MAYA: Please welcome today's guest writer, Diane Vallere, who's sharing a scrumptious dessert recipe and offering a giveaway. Her new mystery, Ranch Dressing, is book #15 in her Killer Fashion Mystery Series featuring Samantha Kidd. Take it away, Diane!
DIANE: If you’re on the east coast, chances are you’re familiar with Tasty-Kake Butterscotch Krimpets. In RANCH DRESSING, amateur sleuth Samantha Kidd tries to barter with a box of the yummy goods in chapter one, and somewhere in the second half of the book she encourages the chef at a dude ranch to make a clone recipe of them. Below are the instructions for a close clone, so if you’re adventurous and in the mood for a delicious treat, then bake on!
I should note that I am not a skilled baker, so I called in an expert: my mom. We worked in tandem with me on photo duty and her on measuring/mixing duty. I do think it’s doable on a beginner’s skill level.
The inspiration behind this recipe came from goodfoodstories.com/butterscotch-krimpets.
INGREDIENTS
CAKE:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup cold water
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
¼ tsp cream of tartar
FROSTING:
6 Tbsp room-temperature unsalted butter
½ cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
INSTRUCTIONS (cake first!):
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a cake pan with butter. (Note: if you have a canoe pan or a financier pan, this would be preferable to the cake pan, but alas, I have neither. I made this recipe with a 9x13x2 cake pan, which you will see in the pictures). Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl until no lumps remain.
Whisk the oil, water, vanilla, and egg yolks together in a separate bowl. Stir into the dry ingredients and set aside.
Using an electric mixer or hand mixer, whip the egg whites into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, adding the cream of tartar once the egg whites are frothy.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, working slowly to incorporate them evenly.
Pour the batter into the greased cake pan.
Bake for 20 minutes. The cake will be golden brown, and a toothpick or fork tines inserted into the center will come out clean. Carefully remove cake from baking pan and cool on a wire rack.
NOW, FROSTING!
Melt 2 T butter over medium-low heat in a high-sided, heavy bottomed pan (at least 1 qt in volume).
Add brown sugar and stir occasionally with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, for about 2-3 minutes. The sugar will become shiny and glossy like toffee.
Carefully stir in the cream. (it may hiss and steam as it hits the hot sugar).
Continue cooking, stirring frequently, for about five minutes. The butterscotch will thicken and bubbles will get full and glossy.
Remove from heat and carefully pour into a large bowl (or into the now-clean bowl of your stand mixer).
Let the butterscotch cool for 10-15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until it is lukewarm to the touch
Stir in the vanilla extract and the salt
With an electric hand mixer or using the paddle attachment on a standing mixer, beat in the remaining 4 T of butter, then the confectioner’s sugar, until light and fluffy.
ASSEMBLY:
Cut the cake into 1 ¾” x 3” servings.
Spread a blob of frosting atop each serving.
Eat immediately (or, if you have willpower, eat one or two and then store the rest in an airtight container. They will keep for 3 days at room temp or up to 1 week in the fridge).
ENJOY!
QUESTION: Have you ever tried to make a clone recipe of a
favorite restaurant dish or store-bought pastry?
ABOUT DIANE
National bestselling author Diane Vallere writes funny and fashionable character-based mysteries. After two decades in luxury retailing, she traded fashion accessories for accessories to murder. As past president of the national Sisters in Crime organization, she edited the Agatha-Award-winning essay collection PROMOPHOBIA: Taking the Mystery out of Promoting Crime Fiction. Diane started her own detective agency at age ten and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since. Find out more at her website: https://dianevallere.com
SOCIAL MEDIA
FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/dianevallereauthor
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dianevallere
YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/dianevallere
ABOUT RANCH DRESSING
When fashionista Samantha Kidd’s father-in-law arranges a week on the dude ranch he’s aiming to buy, Samantha preps for blue skies and clean living. But all too soon she learns life on the ranch is anything but calm. When the owner is found dead inside one of the stables, all signs point to murder.
As Samantha wrangles clue after clue, she smells something rotten—and it’s not manure. In her quest for the truth, she encounters quirky cowhands, brazen barrel racers, and suspicious horseplay—not to mention a social paradigm straight from the eighteen hundreds. Can Samantha bring justice to the wild west of eastern New Jersey, or will a renegade ranch dweller get away with murder?
