Frangipane Plum Tart

by Sheila Connolly

I told you that the frangipane in the freezer was calling to me.  I know, I should wait for fresh, local fruit, but that's a few months away, and I want it now!  So I cheated and bought plums from Chile.  In case you're wondering "why plums?", it's because they belong to the same genus (Prunus) as almonds, as do peaches and cherries, so they kind of belong together. And it's waaay too early for peaches in the market.

I wanted to keep this simple (I told you I was impatient).  I already had the frangipane, so I thawed that.  Then I made a simple short sugar crust and pressed it into a tart pan. I would have made the vanilla crumb crust that I used earlier, but my husband ate all the vanilla wafers while I wasn't looking.  So I pulled out Julia Child's sweet crust recipe, except I used a  Cuisinart to blend things.  Use whatever sweet crust you like.

Preparing the plums was the slowest part.  I could have just sliced them and laid them on the tart, but I'll confess the ones in the market were not particularly sweet or soft and I wasn't sure they'd cook quickly enough, so I cut them in half (removing the pit), and poached them briefly in a sugar syrup (water and sugar in a 3:1 ratio, brought to a simmer to dissolve the sugar). I simmered the plums gently for 10 minutes, then let them cool in the syrup, then drained them on a rack.  You could peel them (after poaching), but plum skin is fairly thin, so it was not a problem in the finished pie.

Now that all the components are ready (crust, frangipane, plums), spread a layer of frangipane on the crust, then lay your plums over that.

Ready for the oven

Bake the tart in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until the frangipane is lightly browned.

And ready to eat!

If you want to glaze your tart, melt jelly (apricot or seedless raspberry) in a small, heavy saucepan (or a microwave) until it boils. Strain if needed (you want this to become smooth and glossy on the tart). As soon as the tart comes out of the oven, brush the glaze over the surface.  Let the tart cool. (You could also sprinkle some coarse sugar on top, for a different appearance).  Let the tart cool to room temperature and serve.

GIRL VERSUS CRUISE FOOD BY AUTHOR DENISE SWANSON

From Denise:

Hi Everyone! I’m just back from my winter break and I had the opportunity to eat a lot of fabulous meals especially on Norwegian Cruise Line’s ship the Epic. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. 😈

The Epic has six specialty restaurants—Chinese, French, Italian, Brazilian, Japanese, and American steakhouse—plus two main dining rooms and a special restaurant for Haven guests. We ate in all but the two main dining rooms and the food was amazing everywhere. Here are some pictures of the various dishes.

My husband's favorite the French onion soup at Le Bistro

My favorite cunard  à l'orange

Banana Cream Tartlet

Warm Espresso Chocolate Brownie

Macadamia Nut Ice Cream, Caramel Brittle

Marinated Berries and Mango

Crispy Almond Wafer

And I even persuaded the executive chef to share one of the recipes.

Mocha Mousse Coupe with Vanilla and Raspberry Cream and Hazelnut Butter Crunch

(I tried to order something different every evening, but I had this THREE times!)

Pastry Cream

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

1 qt                                          Milk

232 gr                                       Granulated sugar

8 gr                                          Vanilla Extract

72 gr                                         Cornstarch

304 gr                                       Egg yolks Frozen

Procedure:

      1.  Combine 3/4 of the milk and 1/2 of the sugar in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

      2.  Meanwhile combine the cornstarch with the remaining sugar and the rest of the milk stirring with a wire whip

      3.  Add the egg yolks and the vanilla extract stir until the mixture is completely smooth.

      4.  Temper the egg mixture by adding about one third of the hot milk and return to the remaining milk in the saucepan continue cooking and whisk vigorously with the whip, until the pastry cream comes to a boil and the whip leaves a trail in it.

      5.  Pour the pastry cream into a large bowl and cover with a plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the cream and cool over an ice bath.

 

Name:  Raspberry Jelly

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

290 gr                                       Fresh Raspberry

116 gr                                       Sugar

174 gr                                       Water

1 ea                                          Gelatin Leaves

Procedure:

      1.  Place in sauce pan, raspberry, water and sugar.  Bloom the gelatin leaves and add to the warm raspberry

      2.  Blend it with mixer and strain it to avoid raspberry seed.  Mold it in petit four flexipan and place in freezer for complete set.

