Baking with Grandma W

All About Food | May 25th, 2016

Eighteen months after her death, my grandmother is still feeding us.

Sure, her buttermilk brownies may be a bit past their expiration date, but Grandma Williams' frozen goodies are still edible after 30 seconds on high in the microwave and dunked in a glass of milk.

Grandma W and I bonded over baking, one of several interests we shared, like genealogy and reading. Whenever I had a baking question (or problem), I'd give her a ring.

When I made her lemon bars for the first time, around age 13, I called her when my crust was too soft.

When I had no butter for Betty Crocker's chocolate chip cookies, she told me to add more shortening.

And when my lemon jelly roll had a less-than-smooth transfer from the cookie sheet, she was taken aback I was making one, but later clipped an article offering the insight she couldn't.

Baking is not as hot of a hobby as it used to be for me, probably because my time and resources are limited. Hey, I don't live at home anymore, so no more free flour and sugar from Mom's cupboards.

Grandma W passed away in October 2014 following heart surgery. Her 80th birthday party unfortunately turned into a funeral, though we still celebrated her life with great gusto (i.e. wine, treats, stories, etc.).

She's no longer there to chat about glass versus metal pans, if one can get away without using cooking spray this one time or what ingredient I can substitute in a recipe.

But her wisdom lives on in the cookbook she made and gave me about 10 years ago. Notes in the margins attest to the tips and tricks my grandmother suggested and I annotated for my baking queries.

"Make crust first."

"Double ingredients."

"KICKASS cookies”

The cookbook from Grandma W has grown over the years, mostly in its number of cookie recipes.

Her buttermilk brownies, a fixture of her baking legacy, I’ve only attempted once due to the sheer number of ingredients you need to cobble together.

Here are her "Famous Buttermilk Brownies" in her own instructions. Love ya, Grandma.

Famous Buttermilk Brownies

1 (1/2 C.) cube margarine1 cup hot water 1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup oil

Bring to a boil. Pour above over dry ingredients: 2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Soda Then mix and add:

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

Bake at 400 degrees 15-20 minutes in an 11 by 17 " pan. Frosting should be made while brownies are baking and frost the brownies while they are hot:

FROSTING

1 cube margarine

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup buttermilk

Heat to boiling. Add:

1 lb. Box powdered sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 cups nuts (optional)

Beat together.

[Writer's note: Audrey Williams was the host of "Mealtime," a live cooking segment on WDAY-TV's show "Party Line" in the 1960s. May she rest in peace.]

RECENTLY IN

Recently in: