Alison Roman’s Carrot Cake for #Halloween @LucyBurdette

 

LUCY BURDETTE: Carrot cake is never my first choice of cake flavor, that would be yellow cake with mocha or chocolate or whipped cream icing, followed by chocolate cake. However, this carrot cake recipe from Alison Roman appealed to me, perhaps because of all the dates? I decided to try it for a small dinner party with a Halloween theme. I certainly didn’t skip the cream cheese icing, but a whole block seemed like a lot for a one-layer cake so I cut it by 2/3. And I added a little vanilla to the frosting.

Ingredients for the cake:

Melted butter for the pan

11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour

11⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric

3 large eggs

3⁄4 cup light brown sugar

2⁄3 cup sour cream 

1 pound carrots, peeled and grated

10–12 Medjool dates (8 ounces), pitted and chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1⁄4 cup vegetable or olive oil

For the frosting:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1⁄3 cup powdered sugar 

Splash of vanilla

Candy corn to decorate

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with a bit of melted butter, line with round of parchment paper and grease that with melted butter, too. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and turmeric.

In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, and sour cream together until well blended. Add the shredded carrots and chopped dates and mix until blended. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until combined. Add the melted butter and the olive oil and carefully mix that in. 

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until the top is puffed and golden and the sides pull away from the pan, about 40 minutes.

Mix the softened cream cheese with the powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla and stir until smooth. Frost the top of the cake, decorate for Halloween, and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Lucy Burdette writes the USA Today Bestselling food critic mystery series! You can find them wherever books are sold...

(Oh no, I'm missing a couple!) Not to mention LUCY BURDETTE'S KITCHEN: RECIPES AND STORIES FROM THE KEY WEST FOOD CRITIC MYSTERIES...

No-Bake Passion Fruit Chili Cheesecake #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

 

Libby Klein I'm obsessed with using chili and fruit in cheesecake. Probably because I can't tolerate spicy food, so those chilis would never work for me under normal circumstances. But once combined with the cream cheese, the heat mellows and lovely fruit notes are revealed. The passion fruit gel on top gives a delightful zing that pairs nicely with the cheesecake and balances the sweetness.

I wouldn’t normally make a no bake cheesecake since I prefer the traditional baked dessert, but I wanted to give you the recipe Poppy used during the Restaurant Weeks are Murder competition. It was a Chopped-style mystery basket competition for local Cape May chefs to win their restaurant on the cover of the South Jersey Dining Guide. This no bake version uses gelatin instead of eggs. Mini spring form pans enable the cheesecake to set up quickly. You could make one big 8 or 9-inch cheesecake if you’d rather. You would just need to let it chill for several hours to be firm enough to cut.

Use rubber or latex kitchen gloves when cutting chili peppers – remove gloves and don’t touch anything the gloves have touched when you’re finished.

No-Bake Passion Fruit Chili Cheesecake

Ingredients

Cheesecake Filling

1 envelope Knox plain gelatin

3 Tablespoons cold water

¾ cup frozen passion fruit pulp, thawed (you could also use fresh passion fruits, pulped, and strained.)

*1-2 chili peppers

1 can dulce de leche (or sweetened condensed milk - about 1 ¼ cups)

16 oz cream cheese, softened

Almond meal – a few tablespoons to dust the bottom of the spring form pans. You could also make yourself a crust if you want, but Poppy just made the cheesecake without a cookie bottom.

Rubber kitchen gloves

*I used red serrano chilis for a gentle heat. If you want more of a bite you can use habaneros.

 

Passion Fruit Jelly for the top:

1 envelope Knox plain gelatin

3 Tablespoons cold water

4 oz passion fruit juice

¼ cup sugar

Instructions

1. Put on your rubber gloves. Seed and chop your chilis. Don’t touch anything. Don’t rub your eye or scratch your face. When your chilis are chopped very small, add them to your passion fruit juice. Clean up the area and equipment you used and throw away your gloves.

2. Mix the gelatin with the water and let it bloom. Then, microwave the gelatin for 20 -30 seconds so it melts. Add it to the passion fruit juice and peppers.

3. In a mixing bowl, whip your softened cream cheese until it’s smooth. Doing this now will help the finished batter not be lumpy. When the cheese is fluffy and smooth, add the dulce de leche (or sweetened condensed milk.) At the lowest speed, beat for 1 to 1.5 minutes until the mixture is well-blended. Add in the passion fruit juice, fold or beat at the lowest speed until the mixture is incorporated.

4. Sprinkle the bottom of your spring form pan/s with almond meal. Enough to cover the bottom and make releasing the cheesecake easier.

5. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top. Smooth out the surface because what it looks like now is what it’s going to look like later. It isn’t going to move. Refrigerate until set. 3o minutes for minis. Several hours for a large cheesecake.

B. Passion Fruit Jelly for the top:

1. Mix the gelatin with the water and let it bloom. Then, microwave the gelatin for 20 -30 seconds so it melts. Add in 1/4 cup of sugar and microwave another 40-60 seconds to melt. Keep your eye on it so it doesn’t boil over. Using oven mits or a towel, remove bowl from microwave. Add the 4oz passion fruit juice that you thawed and set aside.

2. When this mixture is nice a cool, it doesn’t have to be cold - but it can’t be warm- and the cheesecake is cold, gently pour the passion fruit liquid on top of the cheesecakes. Chill for another 2 – 4 hours.

3. When you’re ready to serve, use a butter knife to gently go around the inside of the spring form pan to help release the cheesecake from the liner. The cheesecake should come off the bottom easily because of the almond meal.

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her 
classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Kale, Apple & Carrot Salad -- a fall #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Finally, after several years, our Liberty apple tree gave us a decent crop. Then, I came home from the farm stand with a beautiful bag of carrots, and a friend gave my hunny a bag of kale. My little brain decided those three things ought to go together, so I went searching. 

What I found was a Kale, Apple & Carrot Salad with Apple Cider Vinegar Honey Dressing, by Jenna Braddock, a dietician who sings the praises of raw veggies and raw apple cider vinegar. A recipe is often, for a me, a place to start, I’ve adapted this one quite a bit. I cut the amount of vegetables in half for our small household. At the last minute, I tossed in a bowl of toasted pecans I spotted on the kitchen counter, and because the dressing was a bit bland, added a pinch of cayenne. Both are entirely optional. On a later remake, I used a mix of roasted unsalted nuts and added chunks of feta— a firm goat cheese would be a nice addition, too. 

Use a firm apple, more toward the sweet side than the tart. 

The result is tasty and pretty. You will likely have more dressing than you need, but that’s okay—it keeps, and you’ll want to make this again. The dressing didn’t make the leftovers soggy, as I’d expected – not even the pecans – but I do suggest you wait to dress the salad until just before serving. 

This salad went beautifully with grilled salmon with a creamy dill sauce and roasted potatoes. You could also add cooked shrimp to the salad to serve as a main dish. 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Kale, Apple & Carrot Salad 

1 cup baby kale, cut into fine ribbons

1 large apple, unpeeled, julienned

1 heaping cup carrots, juilienned (about 2 carrots)

3 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

sea salt

fresh black pepper, to taste 

a pinch of cayenne (optional)

1/4 to ½ cup toasted pecans or other nuts (optional)

½ cup feta, broken in chunks (optional; not pictured)

In your serving bowl, combine kale, apples and carrots. 

Use a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid to make the dressing. Pour the vinegar, oil, and honey into the jar. Add salt and pepper and the optional cayenne. Seal jar and shake well to mix; when dressing emulsifies, check the flavor and adjust the seasonings. 

Dress salad just before serving. Toss gently to coat the raw vegetables. Top with optional nuts and cheese, and serve immediately.

Serves 4 as a side salad. 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

TO ERR IS CUMIN:A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, out now in paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: One person’s treasure is another’s trash. . .

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life for a change, running her shop and working with customers eager to spice up their cooking. But when she finds an envelope stuffed with cash in a ratty old wingback left on the curb, she sets out to track down the owner.

Pepper soon concludes that the chair and its stash may belong to young Talia Cook, new in town and nowhere to be seen. Boz Bosworth, an unemployed chef Pepper’s tangled with in the past, shows up looking for the young woman, but Pepper refuses to help him search. When Boz is found floating in the Ship Canal, only a few blocks from Talia’s apartment, free furniture no longer seems like such a bargain.

On the hunt for Talia, Pepper discovers a web of connections threatening to ensnare her best customer. The more she probes, the harder it gets to tell who’s part of an unsavory scheme of corruption—and who might be the next victim.

Between her quest for an elusive herb, helping her parents remodel their new house, and setting up the Spice Shop’s first cooking class, Pepper’s got a full plate. Dogged by a sense of obligation to find the rightful owner of the hidden treasure, she keeps on showing up and asking questions.

One mistake, and she could find herself cashing out. . .

Available at Amazon  * Barnes & Noble  * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * And your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. 

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.

CHICKEN & BISCUIT BAKE + BOOKMARK GIVEAWAY from @KorinaMossAuthor

KORINA MOSS: Now that we're well into October and the weather is rapidly cooling down here in Connecticut, I am ready for all the cozy casseroles! But I still need them to be easy peasy! So if you get a hankering for chicken and biscuits with gravy but don't want all the fuss, this might be one to try. I can't remember where I found this recipe -- I've had it in my recipe folder for as long as I can remember. When the leaves and the temperature both start dropping, I pull it out!

