Raspberry Sponge Cake by Darci Hannah, #Mother’s Day #Recipe #Giveaway

Darci Hannah: Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 10th, for those of you who are wondering, and I thought it would be a great time to share this delicious sponge cake recipe in case you don’t have anything for your mom yet and want to wow her, not only with your thoughtfulness, but with your mad baking skills. The truth is you don’t even need mad baking skills to make this delicious cake. It’s made with simple ingredients and just requires a bit of time and patience, all those things your mom will appreciate. 

While testing recipes to go into my latest Food & Spirits mystery, A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE, I knew that I wanted to include a classic British style sponge cake to serve with tea. After testing a few different recipes, I landed on this one. Then, just to be sure I was on the right path, I made it for my own mother. All I can say is that this cake passed the test with flying colors. My mother loved it. It’s the perfect dessert for an afternoon tea, or really any time of the day. Even breakfast. 

Raspberry Sponge Cake

Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 35 minutes

Serves 10

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, weighed on a food scale. You will see why this is important.

Half the weight of the eggs in sugar

3 tablespoons of hot water

Half the weight of the eggs in all-purpose flour

For the filling:

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

1 pound or more, fresh raspberries

¼ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 jar of raspberry jam

Parchment paper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and weigh them. Write the weight down for reference.

Add half the weight of the eggs in sugar to the bowl. Then add the 3 tablespoons of hot water.

Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the egg mixture until it is thick and creamy. This will take around 5 or more minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape.

Measure out half the weight of the eggs in flour. Sift the flour into the egg mixture and gently fold it in. The lightness of this batter will depend on the among of air that has been incorporated into the whisked eggs.

Grease and flour three 9-inch cake tins. Line the bottoms with parchment paper for easier removal. Then divide the mixture evenly between the three pans.

Place pans into the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the cake has risen and is a nice, golden-brown color. Remove and cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Gently remove cooled cake from the pans, leaving the parchment paper on the bottom of each layer. This cake is very delicate and keeping the parchment paper on will help prevent the cake from cracking. At this point the cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and placed into the freezer for up to one month.

Make the filling:

Pour whipping cream in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and the ¼ cup of powdered sugar and beat on high until fluffy peaks form.

Begin filling the layers of the sponge cake. Place the first layer on a cake plate, then remove the parchment from the bottom. Spread half the jar of raspberry jam (about ½ cup) over the cake. Next, spread ¼ of the whipping cream over the jam. Next, arrange the fresh raspberries in the whipped cream, covering the layer. To complete the layer, spread another ¼ of the whipped cream over the fresh raspberries. Next, place the second layer of cake and complete the process again. 

Place the third layer of cake on top of the second layer of raspberries. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. You can decorate the top with dollops of whipping cream and raspberries if you have extra. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Print a copy of the recipe here:

*For a chance to win a copy of A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE:

 If you’re a mom, please let me know what would make your Mother’s Day special. 

If you’re not a mother, please let me know why your mom is so special to you.

*Don’t forget to include your email address!

*Continental U.S. only please.

Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you. 

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com

Instagram: @authordarcihannah

Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah

 Just Released!

A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle

By Darci Hannah

Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

 

Purchase link

When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .

Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well. 

After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .

Trade Paperback Release!

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor

By Darci Hannah

Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

 

Purchase Link

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!

Coming this July!

Murder at the Campfire Cookout

By Darci Hannah

Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series

 

Preorder today!

When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .

Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.

Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.

But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .

Because no one is out of the woods yet.

Baked Spinach and Zucchini Pasta -- Leslie Budewitz serves up dinner

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  A few weeks ago, I shared our version of Skillet Lasagna from the winter issue of Country Living Magazine. 

We found another good pasta bake in the same issue, and I’m sharing it now. I made some changes—I usually do—that made it easier, especially for smaller households.

The original called for ziti, smooth tubes, 2-3" long. We had penne, similar but ridged, to grab the sauce, and they worked beautifully. Your choice. 

Canned crushed tomatoes are proof that the gods love us. Use your favorite Italian herb blend, which might be mine, from Killing Thyme, the third Spice Shop mystery.

You’ll see from the photos that the saucepan I used to cook the vegetables got a little crowded. I added the spinach in batches, and it wilted, as spinach does, when I stirred it in to the hot tomato mixture, so all turned out well. Next time, though, I’ll cook the pasta while I’m prepping the vegetables and use the stockpot to cook them, adding the pasta and cheese mixture, and I’ve written the recipe that way. 

Smaller household tip: Instead of using the 13X9" pan originally called for, I used two smaller baking dishes, one 8X8 and the other 6X8. The smaller pan has a lid that seals well, so we froze it, unbaked. When the time comes, I’ll thaw it and bake as usual. 

Incidentally, turns out things bake better if you don’t accidentally turn off the oven while setting the timer. Not that you would do such a thing. 

