Chocolate Cherry Bonbons: Daryl Wood Gerber

I love when my mystery and chocolate worlds collide! Today I welcome back Daryl Wood Gerber. Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author DARYL WOOD GERBER writes the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, set in the fictional coastal town of Crystal Cove, California. As AVERY AAMES, she also writes the Cheese Shop Mysteries, set in quaint Providence, Ohio. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote”. She is married, loves to cook, and has a darling, frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky. Visit Daryl or Avery at www.darylwoodgerber.com.

Giveaway: Comment below about your favorite chocolate or favorite chocolate cookbook to win a copy of Fudging the Books by Daryl Wood Gerber. Comments must be posted by July 31. Be sure and post your email address. Winner picked from random generated number.

Daryl Wood Gerber:
Chocolate Cherry Bonbons 

In the opening chapter of FUDGING THE BOOKS, there is a mention of chocolate cherry bonbons. One of my fans read the excerpt I posted on my website and said, “Boy, I hope that recipe is in the book.” Well, it’s not, but it’s right here! I thought that this blog would be the perfect place to share it first, pre-release of FUDGING THE BOOKS.

When I write A Cookbook Nook Mystery, I try to include all sorts of delectable cookbook titles and food. After all, foodies are my readers. However, I must admit that sometimes I dream up menus and foods because that’s what I want to eat at the time, and I don’t have all the recipes. It’s sort of a wish list. Uh-oh. I have now learned that I had better have a good idea of what goes into each recipe because fans want to know how to make them! In fact, when I wrote the very first Cheese Shop Mystery, a fan asked for a copy of my five-cheese mac ‘n cheese recipe. I whipped that baby up in a matter of an hour and shared it with her, and it went viral. I hope this bonbon recipe will go viral, too.

It’s so easy. Just a few steps. Which means my protagonist Jenna Hart, an avid reader, foodie, and former ad executive who has come home to Crystal Cove to help her aunt open a culinary bookshop and café, can make them. See, Jenna isn’t much of a cook—her mother did all the cooking when she was growing up—but she’s learning, one easy recipe at a time.

I hope you’ll join her on her journey as she settles into Crystal Cove. She’s learning how to cook while solving a few crimes along the way.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY BONBONS 

Ingredients: 
1-5 oz. bag dried cherries
3 Tbsp chocolate chips
1 Tbsp cocoa
1Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp coconut flour extra cocoa for coating (about 4 Tbsp)

Directions:
Put all the ingredients into a food processor. Process for about 1 minute. It will still appear that there are hard “chocolate chip” chunks in the mixture, but when you scoop out the mixture, it will be a sticky paste. That’s good.
Roll the mixture into 10-12 walnut-sized balls and set them on parchment paper. Remember to smooth them by rolling between your palms.
Then put the extra cocoa into a shallow bowl, and roll each ball in the cocoa. Shake off the excess cocoa.
Note: This can get messy, but it’s fun! You can eat these right away, or set them into the refrigerator to let them get firm. They'll keep in the refrigerator for at least a week, maybe more…if you can resist!

KILLER CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE: Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames

I love when my worlds of Mystery and Chocolate collide. Today I welcome back my friend Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames. Daryl writes both the Cheese Shop Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries, so, it's only natural that her recipe for Dying for Chocolate is for Killer Chocolate Cheesecake! Be sure to read on, so you can win one of her fab books and some culinary swag!

Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames:

Killer Chocolate Cheesecake 

Do you love chocolate? And cheesecake? Have you ever had a dessert where chocolate and cheesecake mesh into something deliciously decadent? You will soon. Read on…

I can’t get enough cheesecake. It is my favorite dessert. I remember the first time I ever ate it at my grandmother’s house. It was a thick, creamy New York-style cheesecake made in a springform pan. None of those paltry cheesecakes poured into a teensy 8-inch pie tin. Uh-uh. I need it to be a hearty slice and rich with cheese and sour cream! I have used my grandmother’s recipe repeatedly over the years. To my surprise, when I ordered cheesecake at the restaurant where my husband and I met, it turned out to be the same recipe. Kid you not! The same. If you’ve ever eaten a Lindy’s cheesecake, that’s what it is like. Decadently good.

