​

If mid-century American advertising is to be believed, the way to your mom’s heart is through a toaster. “There’s no gift more welcome than an electric appliance,” reads a 1948 ad for Proctor toasters. Or take this gem: “Christmas morning, she’ll be happier with a Hoover.”

Oh, no thank you! Don’t get us wrong, we’re passionate about kitchen gear, but unless your mom explicitly asked for a shiny new blender (or stand mixer or juicer), it’s best to steer clear of the appliance-as-present path, lest you risk sending the message that you’d like the mom in your life to do more cooking or cleaning for you. This Mother’s Day, show your mom, grandmother, the mother of your children—whoever you’re celebrating—that you appreciate her by gifting a little luxury that helps her treat herself.

The suggestions on this list are thoughtful, creative, and a little indulgent, like a hand soap that softens your skin with each wash, black truffle popcorn from a brand beloved by Michelin-starred chefs, and whimsical cocktail napkins designed by fashion influencer Emma Chamberlain. And the best part is these fancy finds look so much more expensive than they are—everything is under $60.

Atlas Coffee Club

If your mom of the “but first, coffee” ilk? Atlas is one of the best coffee subscriptions for anyone who wants to sample single-origin coffee from around the world while supporting fair trade and sustainable practices. Recipients first choose their preferred roast level, brew type, and coffee quantity (ranging from a half bag to four bags per month), then receive freshly roasted coffee with an ID card detailing sourcing information and tasting notes. Subscription prices range from $11 for a 6-ounce half bag to $17 for a 12-ounce single bag.

For something even more special (and a bit more expensive), Atlas partnered with And Sons chocolates out of New York for a gift box pairing coffees from six different countries with a delicious box chocolates and bon bons.

Mornings at Levain Votive Candle Set

The dreamy aromas of Levain’s famous cookies are perfectly captured in Snif’s candle trio, which has notes of caramelized chocolate, vanilla dough, sea salt, and walnuts. Packaged in a giftable blue box, the scrumptious-smelling votives have a six-hour burn time and will make any space feel as warm and inviting as the popular bakery.

​

What we love: For many people, a Cuisinart food processor is the food processor. After all, they were the brand that first introduced the appliance to American markets in 1973. That half a century’s worth of brand reputation and good will from consumers is not without reason. It’s a powerful machine, with Mensa-sharp blades that slash chunky vegetables with uncompromising uniformity. It’ll puree bean dips smooth as K-beauty night creams, and mix pie crusts flaky enough to keep a family quiet and smiling through an election year Thanksgiving.

(I should say the Breville performs equally well, but I’m trying my best to give the Cuisinart its flowers because I tend to come down pretty hard on one particular aspect of using it, which I’ll speak to in a sec.)

A little more about why these machines are great: They have a nice weighted base that grounds the machine to the counter. In Cuisinart’s time producing these machines, the company has refined its attachment offerings to the most practical and functional. The components are all dishwasher-safe too (although I’d recommend hand-washing the work bowl, and other plastic components). The machines also last for decades. People pass them down for generations, and in the age of planned obsolescence it’s a rare quality for small electrics.

The biggest leg up this machine might have over our winner is its size. 14 cups really just feels like an ideal size, and other staffers, including frequent food processor user Shilpa Uskokovic, agree.

What we’d leave: The components of Cuisinart food processors are very fussy to fit together. Put anybody in front of one of these food processors and ask them to assemble it—I’ve done this with many different colleagues over years—each time, I guarantee it’ll be like watching a gibbon trying to solve a spatial reasoning puzzle. The assembly is just not intuitive. It feels like you’re forcing pieces together, and I find any instructional markings to be inadequate.

“But people have been using them for decades, obviously it’s not that big of a deal,” you say. Sure, it is far from unusable. And while there is always a learning curve to using a new appliance, I have witnessed every single Test Kitchen editor awkwardly struggle to put one of these together at one point or another —and they’re culinary professionals who use them regularly!

I get it, it is partially a safety mechanism, to make sure everything is exactly where it needs to be, but compared to the Breville, which is so seamless and intuitive and feels just as safe to use, I think it’s time that Cuisinart catches up.

Still, if you’re suspicious of Australian ingenuity for whatever reason (maybe the blades spin backwards), I still think that the Cuisinart Custom is a buy it for life kind of appliance. Just know that also means a lifetime of feeling like an idiot for a few seconds every time you’re in the mood to make pesto.

My colleagues and I put each machine through four different tests to evaluate different aspects of its performance. I combined these observations with long-term testing notes from members of our team, who live and work with different models on a regular basis.

