Séance Sundaes from Kate Carlisle, Author of
PERIL IN
PAPERBACK
PERIL
IN PAPERBACK takes place in the mountains outside Tahoe, at a weeklong house
party hosted by eccentric billionaire Grace Crawford. Grace, like every good
hostess, wants to be sure that her guests don’t get bored, so she has arranged a
few surprises. Games… multi-course meals prepared by a fabulous chef… a séance…
and to top it all off, she’ll do a reading from the tell-all book she’s written
that reveals her family and friends’ darkest secrets.
But
on the first night of the party, during the séance, a storm hits and the lights
go out. Heavy footsteps pound outside the door. A glass shatters. At first,
Brooklyn Wainwright thinks it’s all part of the show. But when the lights
flicker back on, one of the guests is dead.
And
now they’re all trapped by the snowstorm with a murderer… and a corpse.
When
I was invited as a guest here at Mystery Lovers Kitchen, I thought about that
séance, and I asked myself, If I were
dead, what would tempt me back from the dead?
The
answer, of course, is chocolate. More specifically, brownie sundaes with a
special kick of heat that might just jolt your heart back to life. I served
these recently to a foodie friend – a woman with a very sophisticated palate –
and she said it was the best dessert she had ever eaten. She was shocked when I
told her that it started with a box mix. What can I say? I don’t cook!
Séance Sundaes with
Resuscitation Brownies and Hot-as-Hell Hot Fudge
Resuscitation Brownie ingredients:
Your
favorite brownie recipe… mine was a box of Duncan Hines. You can make yours
from scratch if you want (show off)
1 t
cinnamon
1
jalapeno, seeds removed
Half of a
12-ounce bag of dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses
Mix the
brownie ingredients as normal, then stir in the cinnamon, minced jalapeno, and
the Hershey’s Kisses, each cut in half. (You could use dark chocolate chips, to
save yourself the trouble of unwrapping each Kiss and cutting it in half.
However, I have a soft spot for Hershey’s Kisses, since they were responsible
for saving Brooklyn’s life in ONE BOOK IN THE GRAVE.) Bake according to package
– I mean recipe – directions.
Hot-as-Hell Hot Fudge Ingredients:
Half of a
12-ounce bag of dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses
2 T
butter
¼ t
cayenne pepper
1 can
sweetened condensed milk
1 t
vanilla
Melt the
Kisses and butter in a double boiler. Or if, like me and the rest of the
regular world, you don’t have a double boiler, then melt them in the microwave
on low power at 30-second increments. Stir in cayenne and sweetened condensed
milk. Heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in
vanilla.
To make
the Séance Sundae, put a warm brownie in each bowl. Top with ice cream, hot
fudge, and chopped nuts.
Enjoy! So who likes what on a sundae???
