Buttermilk Brownies: Grab a Fork

Buttermilk is a workhorse I often employ in this house-it's cheaper than sour cream or yogurt and more versatile in baking, with just as many savory applications as sweet...and fantastic for soaking your chicken or fish in before frying if you aren't making biscuits, scones, muffins, pancakes or soda bread. And now I can add brownies to the list.

These are not your traditional brownies, dark dense and chewy. Actually, they remind me of a Texas sheet cake-complete with the frosting you apply while the pan is still hot, creating a crusty glaze. The base is moist, with a fine crumb. And  while they cut clean and easy, you might be tempted to use a plate and fork to eat them....or a spoon and a scoop of ice cream. You get a lot of brownie for the work-you'll need a 15x10 pan instead of the traditional 9x11 pyrex or casserole dish.

So, grab your big pan and give it a spray then preheat your oven to 400 (see, not even your usual baking temperature).

In your mixer bowl, combine these ingredients:

2 cups of sugar
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda


Measure out
1 cup of buttermilk
2 eggs
1 Tbs vanilla

Now for the fun part; in a saucepan, melt together
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup oil

Stir while you bring this all to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the flour/sugar mixture in your mixer bowl. Blend them together and scrape down the bowl with a spatula before adding in the buttermilk and then the eggs and vanilla.

the batter is thin and
shiny

Pour this lovely, shiny batter into the prepared pan and set your timer for 15 minutes. There is a good chance you will need to bake them longer-closer to 20 minutes but in the last few minutes, you'll be mixing up the frosting that gets added to the brownies hot.







So, wash out your mixing bowl and blend together the following:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1# or 4 cups of powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat them together-it will lighten in color a little as it comes together.






As soon as your brownies are done (test it like a cake-use a toothpick for no wet batter or press lightly on the center to see if it springs back), pull them out and spread the frosting over the pan. Weird, huh?  But oh so yummy.








 As the pan cools, the frosting forms that delicious crustiness. These aren't overly rich or chocolately-just the right amount for an after school snack or to dress up with ice cream with some sauce for after dinner dessert.  And since the pan is large, it's great for potlucks, company or the now-possible Sunday football game crew.
 I should have side view of the finished product but I've been busy eating them or laughing at Mr. Devlin's guilty look as he goes back for seconds.

Easy-Peasy Chocolate Buttercream

I hope you weren't waiting for this, like with the cake all baked and hoping I'd get on with it and post the recipe. Because I don't think I can handle any more pressure right now--especially on my body! Oh dear! This child is weighing on me something fierce.....

But I did say I had an easy chocolate buttercream recipe for you and a promise is a promise. This recipe is actually one I got from Martha Stewart (not, like, directly or anything--people like her don't know people like me....for example, I don't have to be plugged into a wall at the end of the day).

This recipe makes about 3 1/2 cups of frosting (nearly enough for a regular round layer cake but not exactly enough, in my opinion, for decorating with a piping bag). The good news is, it doubles and triples easily and whatever you don't need now, you can freeze for later.



Also, you don't need to do any sifting. I would, however, let my butter soften to almost room temperature before starting. If you forget to pull your butter ahead of time, warm it slowly in the microwave 10 seconds at a time until it yields to being pressed gently. You want the butter to be able to hold it's shape because you want to dice it up into cubes.



In your mixer bowl, combine:

3 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 cup of cocoa powder


Just mix until they are a little more evenly distributed before adding in 1 1/2 sticks (that's a cup and a half) of butter, diced. Don't turn the mixer up on speed or anything. In fact, I wrap a dishtowel around the top of the bowl to keep anything from flying out and getting everywhere.

You won't really be able to tell that anything is happening just yet and you'll wonder if you did it right. You did.
 Add 2 tsp of vanilla (or almond if you're feeling daring) to
1/2 cup of milk

and add this to your mixing bowl.


Within a few moments, the frosting will moisten and change color. First, it will be a dark, lumpy mess but within a minute or two, the lumps will disappear and the color will lighten. So will the consistency of the buttercream. The longer you beat it, the lighter and looser it will becomes so don't be over-zealous, Love.



Use a large rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl to be sure you mixed everything properly. This frosting spreads easily and nicely. If you find your kitchen is a bit hot to work in, give the bowl a chill for 5 minutes or so and stir again before using. The butter will harden fast so don't forget about it for long.




