Phases: A Memoir by Brandy Changed How I See Everything

I’m not really a reader.

The last time I picked up a book like that was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. And that only happened because I saw the first The Hunger Games movie and needed to know what came next.

So I went and read Mockingjay before the movie even came out.

Then when it finally dropped, I went to see it.

And that’s when it hit me.

I was watching something I had already seen, but only in my head.

Some parts felt exactly how I imagined them. Some parts felt completely off. And some moments felt bigger, because now they were real, not just something I pictured.

It’s like going from imagination to real life.

And it made me understand something.

People don’t just read books to know the story. They read them to build their version of it first.

Jump to Recipe

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I was born April 3, 1985.

By the time Brandy was released in September 1994, I was nine years old. Old enough to hear something and let it stay.

I didn’t go to the store and buy the album.

We were the BMG and Columbia House generation. Tape a penny to a postcard, write any name you wanted, and pick ten CDs or cassettes.

And just like that, music showed up at your door.

We knew we were supposed to buy more later. We never did. We just kept changing the name and doing it again.

Wrong, yes.

But without that, there’s a whole soundtrack I never would have had.

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Track one was “Movin’ On.”

And something about those words didn’t just sound good. They made sense.

At that time, life didn’t come with a clear path. No dad. A mother fighting addiction. A grandfather doing his best to hold everything together.

So when you hear something telling you that you don’t have to fit into a role, that you don’t have to stay where you’re not valued, that you can leave, you don’t question it.

You take it.

And you carry it.

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Now I’m reading Phases: A Memoir by Brandy.

And it’s doing something I didn’t expect.

It’s taking everything I thought I knew and turning it around.

Growing up, I didn’t see struggle. I saw perfection. I saw someone who felt complete, already fully formed.

But in the book, she’s a kid. Getting bullied. Being called ugly. Learning how to shrink herself just to get through the day.

And that disconnect is real.

Because how does someone the world sees one way see themselves in a completely different light?

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Then you start to notice the pace of her life.

Everything I remember watching growing up:

• Moesha

• Cinderella (1997 TV film)

• Never Say Never

• tours, press, and everything in between

All of it happening in the three months off from taping Moesha.

Not spread out over years. Stacked into those breaks.

That’s not just talent. That’s pressure.

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And then there’s a moment that stays with you.

Someone telling her she wasn’t “drop-dead gorgeous” enough to be sent out on auditions.

And even as everything else rises, that voice stays.

So now everything starts connecting. Control. Food. Body. Perception. Trying to manage something internally while the outside world is calling you perfect.

That contradiction is heavy.

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Reading this now changes how I hear everything I grew up on.

Because while all of that was happening, the music still felt steady. Clear. Certain.

And on the other side of that, there were kids like me listening.

Learning how to move. Learning when to stay and when to go. Learning how to stand on something even when nothing around you felt stable.

Not from a conversation.

From repetition.

From feeling.

From hearing the same message over and over until it becomes part of how you think.

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That peach cobbler she talks about?

It makes sense now.

Because that’s how stories stay alive.

Not always in words.

In food. In memory. In things that don’t need to be explained to be understood.

So this recipe isn’t about recreating something exactly as it was.

It’s about continuing it.

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Peach Cobbler Cupcakes

Prep + Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes Cooling Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes

Yield 18–24 cupcakes

Overview: A soft peach cobbler cake with orange zest and cinnamon, filled with spiced peaches, topped with a peach-infused buttercream, and finished with a cobbler-style pastry element.

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Peach Cobbler Filling

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 (24 oz) cans sliced peaches in heavy syrup

• ½ cup dark brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.

2. Cook for 7–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until peaches soften and begin to break down while still holding some shape.

3. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Set aside ¼ cup, mash or blend until smooth for the cake batter. Reserve the rest for filling and topping.

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Peach Cobbler Cake

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (270g)

• ¼ cup cornstarch (35g)

• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (250g)

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• Zest of 1 orange

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (113g)

• ¼ cup vegetable oil (60mL)

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 2 egg yolks

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (15mL)

• 1 cup buttermilk (240mL)

• ¼ cup blended peach cobbler filling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and line cupcake tins.

2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and orange zest.

3. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add oil and vanilla extract, mixing until combined.

5. Add eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing fully between each addition.

6. Mix in the blended peach filling.

7. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

8. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.

9. Divide batter evenly and bake for 18–22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

10. Cool completely before assembling.

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Peach Buttercream

Ingredients

• 4 cups unsalted butter, softened

• 2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

• Up to ¼ cup blended peach cobbler filling

Directions

1. Beat butter until smooth and creamy.

2. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing on low speed until combined.

3. Add vanilla and ginger.

4. Increase speed and beat until light and fluffy.

5. Slowly add peach filling, adjusting for flavor and consistency.

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Cobbler Pastry Toppers

Ingredients

• Puff pastry or pie dough (such as Pepperidge Farm)

Directions

1. Roll out dough and cut into small circles.

2. Press into a lined muffin tin.

3. Add a spoonful of peach filling.

4. Top with lattice or small pieces of dough.

5. Bake at 375°F for 12–15 minutes until golden.

6. Cool before using.

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Assembly

1. Core each cupcake.

2. Fill with peach cobbler filling.

3. Pipe buttercream on top.

4. Finish with a pastry topper or crumble.