#COOKING WITH CLORIS -- COZY MYSTERY AUTHOR ELLIE FIELDS AND CHOCOLATE DECADENCE CAKE

Author Ellie Fields weaves small town charm, baking recipes, and gardening tips into her cozy mysteries. Her diverse fictional town of Cricket Creek is an amalgam of the small towns up and down the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains where she lives and where she finds inspiration for her stories and characters. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Who Doesn't Love Chocolate?

 

Um…that would be me, actually. What??? Seriously????

 

Truthfully, it’s not that I don’t like chocolate, it’s that I’d rather enjoy something lemon-y or coconut-y, especially when it comes to cakes. But given that my friends, family, and hubby all love chocolate, that’s the flavor of cake I usually make for birthdays, and wow, do I have a fabulous chocolate cake recipe that everyone seems to love!

 

In Wedding Planned to Death, my amateur sleuth Cicely Rue is a gardener, not a baker. In fact, the only thing she likes baking are pies and pizza. She’d much rather have her hands deep in the rich soil of her garden than in a bowl of batter (although she did win the blue ribbon for her pies at the County Fair ten years running). In fact, she loves gardening so much that when she’s laid off from her job, she starts a business hosting weddings in her lovely flower garden.

 

Cicely's best friend Josie Barrett owns Creeky Sweets, a bakery in the small fictional town of Cricket Creek, California, and she bakes like a dream. She even bakes the cakes for the weddings Cicely hosts at her place. I love writing Josie’s character, because I can almost smell and taste all the goodies in the bakery as I write. Usually, when I’m done writing one of the scenes set in Creeky Sweets, I’m inspired to bake something, which my friends and hubby always appreciate! And each time I create some delicious confection, I save the recipe to use in one of my Wedding Garden Cozy Mystery books.

 

In Wedding Planned to Death, I shared one of the recipes from Josie’s bakery that included lavender from Cicely’s garden: Creeky Sweets Lavender and Lemon cookies. I also included a recipe for a pie Cicely Rue bakes in the story: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. Both are delicious, and I knew that for the next book in the series, Grave the Date, I needed to include other equally yummy recipes. I had several picked out from cakes, cookies, and breads I’ve baked before, but ended up not including my favorite chocolate cake recipe in the book. It’s too good not to share, though, so here it is.

 

First, though, answer me this: Do you love chocolate? Or are you like me, more of a fan of other flavors? And if so, what’s your favorite cake flavor?

 

Chocolate Decadence Cake

 

Ingredients:

3 cups (plus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour

3 cups granulated sugar

1-1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

4 large eggs

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

1-1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup warm dark coffee

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Butter or Crisco to coat the cake tins

Three parchment paper circles to fit the bottom of 9-inch cake pans

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Using a paper towel, coat three nine inch cake pans with butter or Crisco, then sift flour into the pans and shake to make sure the butter is thoroughly coated. Tap out excess. Place parchment paper circles inside the cake pan. Set pans aside somewhere cool.

 

Using a wire whisk (or on low speed if you’re using a stand mixer), mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt until thoroughly incorporated.

 

In a separate bowl, add the eggs, buttermilk, warm water, warm coffee, oil, and vanilla, then beat by hand with a wire whisk just until the eggs are broken up.

 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, beating with a wire whisk for about five minutes or if using a stand mixer, about two to three minutes until the cake mixture is smooth and the wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Be careful to not overmix.

 

Using a tare scale or another method, divide the batter equally among the three pans. 

 

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Check for doneness by sticking a toothpick in the middle. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done. If it’s sticky, bake for another two minutes, then test again, using a fresh toothpick. Be careful to test quickly, as you don’t want all the heat to escape your oven.

 

Cool in the pans on wire racks. I typically cool ten to twenty minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Put a wire rack on top of the cake, grab it carefully, then flip it over and hopefully the cake will slide right out of the pan. If you’re using parchment paper, be sure to peel the paper off at this point. Allow to cool completely (at least another hour). 

