Thursday, May 1, 2025

Mango Upside Down Cake @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: In the upcoming fifteenth food critic mystery, it’s May, and that means mango season has arrived in Key West. That means I had to develop lots of mango-themed recipes. This mango upside down cake is a riff on the traditional pineapple and just as delicious.

Mangoes have a weird pit hidden in the middle of the fruit that you must cut around, so your yield may be smaller than expected. I made this cake with one mango but I could happily have used two.

Ingredients  

1-2 mangoes 

8-9 Maraschino cherries 

12 Tbsp butter, divided 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

2 Tbsp honey 

1 and 1/2 cup unbleached flour 

1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 cup sugar 

1 tsp. vanilla 

2 large eggs 

1/2 cup milk  

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch cake pan, bottom and sides. (I used some of the butter above, figuring there's plenty in the recipe already.) Cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the pan, put it in the bottom and butter that too.   Peel and cut the mangoes into slices or cubes.

Melt 4 oz of butter in a small pan. Add the honey and brown sugar and heat, stirring until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and then place the fruit into the pan, in whatever design you choose. Dot with maraschino cherries.  Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients except for the sugar in one bowl and measure milk into a glass measuring cup. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar and vanilla with a mixer until they are light in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk until everything is mixed nicely.   

Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for about 38-40 minutes until lightly browned or until a test knife comes out clean. Let the cake rest on a rack for an hour. Then run a knife around the edge, place your serving plate over the top, and gently invert the cake onto the platter. Tap the pan to help it along if it doesn’t drop out immediately.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS.

Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, will be in bookstores on August 12!

And the new trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Honey Pistachio Baklava Cheesecake #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

Libby Klein Cheesecake is one of the easiest things to make in my opinion. I usually don't even follow a recipe. I have a system. But baklava is something I've never made before. So when I saw this honey pistachio baklava cheesecake I knew I had to try it. I think you could even make this with half the amount of cheesecake and in a 9x13 pan as bar cookies. The tangy and smooth creamy cheese layer is a wonderful complement to the sweet and crunchy pastry. The sauce is made on the stovetop and poured over top to drip down and flavor every bite with honey and orange blossom. It was a decadent dessert that was so easy to make once you've wrangled the phyllo sheets into subordination. Let me know in the comments - what is your favorite flavor of cheesecake.

Honey Pistachio Baklava Cheesecake

Ingredients

Baklava Layer

1 package phyllo dough, thawed
3 cups shelled pistachios, finely chopped - divided (keep 1/2 cup pistachios for the topping)
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cheesecake Layer

4 bars cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 scraped vanilla bean
1/2 cup sour cream

Honey Syrup

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp Orange blossom syrup (or vanilla)

Directions

Preheat the Oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.

Prepare Baklava Layer:

Mix 2 1/2 cups finely chopped pistachios with ground cinnamon and honey. Set aside.

Place a sheet of phyllo dough in the pan, brush with melted butter. Let the sheets lay against the side of the springform pan to create a side crust. Repeat the process until 10 of the phyllo sheets are used. Sprinkle a third of the pistachio mixture over the top.

Repeat with 10 more phyllo sheets, being sure to butter in between each layer. Then top with another third of the pistachio mixture. Then cover this with your last 10 buttered phyllo sheets and last third of the pistachio mixture.

Bake the baklava layer for 25-30 minutes until golden. Allow to cool slightly.

Prepare Cheesecake Layer:

Beat cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, then scrape and add the vanilla beans and sour cream. Pour this batter over the partially cooled baklava layer. Smooth the top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the edges are set but the center is slightly jiggly.

Prepare Honey Syrup:

Combine honey, water, and orange blossom syrup (or vanilla) in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Let cool slightly.

Once the cheesecake and syrup have cooled to room temperature, drizzle the top of the cheesecake with the honey syrup. Garnish with chopped pistachios.

Note: I chilled the cheesecake overnight, then removed it from the springform pan - bottom and all. I drizzled honey onto my serving plate so it would keep the cheesecake in place and the honey would permeate the bottom layers of the phyllo dough. Then I topped and garnished my cheesecake with the honey syrup and chopped pistachios.

Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.

Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.

After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .

Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .

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/

Hon

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Crispy Gnocchi with Lemon, Peas, and Asparagus - #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: My spring fling with bright colors and flavors continues.

We adore gnocchi, the tender little Italian potato dumplings. We learned to make them in a cooking class in Florence a few years ago, and while it was yummy and surprisingly easy, we tend to default to commercial varieties, not dried but shelf-stable, in one-pound packages. Last summer, I spotted a description of a dish using pan-fried gnocchi instead of the typical boiled version; lacking a recipe, I made my own – Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella. It’s now a staple, and its success made me eager to try this recipe, which is just as good.

