LUCY BURDETTE: Today's guest is an old friend and I pretty much insisted he come to our blog to share his Twinkie recipe. Who didn't love that treat back in the day? It was my favorite. I also loved his new book, Diet of Death, featuring reluctant food columnist, Quincy Lazzaro. Be sure to leave a comment at the end to be entered in today's drawing! Welcome Ang!
ANG POMPANO: Thanks for having me back Lucy. I’d like to share my, or I should say Quincy Lazzaro’s, Twinkie Tiramisu recipe that your readers might enjoy making. I made up this recipe for my new book DIET OF DEATH but soon found out that Twinkie Tiramisu is a real thing on the Internet.
First a little background. In DIET OF DEATH Quincy Lazzaro jumps at the chance to fill in for Betty Ann Green until she is free to write the “Cooking with Betty” food column. And why not? If he does a good job, he is promised a job as an investigative reporter.
At first, Quincy doesn’t realize that Betty doesn’t exist. What he is painfully aware of is that he can’t cook. A gourmet meal to him is tuna eaten from the can and washed down with a glass of orange juice and Coke.
Lucky for Quincy, his neighbor, Mary Ticarelli is an excellent cook and willing to help by supplying him with recipes for the column. Mary also has an ulterior motive. If and when Quincy gets the investigative reporting column, she expects to use her Miss Marple-like skills of observation to help him solve crimes. When a Diet Guru from Westport, Connecticut is murdered she fully expects to help her young protégé find the killer. Quincy balks and Mary won’t give him a tiramisu recipe that his editor is demanding. So, he makes up a recipe of his own and learns a lesson. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Especially in Westport.
Quincy’s Twinkie Tiramisu Recipe
A Twist on a classic tiramisu that uses the popular snack cake, Twinkies, to replace ladyfinger cookies.
Prep Time 10 Minutes
Ingredients
10 to 14 Twinkies halved lengthwise (1 box contains 10. I used 14 Twinkies to make 3 layers in an 8x8 dish.)
3 tablespoons instant espresso coffee
¾ cup granulated sugar divided into ½ cup and ¼ cup
8 ounces whipped cream cheese
8 ounces Cool Whip Whipped Topping
2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
2 tablespoons of chocolate powder
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 tablespoons of Amaretto liquor (I was working with my grandson so I used Amaretto Coffee Creamer.)
Instructions
1. Boil 1 cup of water. Add the espresso instant coffee powder, chocolate syrup, and ½ cup sugar. Whisk to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Combine cream cheese, vanilla, Amaretto, and ¼ cup sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Fold the Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture.
3. Dip each Twinkie half into the expresso mixture. Cover the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking dish with the dipped Twinkies.
4. Spread 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture over the Twinkies
5. Repeat for the next two layers
6. Sprinkle chocolate powder over the top of the last layer
7. Refrigerate for 4 hours
Voilà! Enjoy your simple and delicious tiramisu!
Any reader who leaves a comment is eligible to win a copy of DIET of DEATH. Choice of paperback (U.S. only, please) or E-book anywhere. Giveaway ends on 9/17.
About Diet of Death: Betty Ann Green is the Oprah of the cooking world. No wonder cookbook authors, celebrity chefs, and weight-loss experts alike would kill for a mention in the “Cooking with Betty” column in On Topic Magazine. Diet Guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, is no exception.
He craves the chance for instant success for his latest Westport Diet Book with an interview by the columnist. It’s enough to make him swallow his pride and try to patch up his long-standing feud with the reclusive Betty.
No surprise there.
Everyone sells their soul in one way or another in the cooking industry. But murder is on the menu when Betty’s assistant, Quincy Lazzaro, arrives for the interview. Quincy becomes entangled and his complicated relationships with both Betty and investigating police sergeant Nina Estevez is nothing less than a recipe for disaster. Bringing the murderer to justice without exposing the secret to Betty’s success proves to be more difficult than sticking to a fad diet.
Order the book here.
About the author: Ang Pompano’s short stories have appeared in many anthologies, including Malice Domestic’s MYSTERY MOST EDIBLE. His first novel WHEN IT’S TIME FOR LEAVING, was nominated for an Agatha Best First Novel Award. A member of Mystery Writers of America, he was a awarded a Helen McCloy/MWA scholarship for a novel in progress. He served for many years as a board member of Sisters in Crime New England and has been on the New England Crime Bake Committee for fifteen years. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, and their two rescue dogs.