Ok, so finally, I got you the recipe. Hopefully I won't be so long with another post but that's kind of up to my stamina so bear with me....7-9 weeks to go.....

Betty Picks a New Devil to Dance With: A New Chocolate Cake Recipe

  Naturally, I have about 500 chocolate cake recipes to work with. It's become nearly un-American to publish a cookbook and not include some form of chocolate cake in it somewhere. Having them doesn't necessarily mean anything though.  There is such a thing as too many options. And, honestly, I  bake based on what I have laying around and what gives the best product for the least amount of mental stress, not based on the pictures of what some celebrity chef supposedly makes.

The biggest trouble with making cakes from scratch is that there is an expectation that they are always going to be lighter and prettier than a box mix and that's just not always the case. Some recipes were developed before certain technology-like a solid Kitchen Aid mixer. Some recipes were published before pioneers like Julia Child came along and demanded that recipes be tested before publication. Yes, you read that right--many books published before 1960 are full of heresay recipes that were never tested by the publisher or even the author....see, you weren't crazy.

Regardless, all scratch cakes are not created equal. And the one I'm about to give you is the best chocolate cake recipe for a basic layer cake that I've come across so far (and that is really saying something).  Moist, fine-crumb, tender and un-fussy to make. 

So here is what you need and what you need to do....

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray 3- 9 inch cake rounds (or, if you are like me and like to cut your own layers, 1 9x4 inch round cake pan (like a Wilton professional pan). When I'm baking a cake in a single layer like this, I also like to line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment to ensure it doesn't stick. Now, I'd also like to add that if you like to butter and flour your cake pans (and that's cool) consider using cocoa powder instead of regular flour for the dusting. It's a detail thing.

You will need 3 bowl.

 In the first bowl combine--

2 cups of boiling water to 1 cup of cocoa powder and whisk together to eliminate lumps. Set the bowl aside.

In the second bowl, blend together your dry ingredients:

2 3/4 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

In the 3rd bowl, your mixing bowl, cream together 

1 cup of butter, softened 

2 1/2 cups sugar

When this light and well-blended add

4 eggs, one at a time to allow them to fully incorporate and 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Now, scrape down the bowl with a spatula to get all the butter that may have stuck to the bottom of the bowl before adding half of the dry ingredients. Don't try to blend  it all in totally, just get it somewhat absorbed before adding the rest of the dry. 

Now, remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the bowl again to make sure the top and the bottom are well-blended before you add in the water/cocoa blend, that should have cooled off some by now. It's better to do this with your spatula than with the mixer so you don't splash it everywhere. You should end up with a smooth, runny batter that has no lumps. 

Pour and equal amount into each pan or-if you are making cupcakes-ladle into cupcake papers. Depending on what shape you choose, bake until the cake springs back when pressed lightly and pulls away slightly from the edges of the pan. Don't overbake-what does that look like? The top begins to crack wide open and the sides of the cake pull from the sides of the pan dramatically. You'll also see a distinct burnt edge around the top. 

Remove from the oven to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely. 

Now, I'll tell you that I like this with a basic chocolate butter cream, the recipe for which I'll give you in the next post if you want it--it's surprisingly easy considering that it's a Martha Stewart recipe (yeah, I know-nothing that woman does is easy, right?).  The original recipe for this cake shows the cake filled with a vanilla butter cream and iced with a chocolate one--which is pretty for presentation when you cut it. You could also try filling the cake with a fruit filling and icing it with the buttercream of your choice. This cake is pretty tender though so you probably are not going to want to use a ganache or heavy fudge frosting, which could cause it to tear apart. 

you don't need 3 pounds of butter to
bake from scratch....but you might need
this much for the buttercream

This cake, believe it or not, took a week for us to eat. We must have been busy or something-I don't know. What I do know is that I kept it in a simple cake keeper and the cake stayed moist the entire time. The first piece and the last one were equally moist and tasty. 

Festival Food: Deep Fried Oreos and Other Such Killers

Summer is almost here and the festivals have started to pop up around the region for everything from strawberries to the Renaissance. May the clogging of arteries begin! Personally, I don't feel it's been a complete experience without a big ol' hot sausage sandwich with a ton of mustard and a deep fried snickers bar while the Dev's needs a round of deep fried oreos. Yes, yes we are going to die.