Bonus: Both recipes are as quick and easy as they are pretty and yummy.

Lemon zest gives just the brightness the vegetables crave, without the pucker factor. Use the thinnest young asparagus spears you can find.

Serve with a green salad, crusty bread, and crisp white wine. Bon Appetivo!

What's on your menu tonight?

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

Crispy Gnocchi with Lemon, Peas, and Asparagus

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

16 ounces gnocchi (fresh or frozen; no need to thaw)

12-16 ounces asparagus, washed, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup peas (fresh or frozen; no need to thaw)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 basil leaves, chopped OR ½ teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest

splash of white wine or chicken broth for deglazing

4 ounces grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the gnocchi and cook until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes a side. Remove gnocchi from pan and set aside. If potato bits have stuck to the bottom of the pan, scrape them up but leave them in the pan.

Add the asparagus and peas. Toss and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the asparagus is tender. Add the salt, pepper, basil, and lemon zest.

Return the gnocchi to the pan, and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.

Remove from heat. Stir in the Parmesan and serve immediately, with a bowl of grated cheese for topping.

Serves 4.

💕 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, 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.

Release Day News: Vice and Virtue by Libby Klein

Congratulations to our own...

Libby Klein

On the release of the first book in her new series - The Layla Virtue Mysteries!

Check out the Promo Video and the reviews below!

Buy Links
Amazon
Bookshop
Barnes & Noble
Audible
Books-A-Million
More Ways to Buy!

Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.

Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Sunday, April 27, 2025

HOW WRITER'S BLOCK INSPIRED OUR NEW MYSTERY by Cleo Coyle + Book & Tote #Giveaway #Spotlight

Once a month, each of us here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen takes a turn stepping into the spotlight. This month is our turn, and Marc and I decided to shine a little of that light onto our creative process.

Nearly every writer stalls, panics, and wrestles with self-doubt at one time or another. But here’s the question of the day. Can a writer’s struggles lead to a deadly end? Reverse the words writer’s block to blocked writer—as in thwarted, stymied, stonewalled—and you may have an even stronger motive for murder. At least, that’s what my husband and I pondered as we set out to pen our latest murder mystery.

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

Ironically, though the thought of the dreaded "writer’s block" has sent fear into the hearts of many a scribe, that same literary affliction has also propelled entertaining plotlines in novels and films. There’s The Shining, of course; more recently The Plot; and the Nicolas Cage film Adaptation to name a few. In all of those stories writer's block eventually led to murder, and we were similarly inspired as we sat down to write.

Given our looming deadline, we stared at blank screens for a time and then—EUREKA!—our stalled progress itself became the inspiration...

The idea of writer’s block felt perfect for our Coffeehouse Mystery series. After all, coffee itself is known as "writer’s fuel," and the notion of writers scribbling (or procrastinating) in coffeehouses has been around about as long as there’ve been coffeehouses.

And so we were off and running, crashing through our own creative wall with the battering ram of writer’s block itself. Now the ideas were flowing. We saw our amateur sleuth—single mom and coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi—facing the devastating problem of sluggish foot traffic in her landmark Greenwich Village shop, the Village Blend...

How does Clare solve her problem? With the help of her loyal crew of baristas who suggest turning her shop’s second floor into a "Writer’s Block Lounge," something her century-old coffeehouse once embraced, only to abandon when something dark occurred. Although that history is shrouded in mystery, Clare agrees to the idea of resurrecting a space for writers. And it works. Maybe too well.

A quirky collection of creative types is soon packing both floors of Clare’s coffee shop. Unfortunately, many of these poets, playwrights, and novelists wrestle with the same demons of self-doubt, envy, and free-floating anxiety that many of us writers do, and as the pages turn in No Roast for the Weary, this stressful soup leads to murder.

Given our own two decades of experience with the exhilarating highs and gut-twisting lows of the creative process, we took to the idea of writer’s block with zeal but also empathy. Layered into our amateur sleuth’s quest for the truth behind several serious crimes (both past and present) are real and hilarious truths about the writing life, truths we know from our long experience living and working as professional writers in New York City.

Image courtesy giphy & @VirginAtlantic

Until our full-time careers as authors kicked into gear, we spent years working day jobs while writing on the side, which is why we know how crazy, inspiring, and exhausting life in the arts can be (yep, No Roast for the Weary), especially here in NYC, and we weaved some of that oddball knowledge into our newest Coffeehouse title.

At the close of our tale, we even included a short list of our favorite ways to combat writer’s block. Who knows, the tips may help inspire our fellow authors, if not prevent another deadly end. So, join us and hold on for this one. No Roast for the Weary is one heck of a caffeinated ride, and we hope you enjoy it.