 

Name:  Hazelnut Crunchy (pailletée feuilletine)

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

1590 gr                                     White Chocolate Couverture

928 gr                                       Praline Hazelnut Paste

638 gr                                       Pailletée Feuilletine

290 gr                                       Vegetable Oil

Procedure:

      1.  Melted the white chocolate in water bath, add the oil and the praline paste and mix by hand to dissolve,

      2.  Add the pailletée feuilletine and fold it until completely coated.

      3.  On sheet pan linen with parchment paper, spray the mixture to arrived a thickness of 1/4 inch; let it set in the cooler.

      4.  Cut in little cubes 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch and reserve for build up

 

Name:  Milk Chocolate Mousse

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

1 Qt                                          Heavy cream

232 gr                                       Milk Chocolate

174 gr                                       Egg White Fresh

174 gr                                       Sugar granulated

87 gr                                         Mocha Paste

261 gr                                       Praline Crunch cut in small pieces

Procedure:

      1.  Melted in water Bath chocolate and mocha paste, set aside

      2.  On a mixer whip the egg white with sugar to a soft peak, set aside

      3.  On a mixer whip the heavy cream to a soft peak and set aside

      4.  In a bowl, mix the chocolate with half of the egg white then fold in the soft whipped cream

      5.  Finish with the rest of the soft whipped egg white

      6.  Add 174 gr of the Praline crunch cut in small pieces

Assembly: 

1.  In large Martini glass place a tsp of pastry cream in the bottom, pipe some dark chocolate mousse to one third of the glass, insert a frozen raspberry cream and with a squeeze bottle place around the glass a ring of coulis to make a ring of coulis.

2.  Pipe some more of chocolate mousse and sprinkle more hazelnut crunch on the top of it.  Finish with a spoon of soft whipped cream and a chocolate decor

 

     And speaking of chocolate delights, I’m giving away an advanced reading copy of my upcoming April book, Tart of Darkness. Just leave a comment for a chance to win. 

#Giveaway #AdvancedReadingCopy

Here's a bit about my upcoming book: Tart of Darkness.

Right when Dani thinks she's hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion—cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for hungry students attending the nearby university, as well as providing personal chef services and catering events for the local community. To help support her new business, she opens her home to a few students, renting them rooms and becoming almost like a big sister figure in their lives.

But just as Dani is relishing her sweet new life, the friend of one of her boarders is murdered, and Dani becomes one of the primary suspects! She'll have to scramble to clear her name and save her business before the killer reappears—perhaps to silence the new chef forever.

order form to receive the pdf of the cookbook
Tart of Darkness Pre-order




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Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Cream Sauce

What's in your freezer? Seriously, what's in there that needs to be used? In my case, it's fruit! Fruit that we froze last summer that will be back in season soon. So I'm using up cherries and raspberries like crazy. Not that I mind!

Reduce raspberries

Like my protagonist, Sophie Winston, I like to keep a few goodies in the freezer in case company is coming. I live 45 minutes from my favorite grocery store, so a quick drive there and back eats up an entire morning. To be on the safe side, I keep a few things at the ready and one of them is usually pork tenderloin. It defrosts very nicely overnight, and it's always so tender.

Brown the meat

Since I have all these raspberries that need to be eaten, I made a raspberry reduction and added cream. I used 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar, which gives it a serious kick. It's also sweet, thanks to sugar and honey, so it's a

De-glaze pan

nice combination of sweet and tart. *If you're sensitive to vinegar, you might want to cut back on the amount and use only one or two tablespoons.

Straining the sauce isn't necessary, although it's probably more attractive strained. I would take the extra step for company.

The sweet and tart combination would be great on venison, too. Or beef, or, well, I'm seriously thinking it might even be good on ice cream!  Either I've been watching too many cooking shows or I've been taken over by Natasha.

Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Cream Sauce

15-16 ounces frozen raspberries
1/2 cup cognac
1/3 cup sugar
1-2 tablespoons or 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar*
2 tablespoons honey
pinch of thyme

2-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 pork tenderloins
salt & pepper
water

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

fresh raspberries to garnish (optional)

Place the raspberries in a large pot. (If they have ice crystals on them, wash them off.) Add the cognac, sugar, balsamic vinegar, honey, and thyme. Bring to a boil, stir to combine, and reduce heat. Simmer uncovered about twenty minutes until it has thickened and the liquid is reduced by about half. (This can be done in advance and refrigerated.)

Preheat oven to 400. Pour the olive oil into an oven proof pan large enough to hold the pork tenderloins and heat at just under medium. Brown the tenderloins on all sides, approximately 10 minutes total. Place the pan in the oven and roast 12 - 15 minutes. A meat thermometer should read about 140 degrees. Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

Meanwhile, de-glaze the pan with a splash or two of water. Add the raspberry mixture to the pan, stir, and heat. Remove from heat, whisk in the butter and the heavy cream. If you wish, you may strain the sauce. Serve over the meat and garnish with fresh raspberries.

Unstrained

Strained

Linzer Torte

What's the first sign of Christmas in your house? I mean in terms of food. Special cookies? Chocolates? Something that someone always sends or brings over?

At my house, there are three German treats that always turn up early in the season. Stollen, a bread with dried fruit in it, Lebkuchen, spiced Christmas cookies, and Linzer Torte, with loads of sweet raspberry jam. You've probably eaten Linzer cookies, often made in a scalloped circle with three dots cut out of the middle so the pretty red jam shows through.

I made a double batch, enough for a large one, a medium, and a teeny personal Linzer Torte, which is the cutest, I think. My mother likes to give them as gifts. They keep very well, and even freeze and thaw quite nicely.

The rich dough is made with finely ground almonds and mashed cooked egg yolks. The almonds should not be blanched. It's fine to leave the peels on.

Mashed egg yolks!

Mashed egg yolks disappear into flour.

The dough is not difficult to make but it's soft when done. It goes into the fridge for an hour so it's easier to handle. The toughest part for me is the strips that go across the top. Hint #1: Don't make them too thin. If they're a little thicker they handle much easier. Hint #2: Don't try to weave them. Just place them on top of each other in the lattice pattern, and they'll come out fine.

Choose a seedless raspberry jam. It should be relatively thick, not runny. Smuckers works very well.

Linzer Torte

(Linzertorte)

1 nine-inch false-bottomed tart pan
or two smaller false-bottomed tart pans

1 1/2 cups flour (plus extra for rolling out)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup finely ground raw almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 hard-cooked egg yolks, mashed
1 uncooked egg yolk, lightly whisked
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened (plus extra for pan)
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups raspberry jam

1 egg
2 tablespoons milk (if 0%, then 1 tbsp milk & 1 tbsp cream)

powdered sugar

Sift the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, and cloves into a deep mixing bowl. Blend well. Add ground almonds, sugar, lemon peel and mashed egg yolks. Beat in the butter, uncooked egg yolk, and vanilla. It will look like it couldn't possibly be right. Beat it until it it begins to form a ball and looks like a smooth dough.

Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate at least one hour.

Remove dough from refrigerator. If too stiff to handle, let stand a bit.

Use a paper towel to grease the pan well with butter. On a floured surface, roll out about 3/4 of the dough to a 1/4-inch thick circle with a floured rolling pin and lay into pan. Using your fingers, spread the dough and patch any gaps. HINT: Do not firmly push dough into side crevices. Simply form the sides and use the top rim to trim any excess.

Fill with jam. Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to spread it.

Roll out the remaining dough and any scraps. Use a pastry cutter or knife to cut two 9-inch strips about 1/2-inch in width. Place them across the jam in a + pattern.

 

Cut additional strips slightly shorter. Place them along the sides of the other strips in a lattice pattern.

Using a thin-tipped knife, loosen the top of the pan all the way around

 

and bend it over to form a rim.

Lightly beat the remaining egg with the milk. Use a pastry brush to paint it on the pastry. Refrigerate 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven. Bake 40-45 minutes until lightly browned. On removing it from the oven, place on a coffee can or bowl small enough to allow the side to drop away. You may need to loosen the edges with a knife for the side to drop away. Cool five minutes before removing from the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar before serving.

