Guest Nancy Coco Fudge Lava Cake #Recipe #Giveaway

MAYA: Please welcome today's guest Nancy Coco, who's sharing a recipe for  a yummy treat. She's also giving away a copy of her new book, Fudge and Marriage, the 14th book in her Candy-Coated Mystery series.  

Take it away, Nancy!

NANCY: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here!

I enjoy making fudgy desserts, and my family really loves this one. It’s easy to make and doesn’t use a stove. Perfect for the kids or grand kids to make. This is the dark chocolate version, but I’ve also made white lava cake, sprinkle lava cake, and lemon lava cake. The recipe can be easily created with any flavor you can imagine. 

Here’s my favorite: Dark Chocolate Lava Cake.

Ingredients:

1 box of dark chocolate cake mix plus ingredients listed on the box to make the cake
( usually ½ cup of oil or melted butter, 3 eggs, and water)

1 4-ounce box of dark-chocolate instant pudding and pie mix

2 cups of cold milk

2 cups of dark chocolate chips.

When I’m feeling creative, I’ll take a box of cake mix of my choice say lemon and a matching box of instant pudding. In that case, lemon pudding. Then I'd substitute white chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips.

Or if a yellow cake mix is all I have, I’ll make it with the dark chocolate pudding and dark chocolate chips. 

There are so many choices when it comes to this recipe.

Directions:

Grease the interior of a 6-quart slow cooker. In a large bowl beat the cake mix, oil eggs and if called for water for 2 minutes then pour slowly into the slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, add the pudding mix and milk. Beat until thick.

Slowly pour the pudding mixture over the cake batter, be careful not to mix the two.

Top it off with the chocolate chips.

Put the lid on and set the slow cooker to low heat. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours until the cake is set but still soft in the center. Remove the ceramic part from the metal outside heating part. Cool for 30 minutes and serve. 

One of my family’s favorite ways to eat this is with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy! I love slow cooker recipes—especially for desserts. 

READERS: Do you use a slow cooker? If so, what is your favorite recipe?

Let me know for a chance to win a copy of Fudge and Marriage (US only please)

USA Today Bestselling Author, Nancy Coco (AKA Nell Hampton, AKA Nancy Parra) is the author of over 35 published novels which include five mystery series: The Oregon Honey-comb Mystery Series (Kensington), The Candy-Coated Mysteries (Kensington), The Kensington Palace Mystery Series (Crooked Lane), The Wine Country Tours Mystery Series (Crooked Lane) The Gluten-free Baker’s Treat Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), and The Perfect Proposal Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime).  Her writing has been called witty and her protagonists plucky by reviewers around the world.  Nancy is a member of Sisters in Crime and loves to hear from readers. 

Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win Nancy's new book!

Put Some Googly Eyes on It! From Guest Author Nancy Coco #Halloween

Let's welcome guest author Nancy Coco today with a fun homemade Halloween treat 

I saw these really cute pretzel bites for Halloween on Pinterest and thought I’d try them myself. What an adventure! They are not that easy and I feel like I may need to say “Nailed It!” like a Pinterest fail. But then I realized if you put googly eyes on it the kids will love it and they are kind of cute!

 

Halloween Googly-eyed Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:

1 bag of bite-sized pretzels

1 bag of bite-sized pretzel sticks

1 bag of dark chocolate wafers for melting

1 bag of white chocolate wafers for melting

1 container of edible googly eyes

1 green piping gel

1 white piping gel

1 red piping gel

1 box of food color that includes orange

Directions:

Melt ½ a bag of white chocolate on defrost in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, if not all melted, try again for 15 seconds. You can use a double boiler, but don’t let the water boil and don’t get any steam in the chocolate or it will seize up.  Once the white chips are melted add 8-10 drops of orange food coloring until you get the color you want for pumpkins. Using a fork dip the pretzels in the orange chocolate on both sides and place on a sheet of parchment paper. After dipping about a dozen pretzels and pretzel sticks, pour the remaining chocolate into a piping bag and fill the pretzel holes until full. Add googly eyes and a green stem. Let cool.