God save the Queen!

When it was just the two of us, the extravagance of paying $4.50 for someone else to kill me slowly was no big deal but now that we have our own little village to support, it seems like a terrible waste of money. So now, we go to the festivals and then come home and do terrible things to our aging bodies for much less money.

The batter I like to use is actually a good one for meats and vegetables as well so if a fried Milky Way isn't your thing, try this on shrimp or zucchini instead. The process is basically the same.

You'll need either a fryer set up according to the manufacturers instructions or a large pot with at least 3-4 inches of vegetable oil (not ever olive oil) or peanut oil heated to 375.

If you are frying candy bars, pop them into a freezer at least an hour before you plan to fry them. Everything else should be at normal temp (chilled if it's meats or shrimp for instance; clean and dry if veggies).

While the fryer heats up, pull out two bowls and mix up the batter. You'll need the following:

In the larger bowl, whisk together

1 cup AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cornstarch

In the second bowl, whisk together

1 cup water

2 Tbs oil

2 Tbs of a beaten egg (this is about 2/3 of an egg that's been whisked)

Now, if you like a really thick batter, just whisk the wet into the dry. If you like a lighter batter-more tempura like, add a couple of tablespoons more of water to the wet ingredients and whisk everything together. Personally, I found the lighter batter to be really great. It would work really well for fish-n-chips too.

Now you have batter and hot oil--go crazy! 

Oreos are simple- just drop in a cookie and coat it, shake it just a bit to lose any drippies (*technical term) and place (don't drop) into the hot oil. When one side looks golden, be sure to flip it over. Remove onto a draining rack that has paper towel under it. Never place fried foods directly onto paper towels; all that happens is you are basically laying a food that is cooling into cooling oil that is trapped and thus just making the food soggy with the oil you are trying to drain away--silly, huh?

aw yeah!

For candy bars, once frozen up, it's about the same process but once you place them into the oil, keep an eye on them. A candy bar doesn't need to stay in the oil very long to cook the batter and you run the risk of the chocolate leaking out into the oil (just make sure you change out that oil before frying onion rings, ok?). I used a thicker batter for the bars and then added a little water to the batter before doing the oreos an that really seemed to do the trick.

3 Musketeer-because they
less fat, you know?

It might not look like much
but your mouth will thank you

I'm not saying this is something we do every weekend but every once in a while it's fun to make the "bad  stuff."  Happy festival-going!

A Little Something For My Beloved....

When I used to work in a certain university bakery, I would occasionally bring home a little some thing for Mr. Devlin, who was studying hard at the same said university (man, was that a dream job!)

It might have been an eclair that wasn't quite the right length for retail but still perfectly edible or a slice of cake.

The point was, I wanted him to know I was thinking of him.

And now that I'm "just" at home and "just" taking care of the house, I still try to find ways to let him know that I appreciate that he is working hard, and  even though we haven't been on a real date since December, I still think he's pretty cute.

The easiest little goodie for Mr. Man is chocolate covered strawberries and this is the right time of year to make them, with strawberries plentiful and cheap.

air drying the fruit

Look for fruit that is uniform in shape, red and ripe all the way up to the stem and without blemish. If you have a soft, leaking spot on the fruit, the chocolate won't be able to set up there. Also, you never want to introduce a liquid into straight chocolate as it has the potential to make the chocolate seize (that's when the chocolate gets all clumpy and gross-there is a way to fix it* of course but it's still not desirable).

When you are ready to dip, first wipe down the fruit with a damp paper towel, just as you would wash a mushroom. If you submerge them in water, you again run the risk of introducing water into your chocolate and being an unhappy camper.

Let the fruit air-dry-this also allows the fruit to come up a little bit in temperature which I prefer when dipping fruit.

In the mean time, let's melt some chocolate.

Honestly, a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips works fine. If you like a darker chocolate, like a 70%, try melting down a few candy bars. Or maybe your special person likes white chocolate best. The process is the same. Chop the chocolate (if not using chips) into smaller bits and place in a heat-proof bowl (I prefer  glass myself). Make sure the bowl fit well over a small saucepan that contains a couple of inches of water. The bowl should never ever ever touch that water (that could case the chocolate to scorch--you know, burn? You can't fix that).   Instead, the bowl should rest over the water. This set up is a double-boiler or water bath.