Hurry Scurry Berry Tart

As much as I love to cook, I also love to have other people cook for me.

One of my dear friends is a fellow fan of America's Test Kitchen (I get many of my best recipes from them). She recently invited me to dinner, luring me with a promise of excellent company and the ATK Chicago-style deep dish pizza.* Even though I had about a million things going on that weekend, it was an offer I could not refuse.

I hate to show up empty-handed, so I offered to bring dessert. I had mulled over a number of options, but somehow I found myself on I35E, fighting DFW traffic to get home, about 2 hours before our dinner date ... without a clear plan. I had limited time to prepare anything, I had no idea what I had in the house, and I didn't have a single recipe on my person.

I was going to have to wing it.

This low-effort, informal, but incredibly tasty berry tart is what I ended up with. It certainly isn't the most elegant dish I've ever created, but it was just sweet enough, while still being light, to punctuate the decadent dinner. When you're dashing about -- or maybe when you're just feeling a little lazy -- whip it up and enjoy it with a good friend.

* I'll share that gem of a recipe with you all sometime in the future ... I promise.

Hurry Scurry Berry Tart

(Printer Friendly Version)

Crust

9 sheets of graham crackers (18 squares)

1/3 c. butter (melted)

1/4 c. sugar

Filling

8 oz. mascarpone cheese*

1/2 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

18-20 oz. fresh berries (I used blackberries and raspberries)

1/4 c. seedless preserves (blackberry/raspberry/strawberry/apricot)

* I used mascarpone because that's what I bought on my mad dash through the grocery store. In retrospect, I image cream cheese would have worked nearly as well (and been a bit less expensive).

Rinse berries (removing any stems or bad berries) and spread in a single layer on a few paper towels to dry.

For the crust: Preheat oven to 375. Process crackers in food processor until you have fine crumbs. Pulse in sugar and then melted butter. Turn wet crumb mixture into 9 inch pie plate (or tart pan) and press gently into bottom and up sides. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes.

For the filling: While the crust bakes, combine the mascarpone, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form.

Remove crust from oven, and stick bowl of whipped filling in refrigerator. Allow everything to cool/chill/dry for about 30 minutes.

Spread filling in crust. Arrange berries on top. Melt preserves in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Using pastry brush, spread liquid preserves over berries.