 

Layer the cake, adding a ring of Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttermilk on the bottom layer and filling it in with chocolate ganache. Repeat for the next layer. Add the top layer, then crumb-coat the cake with a thin layer of the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Set in the refrigerator for an hour. When the frosting is solid, remove cake from refrigerator and coat with a generous layer of the frosting, then serve and enjoy!

  

Chocolate Ganache

 

Ingredients:

8 ounces heavy cream

16 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (room-temperature)

 

Grate the chocolate and place it in a dry medium-sized bowl. Set it aside.  Grating the chocolate results in an easier melt. (Note: be sure all utensils are dry.)

 

In a heavy saucepan, heat cream over medium heat until little bubbles begin to form along the edges. Do NOT boil! I never leave my saucepan at this step.

 

Pour the cream into a dry medium-sized bowl. Carefully add the chocolate to the cream, stirring until just incorporated. Let it sit for five minutes, unbothered.

 

Once the mixture has set for five minutes, with a dry wooden spoon, stir the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is fully incorporated into the cream.

 

Cool completely, then whip for five minutes on high in a stand mixer.

 

Put in a piping bag to use as the filling in the cake. 

 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttermilk Frosting

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cold dark coffee

7-8 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup (or less) milk

 

Using a hand or stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. 

 

Slowly incorporate the cocoa powder, then add the vanilla and cold coffee and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

 

Add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time. If the mixture gets too thick, add milk, one tablespoon at a time until it gets to a good spreading consistency (this is a thick frosting so be sure not to add too much milk). 

 

Wedding Planned to Death

A Wedding Garden Cozy Mystery, Book 1

 

When introverted gardener Cicely Rue loses her job and learns she and her son (along with her dog, cat, and all her chickens) may have to move away from Cricket Creek, wedding planner Sabrina Mattingly—the town’s former bully—tosses her a lifeline by offering a contract to host a wedding in Cicely’s picturesque flower garden.

 

Cicely’s at first reluctant (host weddings? with people?), but given the choice between losing her home or becoming more sociable, she soon agrees to turn her garden into a wedding venue. Even as Cicely grows increasingly nervous, the town vendors excitedly prepare for the wedding. The wedding plans are coming along beautifully . . . until the wedding planner turns up dead and buried in Cicely's compost heap!

 

Milo Levine may be a brilliant detective, but he’s dead wrong when he makes Cicely his prime suspect just because her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon. Doesn’t seem to matter that Milo had once been her friend, nor does it matter that Cicely has a blooming suspicion others in town have motive for murder.

 

Despite Milo ordering her to steer clear of the investigation, Cicely and her dog Otis dig for clues rooted deep in the town’s history to prove she’s not a murderer—and to find out who is before Cicely becomes the murderer's next victim!

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--MYSTERY AUTHOR JODI RATH BAKES TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CRUNCH CAKE

Today Jodi Rath makes a return visit to Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. Jodi wears many hats. Along with screenwriting and authoring a cozy mystery series, she’s involved in educational writing, works as an adjunct for Ohio teachers, and does marketing and consulting work. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Another Year, Another Candle

This year I get a little nearer to living close to half a century. My protagonist, Jolie Tucker, turns twenty-five this year in the latest book in The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series titled Cast Iron Stake Through the Heart. She’s got a lot to learn. 

I debated what age to make my protagonist when starting the series two years ago. My gut told me to make her my age so I could immediately relate to all the things she goes through, but then I thought about how many lessons I have learned since my twenties, and I thought it would be fun to play with those lessons in this series.

Jolie’s family life falls on the overprotective, in her face twenty-four/seven, extremely annoying, hovering family. I have seen many readers agree from their reviews and commentary with me on social media. While my family can fall into that hovering category—they are nowhere near as horrific as Jolie’s, but it is fun to have her continually stop to reassess how best to deal with them. Along with her wacky family, she’s always balancing a mystery, her Cast Iron Creations restaurant, and now working as her BFF’s assistant in Bounty-Full Investigative Services. 

