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BROWN BETTY DESSERT BOUTIQUE     Coming from a long line of pie makers, I can understand why my grandparents’ generation took to the phrase “easy as pie.” But I wonder: could they ever have known how lazy we would become?

Certainly not many are forking dough together from scratch flour and ice water and all the others think the old family rolling pins belong in display over their sinks. Pshaww! Our lazy food culture is also to blame for those bags of pre-cut cheddar cheese and crackers and microwavable Easy Mac. Yes, “easy as pie” has strayed from its true origins.

Realizing not all of us have a baker’s touch or that extra available time, Brown Betty’s desserts come highly recommended. The business is named for the owners’ mother/grandmother—who apparently can still be caught in the kitchen from time to time. When she’s not there, her daughter Linda and granddaughter Norrinda (the owners) are usually found closeby.

A true family business both in vision and operation, Brown Betty has remained small and kept closely to the homemade aesthetic. The open kitchen behind the display counter is made up of glinting stainless steel mixers and busy teams of cupcake-icers. Crackly jazz plays in the background. Your sweet potato pies do not even pass through a kitchen door to make it to you. Something about this open-air setup gives it the feel of a family kitchen, with no part of the baking process to hide or keep under wraps—except the recipes of course. (Hint: there probably is a pound of butter in the pound cake.)

The selection of cakes, cupcakes and other specialties are all named for the women in grandma Betty's stories. Cupcakes, the poor man’s dessert of choice, are $2.50 apiece right out of the oven. It’s going to put you back $4 for coconut “Company’s Comin’” poundcake, “Hattie Don’t Play” chocolate buttercream, or—my favorite—red velvet cake, but, as this Waypoints category would imply, it’s entirely worth it.

BROWN BETTY HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon: Closed
Tues – Sat: 12 – 7pm
Sun: 12 – 5 pm
215-629-0999