Stephens loves to cook for family

Cayla Stephens’ love for cooking began at the young age of two, sitting on the counter with her late grandmother, Pat Yates, helping “milk the bowl” after cakes were baked.

“I started from there and just continued,” Stephens said. “I love to bake, cook, host, and have get-togethers.”

Married to Dusty Stephens, the couple has two boys, Jagger and John Albert. Stephens has been working at John E. Stephens Chapel for nine years, and she and her family attend North Calvary Baptist Church.

Stephens said her grandmother’s homemade chicken and dumplings remain a treasured favorite of hers. She is also known for her coconut cake, a special treat for her father-in-law, John, and her best dish.

Her pot roast, slow-cooked for 12-14 hours, and Crisco pound cake, which she makes only three times a year, are also crowd favorites.

“My husband isn’t picky, so he eats just about everything,” Stephens said. “My two boys are pretty picky like I am. My youngest doesn’t eat anything but junk, and my oldest doesn’t care for any of these. He likes a beef stroganoff mostly.”

Stephens describes her cooking style as fairly simple, often mixing ingredients and trying out new combinations.

“Most of the time, I don’t go by a recipe,” she said. “I try to write some stuff down, but a lot of times I just mix it, and if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, I throw it away.”

Easter is a big cooking day at Stephens’ home, where she prepares pot roast, chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, cream corn, cornbread, peas, and butterbeans.

For church events, she’s known for baking sweets like her coconut cake, pound cake, and red velvet cake by request.

Stephens’ advice to aspiring cooks is simple: “If you want to cook or bake, really love cooking and baking. Otherwise, it just won’t taste like it’s supposed to.”

Outside the kitchen, Stephens enjoys spending time with her husband and sons and is actively involved in her church’s youth group.

“After I get through cooking and everybody sits down to eat, it takes them about 15 minutes to devour what took me about eight hours,” she laughed. “I love getting the satisfaction of seeing everybody full, fat, and happy.”

COCONUT CAKE

Cake:

1 yellow cake mix (cook like direction on box)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can coconut milk

Mix sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk together and pour ¾ of it over hot baked cake. Put in fridge and let cool.

Cream cheese icing:

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese soften

2-3 cups of powder sugar

Splash of vanilla flavoring

Mix with the remaining sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk mixture. Put on top of cooled cake and then cover with sweetened coconut flakes.

POT ROAST

1 chuck roast

2 packs of McCormick slow cooker savory pot roast seasoning

2 boxes of 32 oz. beef broth

1 12 oz. can of real Coca Cola

Bag of baby carrots

Bag of Honey Gold bite size potatoes

1 onion

Brown roast on all sides in a skillet with butter. Place roast in crockpot with cut up onion. Mix the 4 packs of seasoning with beef broth and pour over roast. Then pour in can of Coca Cola. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Add potatoes and carrots and cook another 2 hours.

CRISCO POUND CAKE

3 cups of Swans Down cake flour

3 cups of sugar

¼ cup of evaporated milk

10 eggs

1 lb. of Crisco

Preheat oven to 425°. Mix all ingredients together. Pour in a well sprayed (I used Pam baking spray) 10” bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes on 425°. (Do not open the oven until done! If you do, it will fall in the middle!)