I am getting to the climactic point of this series. Readers will find that Jolie will have a lot of growing up to do in the next few books. Life is going to throw her many curveballs at once, and she’ll have to learn to sink or swim. 

Here are a few issues coming up in no particular order, someone goes into labor on Labor Day weekend, two new engagements—one could be called off, more pregnancies in the village, mafia mayhem runs rampant as a string of various mafia gangs finally collide—and the truth about urban sprawl and gentrification is revealed to both the residents of Leavensport and Tri-City.

The questions remain: will the residents turn against one another or come together to oust criminal activity that has been lurking for decades? Will Jolie be able to handle all that is thrown at her to find a balance and get the life she has been working toward? Time will tell.

Betsy’s Love at First Sight Triple Chocolate Crunch Cake

This recipe is taken straight out of Chocolate Caper’s kitchen and is Betsy’s original recipe for Jolie’s birthday cake. 

Chocolate Cake

1-3/4 cup flour

1-3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup cocoa, high quality

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil, canola or coconut oil

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup hot water

Chocolate Buttercream

1-1/2 cups butter, softened

1 cup cocoa

5 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cream, half and half, or milk

Toffee or chocolate covered toffee candy, smashed into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

In another bowl, beat oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla for 1 minute. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour in hot water and mix together. The batter will be liquidy but that's a good thing -- it will create a moist cake.

Spray three 8” cake pans (cast iron baking pans make cake very moist) with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 22-27 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Allow cakes to cool before removing from pans. 

Chocolate Buttercream

In mixing bowl, cream together butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. You may want to add more cream or milk depending on consistency. 

Fold in toffee before frosting cakes.

Note: If desired, reserve some toffee to sprinkle on top of cake.

Cast Iron Stake Through the Heart

On again, off again, ON AGAIN–Jolie Tucker and Mick Meiser are giving their relationship another try. Things seem to be working out for them so far, and love is on the menu all over Leavensport! An unexpected pregnancy with a surprising partner, a therapist pairs off with the chief of police, and the mayor of Leavensport falls for Jolie’s Aunt Fern! 

Although Leavensport is serving up affairs of the heart, there are a lot of mysterious activities lurking in the air. The townspeople awake to find freshly dug empty holes throughout the fields that were recently up for sale under suspicious circumstances. Jolie and Ava believe they are taking a break from solving murders when they start teaching an online cooking course–until they witness one of their students take a stake through the heart!

Welcome to Leavensport, OH, where DEATH takes a DELICIOUS turn!

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--CHOCOLATE CHERRY ALMOND CAKE

Everyone loves home-baked desserts, but many people don’t have the time to make them. All that measuring and mixing is time-consuming and usually winds up making a mess that then requires added clean-up time. You shouldn’t feel guilty about using a cake mix when you’re pressed for time. However, by adding a few extra ingredients, you can create something that moves your basic cake mix to the next level.

Semi-Homemade Chocolate Cherry Almond Cake

Ingredients:

One box chocolate cake mix*

Additional ingredients as noted on cake mix box*

1/2-teaspoon almond extract

2 cups frozen dark sweet cherries, quartered

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/4-teaspoon vanilla

1-2 T. milk

1/4-cup almond slivers

*I used Pillsbury’s Purely Simple cake mix. It contains no preservatives or artificial flavors. Basically, what they’ve done is pre-mixed the dry ingredients for you. You add the wet ingredients. In this case, a stick of butter, a cup of milk, and three eggs.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Prepare cake batter following mix directions, adding almond extract with your wet ingredients.

Fold in cherries and white chocolate chips.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick poked into center of cake comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10-15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool completely.

Mix confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and one tablespoon of milk. Stir in additional milk one teaspoon at a time until mixture is the proper consistency for drizzling. Drizzle over top of cake. Sprinkle with almonds.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR JONI FOLGER AND CHOCOLATE WINE CAKE

A native of Oregon, Joni Sauer-Folger spent twenty-two years with an airline traveling and moving around the country before settling down near the beautiful Pacific Ocean with her three very spoiled cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance as J.G. Sauer, and cozy mysteries and romantic suspense as Joni Folger. Learn more about Joni and her books at her website.

