Washington Cooks: The cake whisperer

Aisha says the kitchen is perfect for her mom, with its uniquely shaped island, generous counter space and gleaming stainless-steel appliances. It wasn’t always that way. About a year and a half ago, a gas leak caused Brown’s house to burn to the ground, at the center of an acre and a half of land. No one was home at the time.

Brown and Charlotte stayed in a rental rambler in Forestville “for 10 very long months.” She was happy to have a roof over her head while their house was being rebuilt. But the temporary kitchen accommodations were hard on a committed cook.

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“Only 2¹ / ₂ of the coils worked on the electric stove: one in back, one in front and a half-burner, left front. Any item placed in the oven requiring 60 minutes of baking always took two hours or longer!” Brown says. “One dim ceiling fan light, a microwave that did not work and very little counter space made for a very unpleasant cooking experience.”

Brown had to wrangle with the builder of her new place. He didn’t think an island would fit; hence its many angles. When long bouts of counter work affect her bum knee, Brown opts to sit at its wider end. During reconstruction, Brown bargain-shopped to acquire new sets of tableware and cookware, two mixers, a coffeemaker, a microwave, a large side-by-side refrigerator and a Jenn-Air gas range.

Close inspection of one pantry closet finds an impressive number of pots and pans. “I had thrown all my charred pans in the shed,” she says. “I thought they were ruined, and I had already replaced everything. One day, I grabbed an All-Clad skillet that was black all over and attacked it with SOS pads and a lot of elbow grease.” That pan and others came clean, and she uses them regularly.

Brown is confident enough in her baking that she chose to make a chocolate cake she hadn’t tried before. She used her cupped hand to strain the lemon juice and separate the egg yolks from whites. Her shortening-flour technique for prepping the cake pans ensured that even the moist, tall layers released easily.

Buttermilk and sweetened condensed milk mixed with cocoa powder give the cake a lighter flavor and color; that’s what she was after. But frosting is her ultimate weapon. It’s ultra-smooth and luscious, with cream cheese, the condensed milk-cocoa powder blend and a bit of brewed coffee.

It’s a process that requires patience. Brown works at a slow, steady pace, checking the cooling cakes’ temperature with a feathery touch and finishing the last application of frosting with a swirly flourish. “Cakes are delicate. You can’t hurry them,” she says. “If you frost a warm cake, for example, it will crack.”

On any other Mother’s Day, Brown would have been tending her garden instead of the kitchen. Since the fire, there’s a lot of work to do out there, she says.

But she beamed as her girls tucked into quiche, soup, salad and the experimental cake. Even Aliya, the non-chocolate-eater, let out some “mmm’s” as she took forkfuls of her slice.

“I think that’s how you love people,” Brown says. “By cooking for them.”

RECIPES

Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

Seafood Quiche

Tomato-Basil Soup

Coconut Cake With Lemon Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting