Another tried and true recipe for you today. This recipe doesn’t come from my mom’s stash, but from Chris’s! He lived in Portugal for a few years and while there he found this custard recipe. He made it just about every afternoon for something like 3 months (and gained something like 20 lbs).

Point being, this recipe is simple enough for a single man to make during a short lunch break and delicious enough to crave every day. That is, if you’re a custard/pudding person.

Whinnie the Pooh’s Baked Custard

makes about 9 small custard cups or 6 medium custard cups

• 3 cups whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup (or vanilla)

Preheat oven to 375º F. Grease a 1 quart baking dish or 6-9 custard cups (place cups in a 9×13 filled about halfway with water). In a medium saucepan, heat up the milk to a simmer, not boiling. While waiting for the milk to heat, break eggs into a medium mixing bowl and whisk together sugar and salt. Pour hot milk into the bowl and stir. Add vanilla or maple syrup (the real stuff). Pour into baking pan or cups and bake. Bake custard cups for 20-25 minutes, bake dish for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. The custard will still be giggly when the knife comes out clean. Cool and serve.

Enjoy it plain or Serve custard with cream, fruit, maple or caramel syrup.

Trust me, this stuff will disappear quickly.

I thought I would share more of my mom’s tried-and-true recipes that she’s passed down to me. This week: coffee cake. This recipe is good at all altitudes (from sea level to 6300 ft elevation). Cooking times have varied, but flavor and texture have not.

It’s a simple recipe. Back when Chris and I first got married I lost the original cookbook that my mom had given me and looked to a cookbook given to us for our wedding, and the ingredient list was 5 miles long! I didn’t have the 30 ingredients it required! This one is much easier with 11 ingredients. Let’s make some together, shall we?

Tried and True Coffee Cake

Makes 1 9×12 pan – enough for 6 people

• 1/2 cup oil (for denser, moist texture use: 1/4 cup oil and 1/3 cup greek yogurt)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt

Preheat your oven to 375F and grease a glass 9×13 baking pan. In a large bowl; whisk oil, egg and milk. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir and fold into batter until smooth. Pour into greased 9×13 pan and sprinkle with streusel. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit for a minute or two before serving. Serve with Greek yogurt or unsweetened whipped cream and a little maple syrup (the real stuff!).

Streusel Topping

Makes about 1 cup

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup pecans (optional)

Melt butter, combine ingredients with a fork. Crumble evenly over coffee cake batter.

So, I had to get creative getting this picture. I set aside one slice of coffee cake for shooting this recipe, but Penelope had different plans. She massacred all of this cake, save for a tiny sliver. She’s obsessed with this breakfast. Who would fight dessert for breakfast? I never do.