Chocolate and Coffee Tart From Vicki Delany

In the Tea by the Sea mysteries, Lily Roberts is always looking for wonderful things to add to her afternoon tea offerings. When she travels to England for Lady Frockmorton's 100th birthday party, (Tea with Jam and Dread) she's delighted to find out that the main event will be a tea party. Lily offers to help in the kitchen and she picks up this recipe. As a small thin slice, it's perfect for afternoon tea, but a larger piece would serve as a delicious dessert with ice cream or whipped cream. 

For chocolate lovers only. This delightful treat whips up in minutes (although it does need some time in the fridge). Perfect for that chocolate craving.

Chocolate and Coffee Tart

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

1/2 cup butter melted

150 g bittersweet chocolate (about 5-1/2 oz), chopped

150 g white chocolate (about 5-1/2 oz), chopped

1/3 cup whipping cream 35%

2 tablespoons prepared strong coffee

Directions:

Mix wafer crumbs with butter until moistened; press into bottom and partway up sides of 14- x 4-inch tart pan. Bake on rimmed baking sheet in 325 F oven just until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely.

In heatproof bowl set over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, heat together bittersweet chocolate, white chocolate, cream and espresso, stirring, until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour over crust, spreading to edges and smoothing top. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Slice into bars.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact

Now available for pre-order: Tea with Jam and Dread the sixth Tea by the Sea mystery from Kensington books. 

 

Classic Brownies with Walnuts from Vicki Delany

In baking, like literature, the classics are classic for a reason. Because everyone keeps coming back to them. And what’s more classic than brownies! This is a very basic recipe, with walnuts, but no other fancy bells and whistles. Just chocolaty, nutty goodness.  Perfect for bringing to a dessert party or pot luck.

Classic Brownies with Walnuts

Ingredients:

8 tbsp (120 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

8 oz (230 g) semi sweet chocolate, chopped

1 ¼ cup sugar

3 large eggs

Directions:

1)      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom and sides of 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper and lightly butter paper. Allow paper to overhang edges of the pan.

2)      In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt.

3)      Place butter and chocolate in bowl and heat in microwave on high for about one minute, until melted. Add sugar, mix. Add eggs, mix.

4)      Add flour mixture and combine. Add nuts.

5)      Pour batter into prepared pan.

6)      Bake for about 40 – 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out with just a few crumbs sticking to it.

7)      Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then transfer by lifting paper to a cooling rack and finish cooling completely before removing paper and slicing.

Makes about 16 brownies

Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact

Now available, TROUBLE IS BREWING, the fifth Tea by the Sea mystery from Kensington Books.

 

 

Banana Bread from Vicki Delany. Recipe from TROUBLE IS BREWING, A Tea by the Sea Mystery

This recipe is included in the newest Tea by the Sea mystery, Trouble is Brewing.  

Overripe bananas. What to do with them? If there’s one thing likely to be in every cook’s repertoire, whether home cook, amateur baker, or professional pastry chef, it’s banana bread. Because, after all, no one wants to throw out those fast-expiring bananas. For her own enjoyment, Lily likes nuts in her banana bread, but when baking for the breakfasts at Victoria-on-Sea, she leaves them out, just to be safe. This version has nuts included.

Note: Lily makes gluten-free banana bread for the guests when requested, but this recipe is NOT gluten-free.

Banana Bread with Walnuts

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork

1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

Directions

Lightly brush a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl.  

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add the mashed bananas.  

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes  Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack.

Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact

Now Available: Trouble is Brewing, the 5^th Tea by the Sea mystery from Kensington.

 

Gazpacho, The Perfect Summer Soup, from Vicki Delany

This has to be the perfect summer recipe. If possible, try to use local in-season tomatoes for the best possible flavor.  

This is a cold soup, originating in Spain, usually made with cucumbers and tomatoes.  Best of all, when the hot weather hits, it requires no cooking. It makes a gorgeous lunch if served with a loaf of crusty bread, or it can be a refreshing first course at a barbeque.

Gazpacho 

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped

2 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

1kg ripe plum tomatoes, cored and chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

75g stale crusty white bread, chopped (or 75g bread crumbs)

2 tbsp sherry vinegar, or to taste (or any white vinegar)

2 tbsp olive oil

 

Place the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and spring onions in a large bowl.

Add the bread and salt and pepper. Add the sherry vinegar and a two tablespoons of olive oil.

Mix. Cover and put the mixture in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Put the vegetable mixture into a blender and whiz until smooth. Add more olive oil if soup is too thick.

Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact

Coming July 23: TROUBLE IS BREWING, the fifth Tea by the Sea mystery from Kensington Publishing.

Sticky Toffee Pudding from Vicki Delany

Sneak peek! In next years (2025) Tea by the Sea book, TEA WITH JAM AND DREAD, Lily and the gang go to England for Lady Frockmorton’s 100^th birthday celebrations. Always on the lookout for new and interesting things to serve in her own tearoom, Lily enjoys a traditional sticky toffee pudding. Not quite suitable for an afternoon tea menu, it still makes a great dessert. And it’s even more perfect as it contains tea.

I set about finding a recipe to use in the new book, and I adapted this one from The Great British Bake Off.

In Britain, pudding usually just means dessert, and this is more a cake with sauce than what we consider a pudding in North America. 

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake:

200g dates

150ml hot tea, made with 1 tea bag

150g unsalted butter, softened

200g light muscovado sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

200g flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

 

For the toffee sauce:

100g unsalted butter

200g dark brown sugar

150ml double cream

 

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. Butter and line 20cm square deep cake tin

with baking paper.

Chop the dates into small pieces then add to the hot tea. Put to one side to soak for 15 minutes while you make the sponge.

Cream together the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl with a wooden spoon (or use a hand-held electric mixer) until pale and light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure all of the mix is beaten. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.

Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda onto the creamed mix and then fold in with a rubber spatula until all of the flour is mixed in. Fold in the dates, along with any tea that hasn’t soaked in, until you have a creamy cake batter.

Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the pudding is a deep golden brown. To check if it is cooked, insert a skewer into the sponge; if it comes out with just a few moist crumbs the pudding is ready.

While the pudding is in the oven, make the toffee sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan, then add the sugar and cream and cook over a low heat, stirring every now and then, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sauce is smooth, increase the heat and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.

Leave the pudding to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out and cutting into squares. Serve warm with the hot toffee sauce.

Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact

Now available for pre-order. The fifth Tea by the Sea mystery, Trouble is Brewing. Coming July 23 from Kensington Books.