Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: mint chocolate brownie

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Welcome guest, Daryl Wood Gerber w/book #giveaway and mint chocolate #brownie #recipe

Welcome back, Daryl Wood Gerber!

Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber, a former regular on Mystery Lovers Kitchen, is best known for her nationally bestselling Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes the Aspen Adams Novels of Suspense as well as stand-alone suspense. Daryl loves to cook, fairy garden, and read. She has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky who keeps her in line. And she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane and hitch-hike around Ireland alone.

Her latest Fairy Garden Mystery, A GLIMMER OF TRUTH, comes out June 29.

What is it about?

Courtney Kelly has a shop full of delights, a cat named Pixie, a green thumb—and a magical touch when it comes to garden design. But in Carmel-by-the-Sea, things aren’t all sweetness and fairy lights . . .

When Courtney’s friend Wanda gets into a ponytail-pulling wrestling match in public with a nasty local art critic, Courtney stops the fight with the help of a garden hose. But Lana Lamar has a talent for escalating things and creating tension, which she succeeds in doing by threatening a lawsuit, getting into yet another scuffle—in the midst of an elegant fundraiser, no less—and lobbing insults around like pickleballs.

Next thing Courtney knows, Lana is on the floor, stabbed with a decorative letter opener from one of Courtney's fairy gardens, and Wanda is standing by asking “What have I done?” But the answer may not be as obvious as it seems, since Wanda is prone to sleepwalking and appears to be in a daze. Could she have risen from her nap and committed murder while unconscious? Or is the guilty party someone else Lana’s ticked off, like her long-suffering husband? To find out, Courtney will have to dig up some dirt . . .

Thanks for having me on the blog, ladies. It’s always a delight to visit! I miss you guys, but, boy, is my writing plate full!

Many people ask me where I came up with the idea for writing the Fairy Garden Mysteries. Well, I was at the Renaissance Faire and saw a woman making these adorable plantings with fairy figurines and tiny lights and such, and I thought I must try to make one myself. I love gardening and especially planter gardening. Doing a little research, I found a garden shop about ninety minutes from me that featured fairy figurines. So I drove down there and fell in love. With the shop, the garden, and the notion of bringing fairies to life in my backyard. After all, fairies encourage creativity. What author couldn’t use more of that?

When I pitched the series idea to my agent, he wasn’t completely on board, but the “magical” proposal won over an editor—who I adore—and voilà, I started writing the series. It’s set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, one of my favorite places in the world, featuring art and crafts, delicious food, and the gorgeous California shoreline. It’s a spiritual place that I believed fairies might convene.

The fairy garden shop that Courtney opened is called Open Your Imagination. One recurring event that I created for the series is the weekend tea. It’s served on the shop’s patio. The area is covered with a domed skylight so there’s no worry about the weather. Courtney’s friend Meaghan Brownie often plays the harp during the teas. Sometimes customers continue to shop for figurines and plants. Often, the tea revolves around a book for a book club. Most importantly, Courtney always serves delicious tea goodies, like scones, cakes, and cookies. So in addition to crafting fairy gardens (plenty populate my garden now) I’ve had my hands full making up recipes for the books.

Meaghan, thanks to her last name, has always been a brownie freak. She loves to find new brownie recipes. When she landed on this one, with mint, it was a done deal! And she will always share a good recipe with Courtney and Yolanda, the baker who bakes the goodies for the teas. Courtney, with Meaghan’s blessing thought that you might like to try your hand at them, too. She’s providing both the regular and gluten-free versions! Enjoy!

MINT CHOCOLATE Brownies

Regular version

(Yield: 12–16 brownies)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon, divided

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa

3 large eggs

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a round 9-inch pan with parchment paper and rub with 1 tablespoon butter.

In a medium saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup butter over medium-high heat. Add sugar and salt and stir until the mixture turns a pale yellow.

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Blend in the vanilla and cocoa, and then add the eggs. Mix until shiny, about 1 minute.

Add in the flour and baking powder. Stir in the mint chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Make sure you spread it to the edges.

Bake for 32–36 minutes until the top of the brownie is set. Insert a toothpick in the center to make sure it’s cooked through. A tad of chocolate at the tip is fine.

Remove from oven and cool 15–20 minutes before cutting. For the prettiest brownies, wait until they are completely cool. No crumbs!

Once cool, cover any brownies that you’re not eating tightly with plastic or store in sealed glass containers.

MINT CHOCOLATE Brownies

Gluten-free version

(Yield: 12–16 brownies)

1/2 cup unsalted butter plus 1 tablespoon, divided

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa

3 large eggs

3/4 cup gluten-free flour (I like a combo of sweet rice flour and tapioca flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon whey powder

1 cup mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a round 9-inch pan with parchment paper and rub with 1 tablespoon butter.

In a medium saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup butter over medium-high heat. Add sugar and salt and stir until the mixture turns a pale yellow.

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Blend in the vanilla and cocoa, and then add the eggs. Mix until shiny, about 1 minute.

Add in the gluten-free flour, baking powder, and whey powder. Stir in the mint chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Make sure you spread it to the edges.

Bake for 32–36 minutes until the top of the brownie is set. Insert a toothpick in the center to make sure it’s cooked through. A tad of chocolate at the tip is fine.

Remove from oven and cool 15–20 minutes before cutting. For the prettiest brownies, wait until they are completely cool. No crumbs!

Once cool, cover any brownies that you’re not eating tightly with plastic or store in sealed glass containers.

GIVEAWAY

I am giving away a copy of A GLIMMER OF TRUTH, a copy of A SPRINKLING OF MURDER (the first in the series) OR a copy of my other new book this year, WINING AND DYING, the 10^th Cookbook Nook Mystery to one commenter. Paperback or e-book. Tell me which title you’d prefer if you win.

A GLIMMER OF TRUTH comes out June 29. There are pre-order buttons on my website for all of the sales sites. If you want an autographed copy, I will be signing some books at Mysterious Galaxy and I’ll be providing bookplates at Murder by the Books after I do a virtual event at each store.

Follow Daryl on all her social media sites and don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter. Each month there is a giveaway, a recipe, and a little chatter about her dog Sparky.