I indicated the ingredients you can get in lower salt versions if, like me, you have to watch your salt intake. Unfortunately, Bisquick is high in salt, but this makes about 8-10 servings, so the total recipe still comes in at about 400 mg per serving. 

For reheating: I cut and freeze individual servings to have at a later date, and it freezes and reheats well. It also reheats well if you eat it within a few days from the fridge, however I did find that the Bisquick tends to sop up the liquids. So I add a bit of extra stock and milk to it before reheating. It really hits the spot for a warm, comforting meal. 

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked & seasoned chicken, chopped or shredded. (You can use store rotisserie chicken if you're not concerned about salt content.)

1-3/4 cups chicken stock or broth (Can use unsalted)

Half stick of unsalted butter, melted

1-1/2 cups Bisquick

1-1/2 cups whole milk (not shown in photo, oops!)

1 can cream of chicken soup (Campbell's has an unsalted version)

2 to 3 cups your favorite fresh or frozen vegetables, thawed. (I used corn off the cob, mushrooms, onions, string beans -- no need to cook veggies)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Butter or spray 9x13 casserole dish or large 12" casserole dish

Pour melted butter into the bottom of the dish and swirl to even coat

Layer on the cooked chicken

Sprinkle on the thawed veggies. Season, if desired. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk milk and Bisquick together. (It's ok if there are a few lumps left)

Gently pour mixture evenly over the chicken & veggies. DO NOT MIX.

Warm chicken stock/broth.

Whisk the cream of chicken soup into the warmed chicken stock/broth. (It seems to combine better when the chicken stock is warm.) 

Once blended, gently pour mixture evenly over the Bisquick layer. DO NOT MIX. (It will look like a soupy mess and that's what it's supposed to look like.)

Carefully place in oven and bake for about 45-55 minutes or until it sets and is golden on the top and bubbly. 

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

Readers: Do you crave cozy casseroles once autumn hits? If you'd like a chance to receive a Cheese Shop Mystery bookmark, include your email in your comment below before 10/16, and I'll choose one person at random. (U.S. address only.) 

ONE MORE WEEK!

PREORDER NOW

Releases October 22, 2024

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Her books have been featured in USA Today, PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World Magazine, AARP Magazine, and Fresh Fiction. 

For the past several years, Korina has been on her own Eat, Pray, Love journey, which seems to have stalled at the Eat phase. When not writing or sampling new cheeses (a perk of the job), she can be found with a new favorite cozy, doing jigsaw puzzles, or discovering new travel destinations. She has an affinity (some might say addiction) to coffee mugs, loves cats, and can't pass up a new notebook or journal with all those fresh, empty pages. 

The Cheese Shop Mystery series is available wherever books are sold. To find out more and subscribe to my FREE monthly newsletter, visit my website and follow me on Facebook and Instagram. 

Sicilian Cassata Cake from Guest Michael Falco #GIVEAWAY

MADDIE DAY here, delighted to bring you fellow Kensington author Michael Falco. Murder in an Italian Cafe, his newest Bria Bartolucci mystery is just out, and two lucky commenters will win a copy!

Murder in an Italian Cafe is all about food!  Having solved a string of murders already, Bria has gained a reputation as the Italian Miss Marple.  So when Chef Lugo - a visiting celebrity chef and author of Amalfi Toast: Italian Breakfast Recipes - dies right next to Bria while they're filming the pilot of his new television show, she immediately suspects foul play. 

At first no one believes her, but quickly they all change their minds.  Especially Luca Vivaldi, the chief of police and Bria's love interest.  Yes, there's also a lot of love in this book along with the food!

Bria enlists her best friend, Rosalie, to be her partner in crime to dig into Lugo's past to find out if he had any enemies who'd want him dead.  What they find is a tangled web of deceit that's stickier than a bowl of honey drenched Struffoli!

Almost everyone in the village is a suspect from Imperia, Bria's ice-cold mother-in-law; to Annamaria, the local chiacchierare (the Italian version of the town gossip!); to Valentina, the sexy new tour guide in town; to Massimo, the mysterious TV producer.  For a man who made deliziosa food, Chef Lugo was not a well-liked man.

Come to Positano for the sunshine and stay for the murder.  And, of course, the food!

The best cook in Positano - and arguably the entire Amalfi Coast - is Fifetta D'Abruzzo, Bria's mother.  Part French, part Italian, Fifetta is all Italian Mamma.  And like any good Italian Mamma, Fifetta can cook.  Following is one of her favorite recipes that the Lenape Ladies Book Club made.