BUY LINKS
Bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3OkFJ7w
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uJCuPJ
Apple: https://bit.ly/49fpZL3
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3T4bpBe
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3Ok1kNl
Kobo: https://bit.ly/49uazmj
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PREORDER GIVEAWAY
Preorder RANCH DRESSING and enter to win a deluxe Samantha Kidd prize bundle (including a whole box of Tasty-Kake Krimpets!)
1. Preorder RANCH DRESSING from your preferred bookstore.
2. Fill out the entry form on Diane's website.
Thanks for being our guest and sharing a recipe today, Diane!
ReplyDeleteThank you, MaryAnn, for hosting me!
DeleteForgot to use my name :)
DeleteThank you for the yummy recipe!
ReplyDeletePizza Hut use to have a pasta dish called Cavitini. For whatever reason, they discontinued the dish. Both hubby and I loved it and it took many tried to get it just right. We found that the secret was not to use just spaghetti sauce, but rather a combination of both spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce to make it taste exactly like what they use to make. It's still one of our favorites in the pasta category.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Kay, sometimes it's those little tweaks that make all of the difference! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteAnonymous = Diane Vallere :)
DeleteThat looks wonderful Diane, definitely going to make it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lucy! Let me know how it goes!
ReplyDeleteThese look amazing. Thanks for joining today.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, V.M.!
DeleteWelcome, Diane! Thrilling to read about RANCH DRESSING, and then to see how you made these delicious looking Butterscotch Krimpets (which I was unaware of unyil now...I live on what must be the wrong coast :-) I shall attemt to make them, because I love buttersotch and any pastry. Sad to say that I have never been successful at "replicating" a restaurant dish. I must strictly adhere to a recipe...so my dear wife tells me :-) Thank you for making my Sunday morning! I was going to go through recipess today to figure out what to bake next...and Presto! there is my selection made! Yipee! Luis at ole dot travel
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Luis! You can do it!
ReplyDeleteThis looks tasty. Am off sugar for Lent, but come Easter....
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we used to get cinnamon knots from a small local bakery. I have tried and tried to replicate them, but haven't quite been able to nail it yet. I've come close, but still working on the exact taste treat I remember. Thanks for the recipe and congrats on the new release. makennedyinaz at hotmail dot com
Mark the page for Easter morning, Marcia :) Those cinnamon knots sound good!
DeleteButterscotch is always a hit!
ReplyDelete"Stir in the vanilla extract and the salt" There is no vanilla in the frosting ingredients.
libbydodd at comcast dot net
Oh, dear, Libby, you're right! It's 1 tsp vanilla extract for the icing. (Apparently I don't just need help making the recipe, I also need help transcribing it!)
DeleteI make some of the recipes. Thank you deborahortega229@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
DeleteReplicating certain restaurant recipes which are not complex is simple and I have definitely enjoyed them. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteHope you try this one!
DeleteHey, Diane! Always a delight to see you! I love trying to recreate dishes we've enjoyed out. One of my favorite copycats is my Jewel Bay Critter Crunch, my version of Harry & David's Moose Munch. Another is Cranberry Bliss Bars, a recipe a reader gave me that's a perfect copy of the Starbucks favorite.
ReplyDeleteHi Leslie! Thanks for your role in making this blog post happen! I love that you've got an arsenal of recipes, and that you're getting suggestions from readers!
DeleteI have tried some with success and some without success. Thanks for sharing your recipe. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteKeep getting back on the horse, Cherie!
DeleteWelcome to the kitchen, Diane! I replicated the seasonings in Wick Fowler's Two-Alarm Chili when we lived in Texas. It wasn't all that hard but it was satisfying and so much less expensive than buying it.
ReplyDeleteI bet that chili was good, Molly!
DeleteI made an adapted version of Lazarus Tea Room broccoli raisin salad. One change is craisins instead of raisins. It's so easy and I take it to all out family get togethers.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried to recreate a dessert that I've had at a restaurant. I'm not much of a baker. Sounds like a great book, on my TBR list.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
I have tried to recreate recipes that came out really great and others not so good!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!
jarjm1980(at)hotmail(dot)com
I have not but I definitely want to try this Tasty Cake version.
ReplyDeleteJess
Maceoindo(at)yahoo(dot)com