Brownies Make Everything Better

A best friend will be there for you no matter what. 

No, this is not the start to a Judy Blume novel (side-note, if this was it would be called "Are You There Bartender? I'm the Girl Who Left Behind My Cellphone, Clutch and Dignity Last Night"—and yes Nini, it would be historical fiction because I would never do something that irresponsible). Additional aside. If you're pining for a Judy Blume fix and share my adoration for her, go read this now, think good thoughts for her swift recovery and come back to my post later (I'll understand). 

But in all sincerity, in a crazy world, it's good to know there's someone a phone call away to talk some sense into you (or in Lisa's case, to bake you brownies). 

When you're a few drinks in and lose your footing on U street (I swear that girl pushed me), she's the one who comes to your rescue with a helping hand (and a fresh beverage). She talks you out of calling that boy that broke your heart and talks you into going out with her on a Tuesday when you are on cold meds. She'll bring her mother by your apartment at 10am on a Sunday morning for a tour, and you will return the favor by promptly alerting the mommy-alert system that there is a boy in the picture that someone hasn't heard about... 

She remembers when you learned how to swim, because she was on the kick-board next to you (and probably kicked you in the head), and she forgives you for cutting her bangs (at a rather heinous diagonal) on the day before picture day—no doubt inspired by Iman's sultry sweep on the cover of L.A. Style in April of 1987. 

Cover of L.A. Style, April 1987 

And best of all she will be there for you at a moment's notice (okay maybe it's just because she lives around the corner). 

So when my bff (the one who upon entering my apartment never fails to make a beeline to my freezer for "chocolate morsels") called to say she was standing at a bus-stop in the pouring rain during a tornado warning after a crappy day, you better believe I dropped everything I was doing (reading a Judy Blume book while waiting for the season premiere of The Mindy Project to be uploaded to Hulu), whipped her up a pan of brownies and met her at the bar down the street. 

With no chocolate "morsels" on-hand to make my go-to recipe and a tornado warning still in effect I took to my cupboard and the interwebs for some inspiration. The forks at Epicurious assured me I could in fact undertake brownies with the ingredients I had, but Smitten Kitchen's enthusiasm for this recipe sealed the deal (she had me when she confessed to not knowing if the recipe would work in the microwave because she doesn't have a microwave *swoon*). 

While I may have been swept up in my desire to get to the bar to meet my friends, I followed the directions to a tee. Minus the part where in my haste I forgot to line the pan (whoops). But the brownies accepted my injury with grace and aplomb (I did generously grease the pan with unsalted butter). They may have even better than my go-to recipe which I just realized, I may never have shared with you and lives in a Betty Crocker chocolate cookbook at my parent's house. Blind taste test anyone?

Best Cocoa Brownies
Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet

Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks, 5 ounces or 141 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces, 280 grams) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces, 82 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (mailed from Texas by way of Mexico if you're lucky enough to have an aunt as awesome as my Aunt Sally)
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (66 grams, 2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional, I did not use this time around)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Here comes the part I forgot: "Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides." If you are in the mood to forget this step, feel free spray pan with non-stick butter spray or grease with 1/2 tablespoon butter using a clean paper towel. 

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a saucepan or small pot small enough that the bowl does not touch the bottom of the water, with about 2-3 inches of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the pot and set aside until the mixture has cooled slightly. Mine looked perfect even in the absence of a double boiler but Smitten Kitchen cautioned that if "it looks fairly gritty  at this point, don’t fret —it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added." 

Double boiler free since 2003!

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until thoroughly incorporated, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan (or in the case of yours truly, pour into a well greased pan if you're not paying attention to directions).

Unlined but just fine!

Bake until a toothpick poked into the center emerges slightly moist with batter. It took my brownies 25 minutes to set. Let cool completely on a rack. 

If you actually lined the pan (overachiever), at this point you'd lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. 

Finally cut up the brownies (16 or 25 squares or whatever your heart desires), dust them with powdered sugar and deliver to Stoney's before closing time. Take an adorable picture of said bff opening up the tin of brownies capturing the sheer joy and surprise on her face in real-time. Then somehow erase picture between bar and your apartment and frantically call her boyfriend to take another picture so that you can post something first thing in the morning. 

Brownies (like bff's ) always make things better. 