Chill another hour before serving.

~~~~~~

Wendy is the author of the Mysteries a la Mode. Visit her on the web or on Facebook.

Around the Kitchen Table: Writing Food, Right Now! + 5-Book #Giveaway!

LUCY BURDETTE: I've taken a short break before I have to tackle my next Key West mystery, and I'm using that time to draft part of a novel set in a fancy Parisian restaurant. It's fun to figure out what this restaurant might be serving, and also where else my character might eat when she isn't working. Some of the dishes on Chez Cassan's menu aren't things I'd either cook or eat (fois gras, for example,) and others I will be making for sure (cheese soufflé and maybe raspberry soufflé too!) There will also be flash-fried squash blossoms stuffed with special goat cheese and tied up with fresh chives because that might become an important plot point...

So writers, that's the question of the day:

How is food figuring in to what you're writing now, and will you be actually cooking any of it? 

 🌴 🍍 🌺

 

LESLIE KARST: Since my Orchid Isle mysteries are set on the Big Island of Hawai'i, and since my protagonist, Valerie Corbin, is a retired caterer for the TV and movie biz--now working as a bartender at the Speckled Gecko in her new-found town of Hilo--there's not surprisingly a lot of food and cooking in my books, as well as recipes, of course!

And I have a lot of fun coming up with ideas for dishes based on the local ingredients and cuisine, and then testing out the recipes on folks who are willing to be guinea pigs. (Not hard finding them, I will admit.) The newest in the series, Murder, Local Style, which releases April 7, for example, features such dishes as Butter-Shoyu Chicken, Japanese Style Potato Salad, and Gochujang Sugar Cookies. (Yes, all those recipes are in the book!) And in the previous book, Waters of Destruction, I featured the amazing local dish, Kalbi Ribs: 

Okay, now I'm truly hungry.... 

 

🌱 🍤 🌿 

VICKI DELANY: Thanks for asking, Lucy.

My work in progress right now is the 2027 Tea by the Sea Book (as yet untitled). The Tea by the Sea mysteries are set in an afternoon tearoom, so the food served there always features prominently. Think scones, small sandwiches, a selection of bite-sized desserts. The protagonist of the series, pastry chef Lily Roberts, also cooks the breakfasts in her grandmother’s B&B. Muffins, breakfast pastries, etc. The books all feature recipes of some of the dishes made during the course of the book.

For the new book, I’m thinking of adding recipes for carrot muffins with oats and walnuts, and maybe a Bakewell Tart and likely some sort of cookies. The recipes for the muffins is already up here at Mystery Lovers Kitchen. MysteryLovers' Kitchen: Muffins with Carrot, Oats, and Walnuts from Vicki Delany. I made them for my grandchildren’s visit over Christmas and regularly keep a batch in the freezer for myself.

A Bakewell tart is a traditional English dish, and I’ve never made it before but I thought it should go well with a proper afternoon tea. Before putting it in the book, if I do, I’ll give it a try myself, because all the recipes I provide in my books are things I make myself. In the case of food served for afternoon tea, I’ve sometimes tried something new before giving it to Lily, as I’m thinking of doing for the Bakewell tart.

🌱 🍤 🌿

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Such a fun question, Lucy! Sometimes the food pushes its way into the book -- I eat something I just have to share, like this Indian Butter Chicken and the Asparagus with Goat Cheese Chevre that I ate on my last trip to Seattle and put in Lavender Lies Bleeding, the latest Spice Shop mystery. Sometimes I go looking for thematic food, which for me typically means recipes starring the title herb or spice, like this Lavender Goat Cheese, so easy -- and so good that even our 10 year old great-nephew loved it!

And sometimes, my characters just want to eat what I eat, and I whip them up a family favorite or two, like this Hungarian Mushroom Soup from Between a Wok and a Dead Place. Mr. Right and I aren't Hungarian, but Pepper's mother Lena is, so of course Pepper makes it when she misses her mother or her late grandmother.

No recipe goes in a book unless I've made it, often multiple times, but occasionally I'll refer to a dish without giving a recipe, typically because Pepper doesn't actually make it. Do I? Usually, because Pepper wouldn't mention it if I weren't intrigued by it. I recently wrote a short story featuring Lena, in which she stops for coffee while in pursuit of some Hungarian family history. What, I wondered, is a typical Hungarian coffee drink? These days, I discovered, it's a coffee-honey-milk combo called a melange, with a Hungarian pronunciation, not the French one, that reminds Lena of the coffee her mother often enjoyed of an afternoon. Naturally, I had to figure out how to make one, to really get the flavor -- pun intended -- of Lena's memories. I'll share the recipe when the story comes out -- think a honey latte. Of course, Pepper would add a dash of cinnamon, because she runs a spice shop and always thinks a dash of something makes everything better!

🌽 🍝 🐝