Wine, chocolate, and make-believe! Now, there’s a combination for you. The first two are fabulous, of course, but the make-believe…ah, now there’s the joy for me. I’ve always had a healthy imagination, in truth; we all start out that way. Playing ‘pretend’ and exercising that imagination comes at an early age for most. Whether it’s with dolls in pretty dresses or trucks in the dirt, playing dress-up, ‘house’, army soldier or cowboy, most of us start out…well, imagining. Some hold onto that skill (and it is a skill, to my mind) as long as we can. Others are lucky enough or talented enough to actually get paid for using that ability.

As for me, I got into dance and music at a very early age, frequently performing in recitals and concerts with both. Then I grew older…and found theater! Of course, early on I dreamed of becoming a star of stage and screen, but then marriage and life got in the way and those thoughts were put aside…but never forgotten. My ‘pretending’ skill lay dormant for many years until one day I saw an open audition ad in the local newspaper for the little-known musical Dames at Sea. I wanted desperately to go for it, but the self-consciousness of adulthood reared its ugly head. What if I sucked? What if I made a fool of myself? In the end, I decided that if I tanked, I’d probably never see these people again, so why not at least try? So, I worked up my courage and auditioned. For my effort, I was rewarded with one of the leading roles, and a life-long love affair began anew. Theater is an outlet that I’ve used to feed my creativity for too many years to mention since that first audition. On stage, I can be anyone a script calls for, lose myself in a character. And for me, the joy in that is immeasurable.

I discovered a love of writing in much the same way. I’d taken creative writing classes in school and found I wasn’t too shabby at all that ‘pretending’. For, like theater, make-believe is at the core of writing. It’s another way to feed my creative side. Though here, I get to write the script, create and explore the characters in my head, put them down on paper. I can tell you, it’s the best type of make-believe! That child inside me gets to run free with it, skipping and giggling all the way.

When I started Performance of a Deadly Vintage, book three in my River Bend Mystery series, I was right in my element. I got to unite my love of theater and my love of writing. Pretending, pretending, and more pretending! How cool is that?!?

Years ago, I was lucky enough to perform in several plays at the Bastrop Opera House in Bastrop, Texas. It’s a beautifully restored historical Opera House from the 1890s. I decided to incorporate the old girl into this latest mystery. In this story, a murder takes place on stage at the Delphine Opera House before a full house. This book was truly a labor of love with the joy of make-believe thrown into the mix. I hope you’ll feel the same way.

And remember, never stop ‘pretending’…

Chocolate/Wine Bundt cake

Cake
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups dry red wine

Glaze
1/3 cup softened butter
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F

First, sift your dry ingredients together into a bowl: flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Mix well and set aside.

In another bowl, beat together: butter and sugar. Add eggs  & blend well. Mix in vanilla extract. Add dry sifted ingredients. Gradually add wine. Beat mixture until all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour into greased bundt pan and baking 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Prepare glaze. In a microwaveable bowl: microwave butter and chocolate chips together for 30 seconds. Blend well. Microwave additional 30 seconds. Incorporate red wine and powdered sugar. Blend well.

Remove cooled cake from pan and drizzle glace onto cake.

Performance of a Deadly Vintage

When Elise Beckett signed on to help with the renovation of Delphine’s Opera House, she was excited at the prospect of restoring the historic landmark to its former glory. With the Beckett family vineyard providing the libations for the opening night gala, the three-act play featuring a country murder mystery promises a tasty vintage for everyone. But the performance takes a deadly turn when an actor is murdered on stage in front of a sold-out crowd.

