Sunday, April 21, 2024

Guest Daryl Wood Gerber #giveaway and Chocolate Mousse Pie #recipe

VMBURNS: I'm super excited to welcome Daryl Wood Gerber back to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. Daryl is sharing information on her newest book, along with a yummy recipe for Chocolate Mousse Pie and a giveaway!

DARYL: Thank you, Valerie, for having me on Mystery Lovers Kitchen. It’s so good to be back!

Readers, do you love chocolate? Of course you do! Even if you don’t, I’ll bet you know someone who does. Also, if you’re a baker, I’ll bet you like recipes that are easy-peasy. If so, you’re in luck, because I have a super easy recipe to share with you. I’ve included it in my upcoming Fairy Garden Mystery, A TWINKLE OF TROUBLE, the 5^th in the series, in which the murder of Courtney’s friend, Genevieve, casts a pall over the Summer Blooms festival. Working with only a germ of a clue, Courtney will have to overturn every rock to get the dirt on the real killer . . .

For those of you who don’t know what a fairy garden is, think of it as doll-housing for miniature gardens. You can plant fairy gardens in pots, under trees, inside your house. There’s no set rule. They’re fun to make, and they open the possibility to invite magic into your life!

For those who aren’t familiar with the Fairy Garden Mysteries, the series is set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and features a fairy garden shop owner, Courtney Kelly and her fairy sidekick, Fiona. In this story, Courtney is dating a restaurateur named Brady Cash, and they discover a new treat at Sweet Treats, a bakery located in the same courtyard as the fairy garden shop, which Courtney named Open Your Imagination. When Courtney tells Brady that she absolutely adores the chocolate mousse pie, he cajoles the recipe out of the baker.

Hurrah! Because now I can share it with you.

FYI, adding coffee or espresso to a chocolate recipe can really enhance the flavor. It deepens its intensity. Note: there are gluten-free chocolate wafers, so that’s an easy substitution for those who need to eat gluten-free. I find mine at Whole Foods, but they’re available online.

Enjoy! And fairy best wishes to you all!

Chocolate Mousse Pie

(Yield: 6 slices)

INGREDIENTS

One 4-ounce package chocolate wafers, broken into pieces (*they do make these gluten-free)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

¼ cup strong brewed coffee or espresso

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 6-inch springform pan. Pulse the chocolate wafers in a food processor until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse 3–4 times. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 5 minutes and remove from the oven and let cool.

In the top of a double boiler set over about 2 inches of simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate and the coffee. Remove the bowl form the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, whip the cream, vanilla, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high until the cream holds stiff peaks. With a spatula, fold the chocolate mixture into the cream, in 3 batches, until nicely blended. Transfer the mixture to the crust and smooth the top. [For this recipe on MLK, I added an additional tablespoon of espresso to the cream mixture. Yum.]

Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours and up to 1 day. To serve, remove the sides of the springform pan and cut the mousse into wedges.

*For a 9-inch springform pan, double the ingredients and prepare as above.

GIVEAWAY

To enter the GIVEAWAY, tell me, what do you like to serve to guests as dessert?

A TWINKLE of TROUBLE

Carmel-by-the-Sea garden shop owner Courtney Kelly sees things others can’t—like fairies, and hidden motives for murder . . .
Courtney is delighted when her tiny friend Fiona returns from the fairy realm, appearing at the base of a Cypress tree. When her Ragdoll cat, Pixie, emerges from her own portal—aka the cat door—the three set off for a busy day. Busier than usual, since Courtney has rented a small plot of land at the Flower Farm, where she hopes to grow her own supplies for her fairy-garden business. Plus, the annual Summer Blooms Festival is coming up, and Courtney has booked a booth . . .
But the murder of Courtney’s friend, Genevieve, casts a pall over the festival. Ever since Genevieve sold her floral business, she’d been building a career as an influencer. She was perennially opinionated—but in her new role she’d become surprisingly vicious, dissing local entrepreneurs with nasty posts and unwarranted bad reviews. That’s landed a couple of Courtney’s other friends on the suspect list—including Flower Farm owner Daphne Flores. And when a second victim is discovered, seeds of doubt about Daphne’s innocence sprout in Courtney’s mind. Working with only a germ of a clue, Courtney will have to overturn every rock to get the dirt on the real killer . . .

Daryl Wood Gerber Bio

Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber is best known for her nationally bestselling mysteries, including the Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense including the well-received The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams suspense novels. Recently Daryl, who loves a challenge, published a Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website: httsp://darylwoodgerber.com