MADDIE DAY: For each book, of course I make every dish I include a recipe for. Right now I'm putting final polish on Murder in the Lighthouse. Before it's due on April 1, I need to trial the recipe for Cape Cod Cornmeal Griddle Cakes, which I found in the American Lighthouse Cookbook written by Cape author Becky Sue Epstein along with Ed Jackson. Mac Almeida buys the the griddle cakes at the Lobstah Shack, but her baker husband Tim likes them so much he wants to bake and sell them at his bakery.

The same book has a spring Strawberry Cake recipe in it. The cake is basically the same as a Blueberry Pound Cake I shared here six years ago, but I still need to test it. 

Murder at the Toy Soldier, which releases in September, includes other recipes, including a yummy Italian Vegetable Tart. I tested it but didn't document my process. Keep an eye out here for that post sometime in the summer!

My Cece Barton Mysteries don't include recipes, but I can't help myself from writing about food. This native Californian loves being able to invent and write about dishes that include avocadoes, fresh produce, local fish, excellent olive oil, and wine.

🌽 🍝 🐝

ANG POMPANO: Lucy, food plays a central role in my writing because it mirrors everyday life. Everyone eats, so it’s instantly relatable. Since I write with humor, I include kitchen mishaps and quirky eating habits we all recognize. In Diet of Death, Quincy Lazzaro is roped into writing “Cooking With Betty” despite being a questionable cook, which leads to creations like Twinkie Tiramisù (don’t laugh—it’s actually not bad). 

I do make the dishes I mention, even when I don’t include recipes, just to be sure they’re edible. Click here to find my grandson helping me make Twinkie Tiramisù.

Fast-forward to my WIP Simmering Secrets: Quincy opens his fridge to a sad assortment of odds and ends and cobbles together an egg-and-rice experiment. That scene even inspired a real-life Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen post about the art of cucina povera (using what you have to make a full meal.) I promise my version turned out better than Quincy’s. 

 🌽 🍝 🐝

PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: Right now I am working on the eleventh Cranberry Cove book.    I learned so much about cranberry farming and even visited a cranberry bog during the harvest.  As for the recipes, you guessed it--tthey all  include cranberries in some form or another.  I never realized quite how versatile cranberries could be. My character Monica Albertson joins her brother on his cranberry farm and takes over baking for the Sassamanash Farm Store.  (By the way, sassamanash is the Algonquin word for cranberry.)  She whips up all sorts of cranberry themed goods from cranberry salsa to cranberry scones, bread and these cranberry orange cookies.   There are no recipes in my Open Book Series where Penelope "Pen" Parish becomes the writer in residence at a bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke but her friend Figgy (Lady Fiona Innes-Goldthorpe) runs the bookstore's tea shop and is always making mouth watering goodies like this Victoria Sponge Cake, lemon drizzle cake, scones and many other tasty delights.

 🌽 🍝 🐝

KIM DAVIS: Such a fun question, Lucy, and I've enjoyed reading everyone's answers! My Cupcake Catering Mysteries are brimming with food and I generally have around ten recipes per book. Typically the recipes I include are centered around the catering or party theme of the book that my protagonist, Emory, is involved in, such as these Mini Chocolate Macaroon Tarts from Chocolate Can Be Deadly.

While Emory is typically involved in the dessert portion of the event, her sister is the caterer which allows me to include both sweet and savory dishes. I'll have to admit that developing recipes for the books is my favorite part of writing, lol! Often I'll have a list of dishes or desserts I'd like to include before I even start on the plot. Then over the course of writing, I'll make the dish as many times as it takes until I'm happy with the results. There's only been twice that I gave up on a recipe after three or four disastrous attempts. 

For my next Cupcake Catering Mystery (title TBD), the event is a bridal shower and the themed desserts are lemon-based. My step-daughter's lemon trees had an over-abundance of fruit this year, so I figured I might as well put them to use! 

In my Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries, my protagonist, Carissa, has a love interest who owns a patisserie. He keeps her supplied with pastries and coffee, as well as providing desserts, often lavender based, for special events she hosts at her shop. One such dessert are Lemon-Lavender Sandwich Cookies. 

I also have a brand-new book coming out in 2027 with the first book titled Of Death and Danish in the Danish Treasures and Bookshop Mysteries. While my protagonist, Kristy, isn't much of a cook, her aunt owns a Danish pastry shop so there are a lot of yummy pastries mentioned throughout the book. Of course I had to include a couple of recipes with each release, and in the first book I shared a family friend's recipe for Kransekage, an almond-and-meringue-based wreath cake. Here's a photo of my granddaughter holding the cake after we spent all day making it. I'll be making it again to make sure I take all the necessary photos to share on Mystery Lovers' Kitchen one of these days. I'm also working on the second book and recently took a trip to Solvang, a delightful Danish-style tourist town in California. I spent a considerable amount of time sampling pastries from the bakeries in town, hunting for the best version, and trying to decide which to feature in my next book 😋