Turn your heat to a medium heat, not high. Chocolate is not to be man-handled, ok? Love it gently and it will do what you want every time. You aren't trying to bring the water to a hard boil, just enough of a simmer to cause the steam to heat the chocolate from underneath. If you have a bunch of steam escaping around the sides of the bowl, lower your heat (a lot). Again, steam being water, you could cause the chocolate to seize.  Keep stirring the chocolate and you will get a nice, shiney melty pot of yum soon.
As soon as the chocolate is about uniformly melted, cut the heat. Remove the bowl from the heat altogether as soon as you have stirred it smooth. Let the chocolate cool some before dipping.





Now you can factory-line assemble some strawberries. Fruit, then chocolate, then bake sheet covered with parchment or waxed paper. (If you're a lefty, reverse the order).

down and in

up and over

Holding the stem of fruit, dip it in the chocolate, nearly to the top. Now pull up and over to the side of the bowl, to lightly scrape the excess from the side that will be the bottom. Tip the bottom of the fruit up a bit to cause the chocolate to catch at the tip instead of dribbling every where and place the fruit on the sheet at the farthest point from you.

scrape back side and tip

 As you move along, you never want to move a new piece over an old piece because you could dribble on the older fruit and it won't look pretty; so move from the farthest edge towards yourself.











The chocolate will set up--unless your house is a bit warm, in which case place the sheet in the fridge for a couple of minutes to help out the process.

If you would like a little drizzle of dark on your white or white on your dark, melt the chocolate in the same way as mentioned above and spoon the chocolate into a small piping bag (or paper piping bag which can be made with a bit of parchment that you have made into a funnel shape). If you are intimidated by that idea, put the chocolate in a ziploc bag and snip a bit of the corner off.

Drizzle the chocolate over as desired and continue to let them set up.




Whether you are placing them on a cake as garnish or serving them with champagne once the kids are (finally) asleep, keep the fruit in a cool place until service. Generally, you don't want them sit around for more than a day (as if, right?)

*If your chocolate seizes, stir in a tablespoon of solid shortening to the chocolate and stir smooth. Add a bit more shortening if necessary but the fat will counteract the liquid.

Happy Anniversary to Me (Us?)

A year ago, I took the plunge into the literary pool of blogging and started this site. At the time, I had an infant, a kindergartner, a husband with a new business and an overwhelming sense of personal craziness.




It's possible that all have managed to do is branch out to find new things to stress over...because I'm like that.


There are a few things I feel I need to address first, for those of you who happen upon here at random.








Through this year, I know many have hit this site due to my blog name. And I have messaged the brave few who questioned just what *exactly* my deal is. I've considered changing the name a few times for fear that my macabre sense of humor is a mockery of the knife of illness that stabs at our numbers seemingly randomly. It's simply not true. The bottom line is that I chose the name 3 years before I started blogging after a long night in the kitchen,  so I could comment on my sister's blog, never intending to publish...and then I woke up a year ago and decided to publish, assuming the only people who would ever read this would be my mom and siblings. Man, was I wrong. Lesson learned....but I'm keeping the name because BB still sums up the duality of my existence, the ups and downs that are my every day. Extreme to no one but me, I am sure.

research

 Love me through this, dear reader, I evolve slowly sometimes.



Also, I would like to mention that just because my nickname is Betty Crocker, not every recipe listed here under that name is affiliated with the corporation that employs that imagine. In fact, very very few of them come from THAT Betty. If I ever publish an actual book (not that I plan to), I won't be able to use most of this site. Another lesson learned.





That said, I wanted to give some updates on some of the posts from this past year....things that worked out, stuff that didn't...











For instance, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are still alive and thriving despite all the recipe testing. No longer an infant and a kindergartner, they are a wall-climbing toddler and not-for-long 1st grader who has legs like a colt and the eyes of ancient soul.







The most popular post I've written was also one of the most painful. Who knew anyone still wanted another chicken soup recipe.



The second most popular post was for no-bake bar cookies that I still love so much I could eat a whole pan.

it's like a metaphor

I am still using homemade laundry detergent. Despite having dirty children who are learning to feed themselves and to not act like wild dogs, I have clean, fresh-smelling laundry that I am very happy with. I have not noticed any graying or fading and I'm spending less than two pennies a load AND I only have to make the soap every 3 months or so. I call that success.



