by Penny Pike
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup unsweetened good-quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
4. Combine butter and sugar in a separate bowl.
5. Beat egg into butter-and-sugar mixture.
6. Add cocoa powder and vanilla and mix well.
7. Stir in flour mixture and milk until smooth.
8. Spoon dough into 2 tablespoon-sized balls and place on baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
9. Bake for 11–13 minutes, until cakes spring back when touched.
10. Cool completely.
11. Spread raspberry filling (below) onto one cakey cookie and top with another cakey cookie.
Ingredients for Raspberry Filling
1 cup softened butter
¼ cup raspberry puree
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
Directions
1. Beat butter in medium bowl.
2. Add raspberry puree, milk, vanilla, and 2 cups powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
3. Add more powdered sugar as needed to thicken frosting.
4. Spread onto cakey cookie.
MAKES 16 WHOOPIE PIES
Jake Miller’s Mocha Mousse Cream Puffs
Cream puffs, like whoopie pies, are so versatile when it comes to mixing and matching the outsides with the fillings. This melt-in-your-mouth puff is perfect with a latte in the morning, a glass of milk in the afternoon, and a bottle of red wine in the evening.
Ingredients for Cream Puff Shell
½ cup water
4 tablespoons butter
Pinch of sugar
½ cup flour
2 beaten eggs
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine water, butter, sugar, and salt in medium pan and bring to boil.
3. Remove from heat and add flour.
4. Place back on medium heat and stir well with wooden spoon for 30 seconds.
5. Remove from heat and pour into bowl; stir 1 minute.
6. Add eggs, half at a time, stirring constantly until batter is smooth.
7. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Scoop mixture into balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Leave 2 inches between puffs.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown, light, and crisp; cool on rack.
Ingredients for Mocha Filling
11⁄3 cups heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons good-quality semisweet chocolate chips
1½ tablespoons sugar
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
Powdered sugar
Directions
1. Combine 6 tablespoons of cream, chocolate chips, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
2. Cook over low heat until chips are melted and ingredients are blended.
3. Remove from heat and gradually stir in vanilla, coffee, and remaining cream.
4. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Beat filling until stiff.
6. Spoon mocha filling into puff shells.
7. Dust with powdered sugar, or drizzle raspberry sauce over top.
MAKES 8–10, DEPENDING ON SIZE OF PUFF
Monet Richards’s Red, White, and Blue I Scream Cakes
Monet Richards makes these patriotic I Scream Cakes for American celebrations, such as the Fourth of July, and French holidays, such as Bastille Day. Below is the easy version, but you can make everything from scratch if you prefer. Viva la Ice Cream Cakes for all occasions!
Ingredients
1 package chocolate cake mix
1¼ cups water
1⁄3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 container vanilla ice cream, softened
1 container chocolate fudge frosting
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line cupcake tin with 24 cupcake papers.
3. Combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in bowl.
4. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
5. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into each cupcake paper.
6. Bake 8–10 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool completely, remove papers, and freeze about 4 hours, until firm.
8. Spoon ½ cup of soft ice cream into each cupcake paper and pack it down.
9. Place in freezer until frozen, about 4 hours.
10. Remove cupcakes from freezer.
11. Remove ice cream patties and place on top of cupcakes.
12. Frost with red, white, and/or blue icing, top with red, white, and blue sprinkles, and serve.
MAKES 2 DOZEN
Hint: There are other ways to combine ice cream and cupcakes. You can bake the cupcake batter in ice-cream cones instead of cupcake papers, frost the cupcakes, then top with a scoop of ice cream and add sprinkles.
For added fun, cut off the top of the cupcake, scoop out a spoonful of cake, then fill with a spoonful of ice cream. Replace top, frost, and decorate. Watch their eyes light up when they realize the cupcake is filled with ice cream!
Frankie Nudo’s Choco-Cheesy Brie Bites
Believe it or not, chocolate goes with just about anything, even cheese.
Try Frankie’s melt-in-your-mouth Brie bites for a rich, creamy treat. Choose a Brie that’s semisoft with a moderate amount of fat.
Ingredients
8 ounces Brie cheese, semisoft
12 ounces favorite gourmet chocolate
Sea salt
Directions
1. Freeze the Brie for 20–30 minutes so it’s easier to cut.
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave oven. (Temper first, if desired.)
3. Cut the Brie into 24 bite-sized pieces.
4. Insert a thin skewer in a cheese piece and dip it into the melted chocolate.
5. Place chocolate-covered cheese on baking sheet covered with waxed paper and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
6. Let set completely at room temperature and serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, then allow to come to room temperature before serving.
MAKES 24 BITES
Griffin Makeba’s Mini Minty Chocolate Pies
Griffin likes to make mini chocolate pies for special occasions and often colors the whipped topping to suit the season—orange for Halloween, red for Christmas, purple for Mardi Gras, and so on. He adds mint to give it an extra zippy and zesty flavor, then serves each one with chocolate curls or sprinkles on top.