And now for making cheesecake even more decadent…

I found this recipe in a cookbook called Luscious Chocolate Desserts. I’d purchased it so I could browse for recipes that might inspire a fun recipe in the 4th installment of the Cookbook Nook mysteries, FUDGING THE BOOKS, which will come out in 2015. STIRRING THE PLOT, the 3rd in the series, comes out September 30! Whee! Anyway, I tweaked the recipe to make the crust gluten-free because that’s a necessary evil for me. I’m celiac. I promise, you won’t know the difference, but if you want to use cookies made with regular flour to make your crust, feel free!

Leave a tasty comment this week because I’ll be giving away a copy of either Inherit the Word or Final Sentence along with some fabulous culinary swag. Be sure to leave your email, so I can get in touch with you.

KILLER CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE 

(ala Luscious Chocolate Desserts Cookbook) 

*tweaked the crust to make this gluten-free 

Ingredients:

Crust: 
One package 4.6 ounce chocolate wafers [Cookbook recipe asks for 9-ounce package chocolate wafers; that seemed to much by me. Also, I used gluten-free chocolate cookies.] 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted or room temp

Filling: 
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temp
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs pinch of salt
1 ½ cups sour cream, at room temp
2 teaspoons vanillin (Cookbook asks for real vanilla)

Directions: 

For crust: 
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, place a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom. Wrap the entire outside tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Have a roasting pan (can be disposable) ready. Put a kettle of water on to boil for the water bath (*see below).

Pulse the chocolate wafers in a food processor until finely ground. With the motor running, add the butter, and process until blended. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the springform pan (on top of parchment paper).

Bake the crust for 8 minutes until it is set. Let cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling: 
Melt the chocolate with the butter. [The cookbook says over simmering water – I did this in the microwave, on medium heat for 3 minutes.] Remove from microwave and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Let the mixture cool to room temp.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer, starting on low and increasing to medium-high. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. [Note: I put all the eggs into a measuring cup and poured one in at a time. Amazing how that works!] Beat in the pinch of salt. Beat in the chocolate mixture until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Beat until smooth, scraping down the sides.

Transfer the filling to the springform pan. Set the pan in the roasting pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Center will STILL be slightly jiggly; do not overbake—the cake will firm as it cools. Remove the roasting pan from the oven (carefully!!!) and let the cheesecake cool in the water bath for 15 minutes.

Remove the springform pan from the water bath and let cool on a wire rack, completely, about 2 hours. Remove the foil (messy) and refrigerate the cheesecake, loosely covered with saran wrap, utnil thoroughly chilled, at least 12 hours.

To serve, let the cheesecake stand at room temp for 20 minutes. Remove the pan sides, smooth the sides of the cheesecake with a table knife, and cut into wedges.

Serves at least 12 because this is SOOOO rich!

 * * * 

Below is a tidbit about STIRRING THE PLOT, the next in my Cookbook Nook mysteries. It comes out September 30! FYI, though I write a series, each book is a stand-alone and can be read first, even if you haven’t read the others in the series.

STIRRING THE PLOT (3rd in Cookbook Nook Mysteries)

Halloween in Crystal Cove, California, is a big deal, involving a spooky soiree where the Winsome Witches, a fund-raising group, gather to open up their purse strings and trade superstitions. But party magicians, fortune-tellers, and herbalists are only the beginning of this recipe for disaster. Jenna Hart has packed The Cookbook Nook chock-full of everything from ghostly texts to witchy potions in anticipation of the annual fund-raiser luncheon. But there’s one unexpected addition to the menu: murder. When the Head Priestess of the Winsome Witches is found dead, there’s plenty of blame to go around, and Jenna will have to use more than just sleight of hand to conjure up the truth…

[This is NOT a paranormal story. It is a traditional cozy mystery.]

STIRRING THE PLOT, 3rd in A COOKBOOK NOOK series, September 30, 2014
AS GOUDA AS DEAD, 6th in A CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY Series, Feb 2015
http://www.darylwoodgerber.com  http://www.averyaames.com
http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com   http://killercharacters.com

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