​

If pantry staples were ranked on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, sweetened condensed milk would land somewhere near the top (closer to black garlic and malted milk powder than to true essentials like flour, salt, and eggs). You might not use it every day, but when you want fudge or Vietnamese iced coffee, it suddenly feels essential.

The “Father of Canning”—French chef and confectioner Nicolas Appert—invented condensed milk (the unsweetened variety, now largely known as evaporated milk) in 1810, more than 50 years before Louis Pasteur would have his way with microbes. In 1835, English civil engineer William Newton added sugar to milk before reducing it, thereby increasing its shelf stability.

Sweetened condensed milk was popularized in the US in 1858 by Gail Borden Jr.’s Eagle Brand, which you’ll still find on many store shelves. During the Civil War, the Union bought condensed milk—prized for its portability and high caloric value—in large quantities. After the war, returning soldiers helped bolster the product’s popularity.

Today sweetened condensed milk is beloved for the rich, creamy sweetness it adds to desserts like flan, halo halo, and brigadeiros and to festive drinks like coquito. But which can is best? We put 13 brands of sweetened condensed milk through a taste test to find the best for desserts, drinks, and more.

Methodology

Our favorite sweetened condensed milk: Longevity

A staple in Vietnamese coffee, Longevity Sweetened Condensed Milk is also known as Sữa Ông Thọ, which translates to “Mr. Longevity’s Milk.” Its ingredients list is simple—just milk and sugar.

​

Back in 2017, Mariela Camacho, the oldest daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, was baking sourdough loaves for coffee shops in Seattle when she decided to lean into her heritage and learn to bake conchas, the catcher’s mitt-sized sweet buns commonly found in Mexican panaderias.

The problem: she had no idea how to make them. “My family cooks, but they don’t bake, so I had to figure it out myself,” she said. “Nine years ago, conchas were not cool, so I had to basically teach myself.”

Today, Camacho bakes colorful conchas in modern flavors like earl grey and vanilla, hot chocolate with saffron and guajillo, and brown butter lavender at Comadre Panadería, her bright pink shop in Austin, Texas.

A concha from Vato in Brooklyn with yuzu curd, totomoxtle, and craquelin.

Photo by Paco Alonso

She’s far from alone. Contemporary conchas are popping up across the country: in New York at Vato and Cosme; in Los Angeles at Santa Canela and My Panecito; in Vermont at Atla’s Conchas. Even Popeyes is in on conchas, which debuted a Tequila Don Julio–flavored concha chicken sandwich during the Super Bowl.

Perhaps the clearest sign of the concha’s ascent came last February at La Rue Doughnuts, a French bakery in Dallas, where the croissant collided with the concha. “The croncha was an organic way to bring together the cultures in our kitchen,” said owner Amy La Rue, noting her largely Mexican staff. The pastry—layered like a croissant, topped like a concha—drew TSA-length lines down the block and helped reframe the bun as a peer to French pastry.

That shift is measurable. According to food industry research group Datassential, menus featuring conchas have grown 68% in the past four years, with 53% of Gen Z diners “definitely interested” in trying one—more than any other generation.

“We’re bringing our childhood memories to the table, and now people are paying attention,” said Erick Rocha, pastry chef at Corima in Manhattan and the all-day cafe Vato, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where conchas regularly sell out. “A lot of us are putting conchas on the map for the American public.”

Building on Tradition

The concha traces back to the 16th century, when wheat arrived in Spanish colonies. The pan dulce tradition evolved in the 19th century under French influence, with conchas becoming a staple in Mexico City’s cafés de chinos—Chinese-owned diners that proliferated in the early 20th century. Over time, the buns evolved from classic vanilla and chocolate to more expressive versions, like those scented with hoja santa at Mexico City’s acclaimed Panadería Rosetta.

​

Carnitas—literally “little meats”—are one of Mexico’s most iconic pork dishes, and this double-pork carnitas recipe (belly and shoulder) delivers a flavorful, unfussy take built around two things: great meat and patience.

This streamlined recipe strips out the citrus, spices, and other aromatics typical of many carnitas recipes, keeping the braise intentionally simple. The payoff comes in the final step, when the pork is crisped in its own fat, yielding juicy, shreddy meat with deeply browned, crackly edges and concentrated pork flavor.

Once the meat is cooked, make carnitas tacos by filling warm corn tortillas with the shredded pork and topping with fresh cilantro, sliced avocado or guacamole, salsa verde or habanero jam, finely chopped white onion, or a dollop of crema.