Ingredients
1 package refrigerated pie dough
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup half-and-half
½ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
1–2 teaspoons mint extract
Green food coloring
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Unroll refrigerator pie crust and cut into 3-inch circles. Repeat until you have a dozen circles.
3. Spray the bottom of a mini muffin tin with vegetable spray.
4. Place the circles on top of the muffin wells and pinch the bottom to form the rim of the crust.
5. Prick each circle with a fork.
6. Bake 4–5 minutes, until lightly browned.<
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7. Allow to cool. Then gently twist each crust off the tin and turn right-side up.
8. Mix pudding, cocoa powder, half-and-half, milk, and vanilla until blended.
9. Pour into large ziplock plastic bag and refrigerate for 20–30 minutes.
10. Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
11. Add powdered sugar and beat until blended.
12. Stir in vanilla and a few drops of food coloring.
13. Pour into large ziplock plastic bag and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
14. Remove chocolate filling from refrigerator and cut a small hole off one corner of the bag.
15. Pipe filling into pie shells.
16. Pipe mint whipped cream on top.
17. Add chocolate curls, sprinkles, or cut-up bits of thin mints on top.
18. Refrigerate until serving time.
MAKES 1 DOZEN
Harrison Tofflemire’s Chocolate Velvet Falls with Fresh Fruit Bouquet
When Harrison presents his Chocolate Falls using a chocolate fountain machine, he does so with flair, so instead of simply cutting up fruit for dipping, create a fresh fruit bouquet to dazzle your guests for dessert.
Ingredients
2 12-ounce bags gourmet chocolate chips
3 gourmet unsweetened chocolate squares, chopped
¾ cup canola oil
¼ cup Kahlua
Styrofoam ball
Lettuce leaves
Fruit, such as strawberries, mandarin orange wedges, pineapple squares, cherries, grapes, apple cubes, banana bites, cantaloupe balls, watermelon balls, and so on
Wooden skewers
Directions
1. Place chocolate chips and squares in a large microwave-safe bowl.
2. Microwave on medium high for 2 minutes, stir, and continue until chocolate is smooth and liquidy.
3. Stir in Kahlua.
4. Pour chocolate into the bowl at the base of the machine.
5. Turn on the fountain so the chocolate begins to circulate. (If it doesn’t flow smoothly, add a little more oil.)
6. Slice the bottom off the Styrofoam ball so it will sit flat on the table.
7. Cover the ball with lettuce leaves.
8. Cut the skewers in half.
9. Insert fruit pieces on the skewers. Then insert skewers into ball.
10. Cover ball with skewered fruit.
11. Place next to Chocolate Falls.
SERVES 20
Turn the page for a sneak peek at the next Food Festival Mystery,
Death of a Bad Apple
Coming from Obsidian in January 2016.
“What smells so good?” I asked as I entered my aunt Abby’s home, a San Francisco Victorian, through the back door. The aroma of cinnamon, sugar, and baked apples perfumed the air and made my mouth water. I inhaled deeply, trying to fill my lungs with the intoxicating fragrance.
“Abby’s Salted-Caramel Apple Tarts!” she exclaimed proudly as she lifted a tray of steaming-hot pastries out of the oven and onto the stove to cool. “It’s my latest creation. I’m using salted caramel in the recipe. I’ll let you taste one as soon as they cool down a bit. The flaky crust just melts in your mouth.”
“Yum!” I stared at the lightly browned individual tartlets, willing them to cool off faster.
“Sit,” Aunt Abby ordered. “You’ll get drool all over my tarts.”
I obeyed her command and took a stool at the island counter, which occupied much of the kitchen. Basil, my aunt’s long-haired Doxie, nuzzled my red Toms.
“What prompted you to whip up something new?” I asked, petting the dog with one shoe. “Your customers love the comfort foods you already serve. I hope you’re not going to replace your caramel-chocolate brownies with these. That could cause a riot.”
Shortly after my aunt had retired from serving cafeteria food at the local high school, she’d bought an old school bus, tricked it up, and turned it into a kitchen on wheels. For the past year, she’d been serving “old school” comfort food at Fort Mason, along with a dozen other food trucks. Since I was between jobs, I’d been helping out my aunt by making sandwiches, mixing up mac and cheese, and taking orders from hungry customers. Truth was, I’d recently been let go from my job as restaurant critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and hadn’t yet finished writing my soon-to-be-bestselling cookbook featuring food truck recipes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much of a cook—I was more of an eater—but I was quickly learning how to make pot pies in bulk.
“No, my pretty,” my aunt said, assuming the voice of a wicked witch. “These are for something special.” And then she actually cackled.
I laughed at this somewhat new silly side of my sixtysomething aunt. Yes, she could be eccentric, but there was something mischievous behind those twinkling Betty Boop eyes that even her childlike dimpled cheeks couldn’t hide. “What are you up to, Aunt Abby?”