By the time the oven error was discovered and the dish baked, I was really hungry, so the photos don’t show the salad, crispy bread, and glass of vino—but you won’t forget those either, I’m sure. 

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

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Baked Spinach and Zucchini Pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 pound ziti or penne

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 - 15 ounce cans or 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

4 cups baby spinach, stemmed (chop the leaves if they’re big babies)

3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped, plus more for garnish

1 cup ricotta

2 ounces grated Parmesan (about ½ cup), divided

1 - 2 teaspoons Italian herb blend

2 medium zucchini, cut into half-moons

8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, grated (about 2 cups)

additional parsley and basil for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or spray a 9X13 baking dish or 2 smaller baking dishes and set aside. 

In a stock pot, cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain.

Using the same stock pot, heat oil over medium-low. Add onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender, 5-6 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, spinach, parsley, and basil. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until spinach is wilted, 4 to 6 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and herb blend. 

When the tomato mixture is cooked, add the pasta, cheese mixture, and zucchini. Stir well to fully mix. Taste and adjust seasonings. 

Spoon half the tomato-pasta mixture into your prepared baking dishes. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella. Top with remaining tomatoes and pasta, mozzarella, and 1/4 cup Parmesan. 

Bake until bubbling and cheese on top is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Garnish with parsley and basil and serve.

If you are freezing one dish, do not bake. Allow to fully cool before covering and freezing. To bake, thaw and bake at 350 degrees, 30-35 minutes or until bubbly with a golden-brown top. 

Buon appetivo!

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

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

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!

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. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

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. 

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.

Around the Kitchen Table: COMFORT FOOD CLASSICS + 7-Book #Giveaway!

CLEO COYLE: There are foods that we eat, and foods that feed our souls. Comfort food classics are the dishes that calm rough days, bring sighs of satisfaction, or maybe take us back to familiar family tables with every bite. What are your top three favorite comfort foods: savory or sweet? Mac and cheese, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes are at the top of the list for my husband Marc. As for me, a bowl of pasta or slice of lasagna brings me back to my Italian family’s table. And a hunk of blueberry pie or a fresh doughnut with coffee always makes me smile.

When I'm craving that old-fashioned cinnamon-sugar doughnut taste, I often bake up these Coffee Shop Doughnut Muffins ☕ and (yes) they pair wonderfully with a hot cuppa joe...

Click here to get Cleo's recipe for 
Coffee Shop Doughnut Muffins 
with a free, downloadable PDF. 

What about all of you? What are your three favorite comfort foods: savory or sweet? And if you have any recipes to share, please do!

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MADDIE DAY: True comfort foods for me are always starchy. Polenta with a spicy West African sauce. Cheesy grits. Warm bread slathered thickly with butter. Baked potatoes. Pasta with a creamy coating. Something soothing that sticks with you and goes down easy.

Mystery Playground hosted my Cheesy Grits recipe to celebrate When the Grits Hit the Fan back in 2017.

Certain of my mother's sweet baked concoctions also bring great comfort and solace. Other than the Christmas cookies I bake each holiday season, I also love her poppyseed cake, which I shared here as Marilyn's Poppyseed Cake.

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KIM DAVIS: I've found that just spending time in the kitchen, mixing and baking, provides some comfort all on it's own. Making bread is at the top of my comfort food list. From the anticipation of waiting for the dough to rise, the yeasty aroma as it bakes, and then slathering the hot-out-of-the-oven bread with creamy butter... swoon-worthy! I frequently make this No-Knead Rustic Bread. 

Mac and Cheese is another one of my favorite comfort foods. However, the calories (and cholesterol) contained in a typical serving of the dish undoes the level of comfort it should bring. I found a recipe for mac and cheese that uses cauliflower as the base, did several tweaks to suit my needs, and found out I liked it every bit as much as the typical dish. I call it Sneaky Mac and Cheese because it's a good way to serve some extra veggies without most people suspecting.  

And to satisfy my sweet tooth when comfort is needed, gooey chocolate-y brownies, warm from the oven, is what I call perfection! 

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PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: For me, comfort food is usually something simple that warms you inside and out.  A favorite is a bowl of pasta Bolognese, which reminds me of my grandmother.  Actually, pasta with any kind of sauce always makes me feel good.  Another favorite comfort food is a simple roast chicken--especially if accompanied by mashed potatoes.  Finally, I'd have to say shepherd's pie always feels comforting.  It's something I can make from memory and contains one of my other favorite comfort foods--mashed potatoes.  

 

 

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VICKI DELANY: Looks like some of my favourites have already been mentioned. As they say about literature: classics are classic for a reason. However, tastes do change. I used to go straight to Kraft Dinner (what Americans call mac and cheese), the stuff in a package with strangely coloured powdered cheese. I had that again a number of years ago for the first time in a long time when I needed a comfortable, reliable staple - I couldn't stand it. Spaghetti Bolognaise is high on the list as is a great big bowl of hearty soup, something like my butternut squash and sweet potato soup.  For snacking when you need a good hug, nothing beats a traditional English scone (no flavouring, no icing, just sconey goodness). The type to be served with jam and clotted cream. (Or clotted cream and jam as per your preference.) Here's my normal recipe which just happens to be the version Lily bakes in her Tea by the Sea Tearoom.  