Now Elise and Deputy Jackson Landry must sift through a mystery that’s as elaborate as any award-winning stage production—where the script is layered with secrets and lies, blackmail and murder.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR MAIA CHANCE & CHOCOLATE CAKE TO DIE FOR

Maia Chance writes historical mystery novels that are rife with absurd predicaments and romantic adventure. She is the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal and The Discreet Retrieval Agency series. Her first mystery, Snow White Red-Handed, was a national bestseller. Her latest releases are Cinderella Six Feet Under and Come Hell or Highball. Learn more about Maia and her books at her website. 

Some people find solace in philosophy or religion. Others find solace in mashed potatoes or a bottle of gin. I find solace in my dog’s fluff. (All right—maybe I find a pinch of solace in tipply, trashy novels, and chocolate, too.)—Come Hell or Highball

When I wrote Come Hell or Highball, a 1920’s mystery caper set in New York, I knew I was going to adore researching and writing about the gorgeous period motorcars, fashion, houses . . . and the food. 

My heroine Lola Woodby is an ex-Society Matron who’s a curvy lady in a swizzle-stick flapper’s world, and her sleuthing sidekick is her Swedish former cook, Berta. These characters love to eat, and I loved writing about them eating.  Cinnamon rolls, smoked salmon sandwiches, roadside hash house fry-ups, tomato soup, Cracker Jack, and many chocolate bars make cameos in this mystery, and without giving anything away I’ll tell you that a snickerdoodle cookie is found at the scene of the crime.

What makes reading and writing about food so pleasurable? Sure, there’s the vicarious-living aspect—we can imagine shoveling in raspberry trifle doused in brandy without the carb-coma or the inconvenient buzz. But I think there’s more to it. Particularly with historical fiction, food serves to connect us on a very human (and literally visceral) level to characters who might otherwise seem more like clockwork historical puppets. We might not be wearing beaded Chanel dresses and rumbling around in Duesenberg Model A motorcars, but we all have to eat.

Food in fast-paced novels can provide a breather for the reader and the characters, too. I love the cozy mystery convention of the sleuth and sidekick talking about their case over a meal. And food can provide splashes of local color (another technique so many cozy writers do really well) and, in my own case, provide a dash of historical flavor to a scene. I mean, if the characters are going at the gin Rickeys or the Cherries Jubilee, you just know we’re not in 2015 anymore, Toto.

In honor of Come Hell or Highball’s heroine Lola Woodby and her chocoholic ways, I’d love to share with you my recipe for:

Maia's kids help with the baking

Chocolate Layer Cake to Die For

Note: This recipe incorporates three secret weapons for amazing chocolate cake: instant coffee powder, Valrhona cocoa powder, and Ovaltine in the buttercream frosting!  (Any cocoa powder will work, but if you can get your hands on some Valrhona, you’ll never want to use anything else.)

For the Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar (preferably cane sugar—tastes so good!)

3/4 cup cocoa powder (preferably Valrhona)

2 tsp. baking powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. instant coffee powder

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup boiling water

For the Buttercream Frosting:

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup cocoa powder (again, try Valrhona)

3/4 tsp. salt

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cups milk

3/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup Rich Chocolate Ovaltine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and “PAM cooking spray with flour” (it’s a verb!) two 9-inch cake pans.

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and coffee powder. Add milk, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and pour in boiling water. Beat on high for 1 minute. Pour into cake pans.

Bake 30-35 min. or until top is springy to the touch. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream the butter, cocoa powder, and salt. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the confectioner’s sugar, milk, and vanilla by turns.  Beat till smooth.

Dissolve the Ovaltine in the heavy cream. Add slowly to butter mixture. Beat until creamy, about 1 minute.

Frost cake, eat, enjoy!