 🌽 🍝 🐝

DARCI HANNAH: What a great question, Lucy! For me the answer is YES! Food is a huge part of both Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, and my Food & Spirits Mystery Series. In my Beacon Bakeshop series I often have the scrumptious baked goods I'll be highlighting in the book well before I have my plot or title, lol! Sometimes I have a baked good that I really want to be a central part of the story, but I have to wait for the right book to put it in. That was the case for my most recent Beacon Bakeshop mystery, Murder at the Lemonberry Tea. When I came up with my character, Lindsey Bakewell, (named after a village in England, and also the tart the village is famous for) I knew that in Lindsey's future, she'd be making an Bakewell Tart. In Murder at the Lemonberry Tea, Lindsey learns how to make the Bakewell Tart, alongside Vivi Lemonberry, a famous British foodie and lifestyle icon in preparation for a fancy tea party held in Vivi's honor. Of course, I had to make several Bakewell Tarts to test the recipe... and my poor family was forced to eat them! 

 

You can find my recipe for this delicious Bakewell Tart (and more!)
 in Murder at the Lemonberry Tea. 

As we speak I'm frantically baking and cooking my way through all the recipes that will appear in my 3rd Food & Spirits mystery, which is due to the publisher very soon! I've made most of them once already, but it's at this point in my process that I tweak the recipes so they'll be as close to perfect as I can make them for the book. Again, my family suffers through this process along with me. Main dishes,  desserts, sometimes even a cocktail or two. The tortures I put them through are riggorous, but somehow they manage. 

 🌽 🍝 🐝

MOLLY MACRAE: Ah, food, how I love you. Strictly speaking, I don’t write culinary mysteries. But the characters in all my series do their bit to show the truth of what Ang said—everyone eats. In my Haunted Shell Shop mysteries, for instance, an awful lot of muffins are consumed. When I include a muffin recipe in one of the books, like banana, walnut, chocolate chip muffins, you can bet I’ve baked (and eaten) them multiple times. 

But it’s not all muffins. You’ll find fig recipes in There’ll Be Shell to Pay (book 2), and in All Shell Breaks Loose (book 3, coming in June) you’ll find recipes for blueberry lemonade, lemon lush (a recipe my friend Susan gave me back in the 70s), and sweet potato biscuits. My family LOVES sweet potato biscuits. 

Now here’s a teaser. I’m starting a new cozy series set in the mountains of North Carolina, not far from where we lived in Tennessee for just shy of twenty years. Again, the books won’t be culinary mysteries, but the main character’s husband has a café so there will be eating and there will be recipes. Watch my posts this spring for more news this exciting project. 

Thanks for the great question, Lucy, and mouthwatering reading it inspired! 

 ☕ 🍒 ☕

CLEO COYLE: I love to cook and (most of all) eat. My husband and partner in crime-writing feels the same, which is why we always have a great time not only putting together the twisty plots of our culinary mysteries but also whipping up the foods and drinks that we write about in our long-running Coffeehouse Mystery series (now celebrating more than twenty years in print).

For the benefit of our wonderful readers, we do our best to photograph the recipes that we make and put them (along with fun information about those recipes) in our free, downloadable “Illustrated Recipe Guides” that we post when our books are published.

Cleo's Free Illustrated Guide to the
Recipes in Bulletproof Barista

Above is the guide to BULLETPROOF BARISTA (which we’re giving away today to one lucky commenter) and below is the guide to NO ROAST FOR THE WEARY, which our publisher is releasing this Tuesday (March 3rd) in a brand-new paperback reprint edition. And we're happy to share that our coffeehouse manager and master roaster Clare Cosi will be challenged with an exciting new murder mystery to solve in our (22nd) Coffeehouse Mystery, publishing later this year. We’ll share more news soon about our upcoming title. In the meantime, May you read (and eat) with joy! ~ Cleo

Cleo's free illustrated guide to the
recipes in No Roast for the Weary

Readers: How important is the food writing in the books you read? Have you ever made a recipe after reading? Comment to be entered in the drawing for our giveaway this month! 

A Poisonous Pour ARC by Maddie Day

Murder at the Lemonberry Tea by Darci Hannah

When It's Time for Leaving by Ang Pompano

Essentials of Death by Kim Davis

Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle

 

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March 4, 2026

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