Likewise, the all purpose cleaner is still getting a workout here. I use it for pretty much everything-including removing spots from the carpet. Mr. Devlin gave it a solid testing and gives it his seal of approval as well.  It's worth the effort.



Yes, I still make my own donuts....if you fill them with Nutella, it's possible you may fall into a coma--you've been warned.



Thing 1 has already put her vote in for another round of Easter peeps. Homemade marshmallows are within your grasp-don't be scared.

yes, the tomatoes worked

Likewise, homemade preserves are not just for over-achievers. I'm currently preparing to make the season's first batch of strawberry jam this weekend actually.



I'm proud of how far my homemade tortillas have evolved...enough so that I'm willing to serve them friends. Honestly, I can't begin to explain how having fresh tortilla changes even a simple quesadilla--Alice Waters would be so freakin' proud of me.

pot scrubbers

I'm still looking for more ways to recycle baby food jars but this certainly has helped....and Thing 1 loves them.



My post scrubbers went through a small makeover when I figured out how to work in an abrasive side by using a packet of hem tape as the starting circle. Hem tape is basically straight lace, generally in all kinds of colors, 3 feet long. It's the perfect amount to give the scrubby some, um, scrubby. Plus, these bad boys are so durable- I just throw them in the laundry and they are back to new.






After giving me crap over the first batch, Thing 1 started referring longingly to her blueberry poptarts as some kind of special treat that I withhold from her for spite. There is no winning as a mother, really, I guess the best I can hope for is that my grandbabies will someday ask me to make poptarts for them like I did for their mother....it's true, I totally can't wait to be that grandma that bakes all the really good stuff..





Despite the break in our routine due to my morning sickness, we still eat a fair share of muffins and scones so check out those recipes if your looking for something new.




I had a lot of fun with the Christmas baking this year- I hope next year's wow's you...and inspires you to try a few batches of this or that.





I am brain-sketching new ideas to bring to you to make your lives easier, to spark some creative action on your part or to give you something really easy to make for dinner because you've run out ideas today.  If nothing else, I hope you get a chuckle.




So, send me an email or leave a comment if I missed something you were wondering about or if there is something you'd like me to cover (I PROMISE I'm still trying to find more one-pot meals and the how-to's on artichokes).



I'll be taking a small break in September for Baby #3...while we have chosen REAL names for this little person, I need something clever for here...I don't really think I can call them the Lorax, you know?


...17 weeks and counting.

Every day is a gift. Even when I'm cranky. Even when I have no way to plan for what is coming next. I'm only human and my family loves me despite that and because of that....and I love them for the same reasons. My job is to do the best with what I've got and never stop learning or growing or trying. And God will take care of us--He always has.


....that's what I've learned this year...I can only wonder what this next year holds.

The Baby Made Me Do It!

Imagine crispy fried  around
gooey warm chocolate hazelnut
...especially with a big glass of milk.

They say every pregnancy is different and that, so far, has been the case. With Thing 1, I ate whatever I wanted from day one, oblivious to the fact that I would never see my pretty body ever again. I had no morning sickness and was running a large university bakery and no one told me "no."
With Thing 2 I had morning sickness and major cravings for anything salt and/or vinegar. We were also going through major life transitions and I am more than certain that I channeled the anxiety into my belly. I gained less weight though so I declared it all a victory in the end.



But Tripticon? Oh this child! This child only wants whatever isn't in the house, it would seem. But we have a budget and I'm not about to give in to every little craving.

hey-it's on wheat bread
at least

That said, when I was in the store the other day, I notice the store brand of Nutella was on sale bogo.
SCORE!!! I could totally go for some hazelnut chocolate spread....preggers or not, let's be real please.

Thing 1 thought
this was silly

So imagine the surprise on my little family's face when they came down for lunch and found grilled Nutella sandwiches for lunch. And, really, why the heck not? We eat whole grains, low fat, fresh, local et al. Every once in a while, a little naughtiness makes life a little more fun. I don't suggest this all the time but it made for a very fun and cozy Saturday lunch, since we were still in our pj's and it was snowy cold out.

Now, in all fairness to grilled sandwiches, you can also make grilled pb+j or you can fit some fruit-like bananas into the sandwiches. Crispy golden outside; gooey yummy goodness inside. And Tripticon was satisfied.