Running for Banana Bread

According to the regular updates I've been getting from my Aunt's iPad, my grandmother's iPhone and my cousin's iTouch (okay she also has an iPhone but I wanted to go for the hat trick) my precious cousin Leo went from his first steps to sprinting in a matter of days. While my precious cousin Leo was a scooter, I think we can all agree you have to master crawling before he got to his new breakneck pace (which I cannot wait to see when I make it back to Austin next - an aside, visiting someone in the middle of a Texas summer is a mark of true devotion)..

Baking too needs a crawling period. You need to master the art of something you have a lot of confidence in putting together on a whim before you graduate to the harder stuff. like, oh say this beautiful cupcake house my friend Elana and I constructed at her fabulous confection-filled bridal shower last week.

My dream house made of cupcake (look inside there is an industrial sized standing mixer).

Banana bread was that step between crawling and walking for me. You know that saying, "first comes pancakes, then comes banana bread then comes a challah loaf as big as your head?" Oh then I guess you were not "raised" in my house (if you're my real friend you will never forgive that pun).

The best part about this recipe is its ability to forgive. Maybe I'm just blinded by my love for this recipe, but I honestly think I could swap out any of these ingredients and end up with something edible and delicious. I have done this bread many an injustice. I have made it with two bananas plus whatever fruit I have on hand (as I did today), I have thrown in dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, chocolate chips, carob chips (which I still contend are gross) and more chocolate chips, swapped in fruit flavored yogurts for buttermilk/sour cream/yogurt, whole wheat flour and the occasional handful of pecans.

This past Saturday morning I attempted several rounds of injustices on this recipe. There were the aforementioned two bananas vs. three minimum, but then there was the matter of what to do once my batter once ready.  I've been in my apartment for almost a year and I only just (as in once I was ready to put this puppy in the oven) discovered that the whole time I have been sans loaf pan. Cue 8x8 glass Pyrex to the rescue, with nary a complaint from my taste testers. With old college friends on their way over for brunch, friends who've seen me through many incarnations of myself, I could think of no better recipe to make.

Thanks to my beautiful mother for giving me this recipe (my grandmother even gives her credit in her excellent collection of spiral bound family recipes), but most of all for showing me how to make a recipe that can change with me (and the ingredients in my fridge). And thank you all for forgiving me my Instagram transgressions. Banana bread was never meant to be sepia coated. 

Susan's Banana Bread


1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
1 cup sugar (white or brown or mixed)
2 eggs (room temperature)
1  teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour (I use unbleached white whole wheat this time around but you can swap in your preference)
4 tablespoons sour cream (or yogurt or buttermilk)
3-4 ripe bananas (tip, if a banana's too brown for you to eat, throw it in the freezer and take out at least10 minutes before you're ready to make this recipe)

Optional

1 cup "other stuff" which can be a combination of nuts, raisins, blueberries or other kinds of berries (better if they're on the riper side as well). This time around I used a cup of chocolate chips and a cup of blackberries and strawberries (this was in lieu of said third banana).

Using a hand mixer (or a standing mixer if you've got one) cream together the sugar and the butter. One light and fluffy add eggs and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Add salt, baking soda and flour and combine thoroughly.

In a separate bowl mash up the bananas using a fork until they look like something you think your mom would let a baby eat, then add to the batter and combine once more. If you're putting in the "other stuff" that will be your final addition, make sure to combine in using a spatula or a wooden spoon however to protect the integrity of the ingredients.

Pour batter into a well greased large loaf pan (or two medium ones, or one 8x8 pan) and bake at 325 degrees Farenheit for an hour or more. You'll know your bread is ready if it's firm to the touch and it passes the toothpick test.

Lesson learned, if throwing random blueberries into banana bread, DO NOT take the picture on Instagram because the whole world will think you're baking purple Gak.

Not Gak.

Definitely Gak. 

The final round of injustices to this recipe I refuse to take responsibility for. My friends dove in before I had a chance to take a picture of the final product. 

Whoops.

Happy baking!

Banana Pudding Cupcakes

This past weekend, we celebrated of one of my favorite people in the entire world, my friend Ben who had a birthday earlier this month. Like much earlier this month. As in April 5th earlier. Why the delay in celebrating? Life. A wedding, a  bachelorette party (not in that order), a few DC2NY round-trips, Passover, DVR fueled marathons of Happy Endings etc. 