Michael and a very special A Word From Positano rolling pin.  A lovely gift hand-made by Tina of The Avon Public Library in Avon, Connecticut.  

Abbandonza!

Michael Falco 

Fifetta's Favorite Sicilian Cassata Cake 

Ingredients

 

1/3 cup dried currants

5 tablespoons Marsala wine

1 16½-ounce can pitted cherries—do not get rid of the cherry syrup!

1 pint ricotta cheese

¼ cup white sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 12-ounce pound cake

12 1-ounce semisweet chocolate squares

1 cup unsalted butter

Directions

Combine currants and 2 tablespoons of wine in a small bowl and soak for 15 minutes. Drain the cherries, cutting them up, and then drain the currants.

Puree ricotta cheese, sugar, the rest of the wine, and the heavy cream until smooth. Mix in currants and cherries in a larger bowl.

Cut the pound cake lengthwise into 3 horizontal layers, placing one layer on a platter. Spread half of the filling over it, place a second layer, and spread the rest of the filling over that. Then, you guessed it, top with the third layer of pound cake.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours so it can get firm.

Make the chocolate frosting by combining the cherry syrup, semisweet chocolate, and ¼ cup of wine in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until the chocolate melts, then remove the heat. Add unsalted butter and let it melt. Put the frosting in the fridge so it can thicken.

Put 1 cup of chocolate frosting into a pastry bag and spread the rest over the sides and the top of the cassata. Use the pastry bag to decorate the top of the cake with swirls and rosettes. 

Refrigerate the whole shebang for a few more 

hours.

Enjoy with good Italian coffee or a little glass of Amaretto.

Readers: What's your favorite Italian dessert? (Italian Rainbow Cookies are my absolute favorite.) I'll send two commenters a copy of the new book!

Michael Griffo has published 15 novels with Kensington Books including Between Boyfriends, The Archangel Academy Trilogy, The Darkborn Legacy Series, and The Ferrara Family Mystery Series including Murder on Memory Lake and Murder at the Mistletoe Ball.  The Bria Bartolucci Mystery Series, written as Michael Falco, launched in September 2023 with the publication of Murder In An Italian Village, followed by Murder In An Italian Café, in September 2024.  Coming up in 2025 is Murder in an Italian Piazza. 

Michael has also written over 20 plays including 9th Street Water, The Date, and No More Sundays – winner of the New Jersey Perry Award for Best Original Play.  Currently, his play, Pen Pals can be seen at New Jersey Repertory Theatre until October 20th and will transfer to Off-Broadway in December.  His High School plays – Material Girls and Promapocalypse! – are licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide.  

For more information about what Michael is up to or to buy MURDER IN AN ITALIAN CAFE and any of my other books, visit any of these sites:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-in-an-italian-caf-michael-falco/1145603346?ean=9781496742162

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1496742168?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_1&storeType=ebooks 

For more information, visit him at www.michaelgriffo.com

Arugula, Carrot, and Chickpea Salad #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

 

This is a great dinner or luncheon salad with a sophisticated, warm flavor. The lemon in the vinaigrette combines well with the spices and all of them compliment the combination of greens, beans, carrots, raisins, and almonds. The feta adds just the right finishing touch. Because this is a wilted salad, it does well as a leftover, too. Substitute other greens if you can’t find arugula. But if your affection for arugula is on the fence, you should know this is the salad that made us LOVE arugula.  

 

Arugula, Carrot, and Chickpea Salad

Adapted from The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook

 

Ingredients for vinaigrette

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest plus 6 tablespoons juice (2 lemons, sorry only 1 in photo)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (left out of photo)

1 tablespoon minced shallot (from a small to medium shallot—reserve rest of shallot for the salad)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

 

Ingredients for salad

1 can chickpeas (15 ounces), rinsed

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

The rest of the shallot, minced

3 big carrots, peeled and shredded

3/4 cup raisins, chopped

1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

12 ounces (10-12 cups) arugula (or spinach, escarole, chicory, or a mix of flavorful greens)

1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled (left out of photo)

 

Directions

Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl until emulsified.

In another bowl, toss drained chickpeas with 1 tablespoon vinaigrette and the pinch of salt. Set aside.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large soup kettle (whichever is bigger) over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallot, carrots, raisins, and almonds. Cook, stirring frequently, until carrots are wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Add half the vinaigrette (minus the tablespoon you tossed with the chickpeas) to the pot, then add half the arugula (or other greens) and toss for 1 minute to warm and wilt. Add mint and remaining arugula and vinaigrette. Toss until the greens are evenly coated. Add chickpeas and feta and toss until thoroughly mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a tasty piece of garlic bread toasted with parmesan cheese.

 

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.