Yes, it's time for blatant self-promotion. I am over a recent and very nasty case of strep throat and would love to be chained to the computer once again, but I have no power (due to Sunday's storm) and am borrowing a friend's laptop to post this. I've never had to write a 5-second blog post before, but that's all the time I've got.
All I can really think about this week is my new book - how fun the cover is, what more I need to do to promote it, and whether I'll ever stop obsessing over Amazon sales rank numbers (probably not). So I apologize for using this space for what is basically annoucement material, but I'm also going to post some great, high-calorie recipes from The Battered Body in case you're snowbound and have a working oven.
Good luck to all those without power too!
Finally, I want to thank everyone for following The Flab Five. Without your support, there wouldn't have been a contract for Book 6. Thanks all!
And now, The Battered Body:
There's trouble on the rise when the "Diva of Dough" arrives in Quincy's Gap to make the wedding cake for Milla and Jackson's Christmas Eve nuptials. The famous chef and television personality is Milla's sister, but while her confections are sweet and beautiful, the Diva herself makes enemies faster than you can say "praline pecan bundt cake." When the Diva is done in, her body found covered in cake batter, James and the other supper club members find themselves up to their elbows in suspects.
A cozy "village" mystery, The Battered Body is the fifth book in the warm and wonderful Supper Club Mystery series.
This high-calorie caper includes delicious recipes and here are two of them:
Lucy’s Hot Buttered Rum
Ingredients
1 pound butter
1 pound brown sugar
1 pound powdered sugar
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 bottle dark rum
Boiling water
Directions:
To prepare batter: Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugars. Remove from heat and blend in ice cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into container and freeze.
To Serve: Remove batter from freezer. Allow to soften. Place 2 rounded tablespoons of batter in a coffee mug. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons dark rum. Add approx. 6 ounces of boiling water (more or less depending on size of mug) and stir until batter is melted. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, or both. Prepare to feel warm and fuzzy all over.
The Diva’s Eggnog Cake
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs plus enough whole milk to make 3/4 cup
2/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Sift the cake flour into a large bowl. Add baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Crack eggs directly into a measuring cup and then add enough milk to total 3/4 cup of liquid. Beat egg/milk mixture into dry ingredients. Blend in shortening until mixture is smooth. Beat in remaining 2/3 cup milk and vanilla. Pour batter into three greased and floured 8-inch baking pans (or use cooking spray with flour, such as PAM baking spray). Bake in preheated 350° oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife or wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely. Frost with the Diva’s butter rum frosting and garnish with a light sprinkle of nutmeg if desired.
The Diva’s Butter Rum Frosting
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 ½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ - 2 tablespoons dark rum (dependant on taste) or 2 ½ teaspoons rum extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
DIRECTIONS
Cream butter in a large bowl. Gradually add 1 cup of the sifted confectioners' sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in salt and cream. Beat in the remaining 2 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar ½ cup at a time. Continue to beat until the frosting begins to thicken; whisk in the vanilla and rum extracts, and pumpkin pie spice. Allow to sit for a few minutes before applying to cake.
Finally, I want to thank everyone for following The Flab Five. Without your support, there wouldn't have been a contract for Book 6. Thanks all!
And now, The Battered Body:
There's trouble on the rise when the "Diva of Dough" arrives in Quincy's Gap to make the wedding cake for Milla and Jackson's Christmas Eve nuptials. The famous chef and television personality is Milla's sister, but while her confections are sweet and beautiful, the Diva herself makes enemies faster than you can say "praline pecan bundt cake." When the Diva is done in, her body found covered in cake batter, James and the other supper club members find themselves up to their elbows in suspects.
A cozy "village" mystery, The Battered Body is the fifth book in the warm and wonderful Supper Club Mystery series.
This high-calorie caper includes delicious recipes and here are two of them:
Lucy’s Hot Buttered Rum
Ingredients
1 pound butter
1 pound brown sugar
1 pound powdered sugar
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 bottle dark rum
Boiling water
Directions:
To prepare batter: Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugars. Remove from heat and blend in ice cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into container and freeze.
To Serve: Remove batter from freezer. Allow to soften. Place 2 rounded tablespoons of batter in a coffee mug. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons dark rum. Add approx. 6 ounces of boiling water (more or less depending on size of mug) and stir until batter is melted. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, or both. Prepare to feel warm and fuzzy all over.
The Diva’s Eggnog Cake
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs plus enough whole milk to make 3/4 cup
2/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Sift the cake flour into a large bowl. Add baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Crack eggs directly into a measuring cup and then add enough milk to total 3/4 cup of liquid. Beat egg/milk mixture into dry ingredients. Blend in shortening until mixture is smooth. Beat in remaining 2/3 cup milk and vanilla. Pour batter into three greased and floured 8-inch baking pans (or use cooking spray with flour, such as PAM baking spray). Bake in preheated 350° oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife or wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely. Frost with the Diva’s butter rum frosting and garnish with a light sprinkle of nutmeg if desired.
The Diva’s Butter Rum Frosting
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 ½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ - 2 tablespoons dark rum (dependant on taste) or 2 ½ teaspoons rum extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
DIRECTIONS
Cream butter in a large bowl. Gradually add 1 cup of the sifted confectioners' sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in salt and cream. Beat in the remaining 2 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar ½ cup at a time. Continue to beat until the frosting begins to thicken; whisk in the vanilla and rum extracts, and pumpkin pie spice. Allow to sit for a few minutes before applying to cake.
3 comments:
My ass got wider just reading those recipes, JB. Good luck on the book and the power!
This post should be illegal. The recipes I mean. [An aside: If you have not been to Hard Shell in Richmond, you must go. Especially Monday night, which is lobster night. Fantastic food.]
We were luckier up north, JB. The power stayed on. Something like 8 inches of snow. I can hear people in Minnesota laughing now ("You call that a snowstorm?!").
I absolutely love that cover.
Good luck, JB, in all ways!
You are quite the devil, JB. I am on Weight Watchers, after all. But boy, do those sound luscious!
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