But seriously, Ben is incredible. So just here at Braided and Egged we're going all out. As you might remember last year's Ben Birthday creation was an orange and blue cookie creation I dubbed Gator Bait in honor of Ben's alma mater (go gators!). They were amazing. I might not be able to top it, but I sure as heck am going to try. 

Ben and I have been friends for years, but it never fails to surprise us both when we realize funny parallels in our upbringings. We both have fabulous moms (hi Sharon and Susan!), great style, a love of DC, a family history in the scrap business (junk not DVF swatches), and a passion for banana pudding. Now it's pretty incredible that given my personal affinity for banana pudding I have heretofore never made it on my own. Sure I've helped my grandmother layer the bananas and Nilla Wafers a time or two, but make it on my own? Chalk it up to fear of consuming the entire batch by myself or perhaps a distrust of insant pudding packages not purchased at an HEB. But if you know how awesome Ben, you're acutely aware that I would be willing to take such risks. Without further ado, I present to you the Banana Pudding Cupcake.

I started with the classic 1-2-3-4 cake I learned at the lap of the best. My timeworn copy of Fanny at Chez Panisse (truth it is in fact possible to give a kid a present they will use forever). 

Banana Pudding Modified 1-2-3-4 Cake

"This cake is called 1-2-3-4 because it is a very old recipe and people could remember the ingredients by the numbers without having to write it down." - Fanny at Chez Panisse

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

2 not yet entirely rotten bananas, smashed with a fork 

1 package instant vanilla pudding prepared according to directions on box
2 "just right" bananas
1 container Cool Whip

Heat oven to 350° F. 

Sift the cake flour, scoop into a measuring cup, scrape a knife across the top of the cup to level it, and measure 3 cups. Put the flour in a separate bowl. Add baking powder and salt to the flour and combine. 

Separate the eggs. Put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. 

Beat the butter using a hand-mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, and smashed bananas and beat again until very fluffy and light yellow. Add the egg yolks and beat them in briefly. Add vanilla and mix well.

Next add the flour and milk in parts. Sift about half of the flour over the butter mixture and lightly stir it in. Exchange the spoon for a large rubber spatula, and pour in about half the milk. Use the spatula to gently mix the milk into the batter. Sift over the rest of the flour and stir it in. Pour in the rest of the milk and gently mix it in.

Using a very clean metal bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand-mixer. When the whites are very fluffy and will hold a soft peak shape when you lift up the whisk, they're ready. I always have to remind myself to be patient at this point. They'll get there. 

Scoop up some of the whites with the spatula, add to the batter, and very gently stir them in. This will lighten the batter and make it easier to fold in the rest of the whites. Then pour the rest of the whites onto the batter and begin to fold them in. Use the spatula to lift up some of the batter from the bottom of the bowl and fold it over the whites. Turn the bowl a little and fold again. Do that just until the egg whites are mixed in. Try not to crush the air bubbles in the whites, this is what gives the cupcakes a light and delicate texture.

Add the batter to your lined cupcake tins, they should be about half-full, and put in the center of the oven to bake for about 25 minutes. When the cakes are lightly browned, and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, they're done. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

make 32 cupcakes.

While the cupcakes are baking prepare your instant pudding according to directions on the box. Mine required 3 cups of milk and approximately 5 minutes to chill. Not made from scratch but I'll take it. 

Once the cupcakes cooled I cut a little circle in each that was about an inch deep. I took the cupcake scraps and threw them into the pudding (no reason to waste good cake) and mixed in two cups of Nilla Wafers broken up into pieces. I then poured the pudding into a sandwich bag to pipe into the cupcakes (my friend Liz thought up this genius move) and cut a one inch hole in the corner of the bag.

Liz handled the piping so if you have any questions about that part you'll have to consult her. I was busy straightening my hair in preparation for the torrential downpour awaiting us once we stepped out my apartment door. Time well spent.

Anyway after that we packed up the cupcakes and brought them over to Ben's in the fabulous cake carrier he got me for Hannukah. 

When you're ready to serve the cupcakes, simply take our your container of Cool Whip and using a spatula spread about two tablespoons onto the top of the cupcake. Garnish with a Nilla Wafer or two and a slice of banana and you've got a party (especially if you have Ben with you). Happy birthday Ben!