Use the second half of white chocolate wafers to make ghosts or mummies. Simply melt the same as above, stirring constantly. Then using a fork, dip about 12 pretzels to coat both sides. Then fill another pastry bag with white chocolate and fill the pretzel with across lines of chocolate to look like mummy wrappings or fill as you did with the pumpkins for ghosts. Add two eyes and let cool.

By now you’re getting the hang of it. Melt half of the dark chocolate wafers in the microwave for 30 second on low or defrost. Using a fork dip the pretzels. Once you have twelve dipped, pour chocolate into a piping bag and fill in the holes, then pipe on ears, add googly eyes and a beak to make owls. Let cool and enjoy!

Because you are using melted chocolate, this makes a fun treat for kids to eat, but not fun for them to make. So, here’s how to make these kid friendly:

Use white chocolate and dark chocolate covered pretzels available in stores, then use chocolate frosting in a piping bag and white frosting in a piping bag. Take the pretzels and place on parchment paper.  Frost the back of the googly eyes and attach the googly eyes to the pretzel. Let harden and enjoy! Kids will get a kick out of making these and no one gets hurt with melted chocolate.

 For more fun recipes, check out the Candy-coated Mystery series from Nancy Coco. The eighth book in the series, Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas is out Oct 27th, 2020.

Would you like to WIN a copy of Nancy's new book? Please leave a comment here to tell us What's your favorite homemade Halloween dish? and you'll be entered in the draw. US entries only please.  

Oh, Fudge! Welcome our guest, Nancy Coco! #bookgiveaway

Hi, I’m Nancy J Parra writing as Nancy Coco. In my Candy Coated series (Kensington Books), I have included 10 original fudge recipes in each book. In the latest book, “Oh Say Can You Fudge,” I decided on fudges based on different types of pie. One of my favorite pies is chocolate chip pecan pie. So I made this fudge recipe to match and it was a hit with my tasters. They even fought over the crumbs.

I hope you enjoy this fudge as much as I did. 

Cheers! 

Nancy

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Fudge

4 cups pecans chopped

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar

1 cup half and half

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

1 stick butter + 1 ½ teaspoon butter for pan prep

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups mini dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 8 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow the pecans to cool.

Prepare a 9x9 pan by lining it with aluminum foil and butter the foil with 1 ½ teaspoons butter. Place 2 cups of dark chocolate mini chips in the bottom of the pan.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the brown and granulated sugars, the cream, and the corn syrup over medium heat. Stir until the sugars dissolve, insert a candy thermometer-ensure it does not touch the bottom or sides of the pan, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Allow the mixture to boil, stirring frequently, until it reaches 238 degrees on the candy thermometer. This takes approximately 10 minutes. (I set the timer to help understand how long it takes for the temperature to reach this point.) Once at 238, remove from heat. Take out the thermometer and stir in the butter, maple and vanilla extracts, and chopped pecans.

Stir the fudge vigorously with a heavy wooden spoon. (I break more spoons making fudge. It will get thick.) Stir constantly for 10-15 minutes until the fudge loses its shine and holds its shape.

Pour fudge into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Refrigerate the fudge to set it, for at least 1 hour. Once set, remove the fudge from the pan using the foil as handles. Cut the fudge into small 1-inch pieces to serve. Store fudge in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

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Nancy is offering a copy of  OH SAY CAN YOU FUDGE to one lucky MLK reader. Leave a comment for a chance to win!

OH SAY CAN YOU FUDGE is the third book in Kensington's Candy Coated Mystery series by Nancy Coco, also known as Nancy J Parra.

Inspired by the gentile Victorian feel of Mackinac Island, Nancy asked the people at The Island Bookstore if anyone had ever written a mystery series set on Mackinac Island. The answer was no. Nancy went to work with a poll of Island visitors and locals. If an amateur sleuth lived on Mackinac Island, what would she do for a living? The overwhelming answer was run a Fudge Shop, of course. Mackinac Island is known for its world famous fudge. The rest is history. Nancy’s alter ego, Nancy J Parra, has an MA in Popular Fiction and a day doesn’t go by when she isn’t working on a new story or walking her own bichonpoo known affectionately on line as Little Dog.