She handed me a newspaper clipping and plopped down on the stool next to me.
I picked up the article and scanned the headline: “Annual Apple Fest Opening October 1st.”
I frowned at my aunt. “What’s this about?”
“Read it!” she demanded, her smile as wide as her eyes were bright.
While I skimmed the article, Aunt Abby hopped off her stool and busied herself making coffee, no doubt to wash down the apple tart I was hoping to taste soon. There was nothing special about the story—just a three-graph piece about a popular attraction in California’s gold country.
Nestled in the rolling Sierra foothills of El Dorado County is a wonderland of apple orchards and apple farms and apple wineries and apple breweries just waiting to bring you a variety of sweet, tart, and tempting apple treats. The area, known as Apple Valley, stretches from Placerville to Pollock Pines, providing the perfect place for a fruitful getaway. You’ll find apple delights from applesauce to zucchini-apple bread, all prepared from the freshest farm ingredients.
While you’re there, be sure to sample homemade specialties such as apple crisps, apple strudels, apple bread, apple donuts, apple butter, apple cider, caramel apples, baked apples, and everyone’s favorite—American apple pie.
Take the scenic drive along Highway 50 or ride the shuttle, which begins at Apple Annie’s Farm and ends at Adam’s Apples, with stops along the way at many apple orchards, food tents and trucks, and the A-MAZE-ing Hay Maze. Come pick your favorite apples and taste the apple treats, all fresh from farm to fork. Remember: An apple a day keeps the doctor away—as long as you buy your apples from an Apple Valley–certified grower!
The piece was included in the “What to Do and Where to Go this Fall” section of the newspaper, and was written by someone calling himself Nathan Chapman, the organizer of the Apple Valley Festival. Although I liked apples as much as the next all-American, I’d never been to the area, about a two-hour drive northeast from San Francisco. I got my apples from the local market—and only the green ones—which I cut and dipped in peanut butter. And sometimes chocolate.
“Is this where you got the idea for your apple tarts?” I asked.
Aunt Abby set a latte down in front of me. I encircled the hot cup with my hands to cut the fall chill and bring on the warmth. Was that cinnamon I smelled wafting from the coffee?
“Not just the idea for tarts, Darcy. I’ve signed up to serve them during the opening weekend at the Apple Fest in two weeks.”
“What do you mean? Are you entering a contest or something?” I asked, puzzled.
“Nope. They’re inviting selected food trucks to join in the festivities, and I’m taking the School Bus up for the weekend! Doesn’t that sound fun?”
She turned her back before I could make a face. While a weekend in the country sounded nice, I had made reservations at the Butler and the Chef in the South of Market district for Jake’s upcoming birthday and had my own
festivities planned. I sipped my coffee and watched my aunt drizzle melted caramel on the top of the tarts, then add a dash of salt. When she was finished, she scooped one of the tarts onto a small plate and brought the still-steaming treat to me.
“Seriously?” I said, after inhaling deeply. “You’re really doing this?”
“Doing what?” came a sleepy voice from the doorway. Dillon, Aunt Abby’s twenty-five-year-old son stood in the entryway looking like a zombie, his dark hair sticking up like a porcupine, two- or three-day stubble on his chin. He was wearing a well-worn Tom and Jerry T-shirt and baggy flannel pajama bottoms decorated in Minecraft images. Naturally, he was barefoot, and he really needed to do something about those toenails.
“Dillon!” Aunt Abby said cheerily. “Perfect timing! You’ll have to taste my salted-caramel apple tarts.”
Dillon had a knack for showing up when his mother was baking. He had some kind of sixth sense when it came to food. He lumbered in and took the stool across from me, then eyed my tart. I pulled it back and wrapped my hands around it like a prisoner hoarding food from other convicts.
“What were you guys talking about? Are we going on a trip?”
Before Dillon had a chance to grab my fork out of my hand, I stabbed the tart, broke off a bite, and ate it. “Mmmmmmm,” I murmured, closing my eyes. When I opened them again, Aunt Abby and Dillon were staring at me. “Wow” was all I could add.
Aunt Abby beamed. Dillon turned and looked at her hopefully.
“Here you go, dear,” Aunt Abby said, setting a caramel-drizzled tart in front of him. “You want coffee?”
Dillon didn’t answer—too busy stuffing his mouth with the warm, fruity pastry. We looked on in awe as he wolfed it down in three large bites. “Good,” he said simply. “Can I have another?”
“No,” Aunt Abby said. “I’m taking the rest to the busterant this morning to see how the customers like them, before I serve them at the Apple Fest.”
I shook my head at Aunt Abby’s made-up word, “busterant.” Since her food truck was actually a converted school bus and not a truck, she coined the term for her half bus and half restaurant.
“What fest?” Dillon said, getting up and heading for the refrigerator. He opened the door, took out the milk, and drank right from the carton.