Come Hell or Highball

31-year-old society matron Lola Woodby has survived her loveless marriage with an unholy mixture of highballs, detective novels, and chocolate layer cake, until, her husband dies suddenly, leaving her his fortune...or so Lola thought. As it turns out, all she inherits from Alfie is a big pile of debt. Pretty soon, Lola and her stalwart Swedish cook, Berta, are reduced to hiding out in the secret love nest Alfie kept in New York City. But when rent comes due, Lola and Berta have no choice but to accept an offer made by one of Alfie's girls-on-the-side: in exchange for a handsome sum of money, the girl wants Lola to retrieve a mysterious reel of film for her. It sounds like an easy enough way to earn the rent money. But Lola and Berta realize they're in way over their heads when, before they can retrieve it, the man currently in possession of the film reel is murdered, and the reel disappears. On a quest to retrieve the reel and solve the murder before the killer comes after them next, Lola and Berta find themselves navigating one wacky situation after another in high style and low company.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--AUTHOR LUCY BURDETTE'S ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE CAKE

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib) is the author of twelve mysteries, including the latest in the Key West series featuring food critic Hayley Snow. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Learn more about Lucy/Roberta at her website.

Eating Key West

As of today, with the release of Murder with Ganache, I'm four books into writing my Key West food critic mysteries. This series has really tweaked my interest in food and cooking because I have to think the way that my character, Hayley Snow, thinks. I have to cook what she might cook and eat where she might eat. Since Hayley came on the scene, my family and I have enjoyed her shrimp and grits, key lime cupcakes, strawberry rhubarb coffee cake, and many more ravishing dishes. There's only one problem. These days, if I don't photograph dinner before putting it on the table, my husband worries: Maybe it's not going to meet Hayley's standards.

Along with the home cooking, we've tried about every restaurant in Key West. (I know, hard life.) But Hayley not only visits restaurants and writes reviews, she uses food as a way to connect with people, and to calm herself down, and to seduce the folks she’s trying to get information from that may solve the mysteries. I think more than I ever did about what food and cooking might mean to people.

I like what Hayley wrote for the style magazine, Key Zest, at the end of Death in Four Courses: “I’d summed up by saying how important it was to remember that while food did mean life and death in its most elemental form, most often we in the food writing industry were talking about food as the pleasure of connections. When we wrote about simmering a stew or a sauce for hours or days, we were really talking about how much we owed to the folks who came before us and the importance of cherishing their memory. And how much we yearned to give to the people in our present who’d be gathered around our table. We were writing about food as family history, and love, and hope, and sometimes a little splash of guilt.”

Hayley doesn't believe that food has to be fancy to be good. She would say that a grandmother’s recipe for chocolate cake scratched out on a notecard can hold its own with a fancy chef’s menu. We'd love to share my grandmother's recipe for a simple chocolate cake. But first, I'll leave you with a bit of conversation from Hayley and her mother in Murder with Ganache:

"Why is it that cooking always makes things feel a little less hopeless?” my mother mused as the vegetables softened.

“At least we’re doing something,” I said, as she whipped the eggs with a splash of water and stirred them into the pan.

“We feel like we’re taking care of people when there’s really nothing to be done.” I grinned. “That’s what you taught me anyway.”

Lucy Burdette's One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa

1 egg

 1/2 cup sour milk (or sweet, with one TBSP vinegar added)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup boiling water

Beat softened butter and sugar until well combined. Then add the other ingredients one at a time, mixing after each. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan, add the batter, and bake for about 30 minutes until cake springs back when touched. Cool for ten minutes and then invert onto a cake plate. Once it's completely cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Murder with Ganache

Hayley Snow, the food critic for Key Zest magazine, has her plate heaped high with restaurant reviews, doughnut and sticky bun tastings, and an article on the Hemingway cats. But this week she’s also in charge of her best friend’s wedding. And then someone adds a side of murder…

For better or worse, Hayley has agreed to bake over 200 cupcakes for her friend Connie’s wedding while still meeting her writing deadlines. The last thing she needs is family drama. But her parents come barreling down on the island like a category 3 hurricane and on their first night in town her stepbrother, Roby, disappears into the spring break party scene in Key West.

When Hayley hears that two teenagers have stolen a jet ski, she sets aside her oven mitts and goes in search of Rory. She finds him, barely conscious, but his female companion isn’t so lucky. Now Hayley has to let the cupcakes cool and assemble the sprinkles of clues to clear her stepbrother’s name—before someone else gets iced.

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