Just Like Grammy Baked It

A Pennsylvania baker is preserving her family legacy one treasured recipe at a time.

- Mandy Naglich

A green marbled countertop. Fire red kitchen cabinets. All the cousins’ heights marked on the door frame. And the highlight: three glass jars filled with homemade treats.

This is how Jennifer Switzer remembers her grandma’s kitchen. It’s the place where she first tried lemon bars, chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies, and her favorite: Pennsylvania Dutch Chocolate Funny Cake.

When her grandma passed away in 2010, Jennifer was overcome with sadness. Holding the handwritten cards with the recipes for the beloved sweets she adored growing up, she knew she couldn’t let these family traditions be forgotten.

That’s how her blog was born. “For years I had an idea to create a baking blog centered around the recipes Grammy made for everyone in the family—recipes that have given me truly great memories of childhood and beyond.”

By 2018, Jennifer had become comfortable enough with her baking abilities that she decided it was time to share her treasured recipes with the rest of the world. Her blog, Beyond the Butter, is a place for desserts that are uncomplicated but delicious, whether they’re straight from Grammy’s recipe box or Jennifer’s original ideas.

“If it has a kazillion steps, that’s not something I’m going to make,” said Jennifer. “And Grammy was the same way. She liked things that were simple, but that tasted wonderful.”