Chef Liz Rogers Is a Proud “à la Mode Girl”

Growing up, Liz Rogers would awake to the scent of her mother’s pies. “She would have 20 pies all baked and lined up on the table for the holidays,” Rogers tells Glamour. “She’d also make a 20-pound peach cobbler. There’d be all this flour on the floor because she made her dough fresh.” Of all her mother’s desserts, Rogers’ favorite was her sweet potato pie, which has since become the namesake of one of Rogers’ signature ice cream flavors: Granma GiGi’s Sweet Potato Pie.

Rogers is the mastermind behind Creamalicious Ice Cream, the only Black-owned national ice cream brand currently in production. But what truly sets Creamalicious’ award-winning ice cream apart from other brands is each flavor’s unique origin story. Be it the company’s take on caramel, banana, or chocolate ice cream, each is derived from Rogers’ own family recipes, which have been passed down over four generations of Southern homecooks. (Hence the colorful flavor names, including Porch Light Peach Cobbler, Right As Rain Red Velvet Cheesecake, Thick As Thieves Pecan Pie, Slap Yo’ Mama Banana Pudding, Uncle Charles Brown Suga Bourbon Cake, and Aunt Poonie’s Caramel Pound Cake.)

“Creamalicious is a multicultural dessert for everyone from every ethnicity to enjoy, but I also want people to be like, ‘Hey, what am I eating?’ [The unique names and flavors make it] a conversation piece,” Rogers says. Like the aforementioned Right As Rain Red Velvet Cheesecake, her nod to red velvet cake and its frequent appearance at Juneteenth celebrations. But as much as the flavor is an acknowledgment of the past, it’s also a way to find joy in the present. “Here you are with this amazing red velvet cake,” she says. “And for this moment you forget that things are crappy in the world and there’s all this racism and division and all this tension going on.”

Ahead, for our latest How I Eat at Home, Rogers reflects on her love of cooking in a cast-iron skillet, her favorite cookie, and what comfort food means to her.

Glamour: What four staples are always in your kitchen?

Liz Rogers: I always have eggs, butter, vanilla, and milk.

What’s an edible impulse-buy you can never resist?

I really just love cupcakes, period. But if I had to pick one flavor to buy it would be a vanilla cupcake with buttercream icing.