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Not Another Scone Recipe!

Traditional Afternoon Tea Scones from Vicki Delany

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LESLIE KARST: Having grown up in Los Angeles in the '60s and '70s, my comfort food is definitely Mexican cuisine. My mom would often make tacos dorados (fried so that the tortillas are crispy and golden brown) when we were kids, and later in life I learned to cook lots of other dishes. Some of my favs are calabacitas (which means "little squash"), a stew with pork, zucchini, and corn, best eaten by scooping it up with a soft, warm flour tortilla:

 

 

And I also adore this simple Mexican plate dinner:

 

¡Que sabroso!  

MADDIE DAY: Leslie, thanks for the reminder! As someone who also grew up in southern California, Mexican food is also total comfort food for me, especially a warm steamed tamale, although I've never made them. A simple quesadilla is often a lunch or solo dinner for me and I've shared several quesadilla recipes here.

 

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VMBURNS:  Comfort food feeds the soul and reminds me of home. The one food that does that for me are fried pork chops. I LOVE fried pork chops. My mom made great pork chops. She didn't enjoy cooking, although she was a great cook. I suspect her aversion to cooking had something to do with the fact that she worked in the cafeteria at my elementary school. By the time she got home from work, the last thing she wanted to do was prepare another meal. She preferred to eat at restaurants and have others serve her, instead of being the server. Needless to say, we ate out a lot. The exception was on Sundays. My mom cooked almost every Sunday. In fact, she'd often start cooking on Saturday night or early Sunday morning, so dinner would be ready by the time we got home from church. One of my favorite Sunday meals was fried pork chops. Just eating them reminds me of home. 

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MOLLY MACRAE: My mom’s mashed potatoes were nothing special yet oh so special. They always had a few lumps, which we loved. She mashed them using a fork, adding oleo (we didn't call it margarine), milk, salt and pepper. I can’t remember the last time I made them myself, probably some distant Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. 

My sister Jenny’s Fläskpannkaka (oven pancake) hits the comfort spot, too. Warm syrup poured over it is just right for a winter night supper. In summer? Cover it in berries!

ChickpeaNoodle Soup is a vegetarian alternative for that comfort food classic - Chicken Noodle Soup. 

And what about a good old grilled cheese sandwich? I can feel its hug right now.

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ANG POMPANO: The foods I think of as comfort food are the ones we ate often when we were first married. Tuna noodle casserole, which we actually had again tonight, was on regular rotation when we were just starting out. Teachers are paid once a month, so by the end of it we were counting every penny twice. That’s when meatloaf with mashed potatoes showed up, something hearty and filling that carried us through. My third comfort food goes back even further, to my childhood, when an aunt would take me out to lunch every Saturday. I almost always ordered tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich (I'm with you Molly), potato chips, and a milkshake. It’s still my go-to Saturday lunch, although I skip the milkshake now.

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LESLIE BUDEWITZ: In Death al Dente, my first Food Lovers' Village mystery, my girl Erin Murphy -- who is half Italian, as you can tell by her name -- muses about her discovery when she left home that while comfort food to her was anything her mother made involving pasta and tomatoes, to many others, tomatoes were spicy and comfort food tended toward the soft, smooth, and creamy. Mac and cheese, custard, grilled cheese, bread pudding. (I'd include an excerpt, but I'm traveling this week without access to my files.) 

Our favorite mac and cheese recipe comes from The French Country Table by Laura Washburn, and it doesn't look like I've ever shared it here. But Fettucine Alfredo -- what my father called fancy mac and cheese when I, in my first apartment out of law school, made it for my visiting parents -- is a wonderfully grown-up version. 

When I asked Mr. Right about comfort food, he mentioned several favorites, including chocolate chip cookies, and vanilla ice cream with our Chocolate Cabernet Sauce. As we talked on, some of the same themes emerged as others have mentioned -- the foods our mothers served when we were sick (custard), recipes associated with grandmothers and other favorite people, and traditional family favorites (Christmas cookies come to mind). Dishes that call up memories, warm us physically and emotionally, and connect us with the people we love. Food with a story. 

Here's wishing you all the comfort and joy your heart -- and tummy -- desire. 

Readers, how about you?

What are your three favorite comfort foods: savory or sweet? Comment below to be entered in this month's giveaway! 

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A Poisonous Pour by Maddie Day

Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle 

All Shell Breaks Loose (ARC)
by Molly MacRae

Essentials of Murder by Kim Davis

Shot Through the Book by Eva Gates

A Clue in the Crumbs by Lucy Burdette

Diet of Death by Ang Pompano

🔎📚🔍

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