake is amazing” I gushed, “can I have the recipe?”

“Sure, it’s a box cake mix by King Arthur” the cake wizard said.

“You didn’t add anything to it?”

“Nope, just made it according to the instructions on the box”

WOW.

Now I make the cake all the time. The box calls for four eggs and I think using farm fresh eggs makes a big difference in how rich this cake comes out. I love to make it for group functions because everyone raves over it and they are amazed when I tell them it is gluten-free. Yep, now I am the cake wizard.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

You can’t have a great cake without a great frosting and I would be amiss if I didn’t share my recipe for chocolate butter cream. You will notice this recipe calls for coffee. Coffee is chocolate’s best friend, it intensifies the chocolate flavor in any recipe and this one is no different. I don’t even drink coffee but I add it to most chocolate recipes.

1 cup softened butter
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp coffee
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup cocoa powder
4 – 5 cups powdered sugar depending on your desired consistency.

In a bowl beat the butter for three or four minutes until the butter is very light in color

Add milk, coffee, vanilla and salt and beat until well mixed.

Slowly add the cocoa powder and powdered sugar until the frosting is the consistency you like. A little more powdered sugar makes for perfect piping icing, a little less makes it easier to spread.

Don’t Discount Dessert

When it comes to how you eat your eggs, don’t count out dessert. While a good quiche is nice, egg heavy desserts are even better. Eggs are an important part of cakes, cookies, ice cream, custards and a plenty of other sweet treats. Next time someone asks you what your favorite way to eat eggs is, you might just have to answer “in cake”.