by Cleo Coyle
Step 2—Beat the egg whites: In a clean and dry glass, metal, or ceramic bowl (do not use plastic, which holds grease), beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
Step 3—Fold the eggs into the batter: Using an electric mixer on a low speed, fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Do not overbeat—just mix enough to smoothly incorporate the egg whites. You should no longer see white, just the yellow batter.
Step 4—Fill the pan and bake: Fill each cup with ¼ cup batter. Then go back and add 1 tablespoon more to each cup. Do not fill cups to the top.
This should give you 12 cupcakes with a little batter left over for a 13th cupcake (if you want a baker’s dozen). When you fill the cups as described, they should bake up uniformly with little, golden domes. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer pans to a cooling rack and allow the cupcakes to cool in their pan.
For the filling:
Step 1—Make the marshmallow crème: Place minimarshmallows into a microwave-safe bowl. Add corn syrup and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds (adding 15-second increments if needed). Do not completely melt the marshmallows in the microwave. You are watching for them to become very soft. Then stir them up and . . . voilà, you have made marshmallow crème (aka Fluff). Set mixture aside to cool.
No Microwave? To complete this step without a microwave, simply create a double boiler by placing a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Warm the mini marshmallows and corn syrup, stirring until they’ve melted into marshmallow crème (aka Fluff).
Step 2—Make the filling: Add the confectioners’ sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla extract. Using an electric mixer, beat filling until smooth and blended, scraping down the bowl as you mix.
Assemble the cupcakes:
Step 1—Make sure the cupcakes don’t stick: You must fill each cooled cupcake while it rests in the cupcake pan. But . . . first be sure your cupcakes will come out of the pan easily. If you are not using cupcake liners (or a silicone baking pan), gently run a knife around the outside edge of each cupcake to free it gently from the metal pan. Then place it right back into the well.
Step 2—Cut the hole: Using a small, sharp knife, cut a cone-shaped hole into the top of each cupcake. Remove the cone and fill the hole with the copycat Twinkie filling. The filling is very sticky so lightly coat your spoon with nonstick spray. You can also use a pastry bag for this job. Or, spoon the filling into a Ziploc plastic bag and use a scissors to snip off one corner, which will turn it into a pastry bag.
Step 3—Fill and finish: Slice off the “top” of your cupcake cone and place it back on the filled cupcake. You can serve the Twinkie Cupcake as is or use some of the filling to frost the top. If you like, as an added garnish, you can crumble the extra crumbs (from the bottom of the cone) over the frosted top. The filling is gooey and delicious. If you prefer a stiffer filling, simply chill the cupcakes in the fridge after filling.
Clare Cosi’s Kahlúa
(Homemade Coffee Liqueur)
On the night of the Source Club dinner, Matteo Allegro sees that his ex-wife needs something to calm her nerves (and his), so he whips up espresso martinis using Clare’s homemade Kahlúa. This sweet, rum-based coffee liqueur is easy to make. It also makes a lovely gift, and Clare is happy to share her recipe. (Matt’s Espressotini recipe can be found on page 379.)
Yield: About 3 cups
2 cups brewed coffee or espresso
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
5 teaspoons espresso powder (see page 379)
2 cups light rum
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, split)
1½ tablespoons chocolate liqueur
Step 1—Mix and simmer for 1 hour: In a large saucepan, mix together the coffee, sugars, and espresso powder. Do not add any other ingredients at this time or the cooking process may destroy their flavors. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for at least 1 full hour until mixture thickens slightly. (Again, you should not be boiling the mixture. It should be cooking at a simmer and thickening.)
Step 2—Add final ingredients: Take the mixture off the heat and cool for 5 minutes. Stir in rum, vanilla extract, and chocolate liqueur. You are adding these ingredients off the heat to preserve their flavor.
Step 3—Store and age: Pour your homemade Kahlúa into a glass storage container. You may sample it now, but for the best flavor, it should be aged about 3 to 4 weeks. Keep the container in a cool, dark place and stir every week or so. (If using vanilla bean, remove after the storage period. Mix with sugar for additional flavor in your coffee.)
ESPRESSO POWDER: Espresso powder is made from roasted espresso beans that have been ground, brewed, and freeze-dried. Espresso powder dissolves in water to create instant espresso. While Clare would never drink espresso made from freeze-dried powder, she highly recommends using good-quality espresso powder (rather than freeze-dried instant coffee) to add coffee flavor to your baking and cooking. Look for espresso powder in the instant coffee section of your store. Popular brands include Medaglia D’Oro Instant Espresso Coffee and Ferrara Instant Espresso Coffee.
GIFT IDEA: Clare often gives small, decorative bottles of her homemade Kahlúa to friends and customers. If you don’t have time to age your Kahlúa before giving it as a gift, simply transfer the finished liqueur to decorative bottles, seal them, and tie on a pretty tag that asks recipients to age the newly made liqueur 3 to 4 weeks before drinking.
Matteo Allegro’s Espressotini
An espressotini is an espresso martini. Given Matt’s lifelong relationship with coffee, this is one of his favorite cocktails. He fixed a double for Clare (and himself) on the night of the Source Club dinner. Enjoy this recipe for a single.
Yield: 1 espresso martini
1½ ounces vodka (Matt prefers vanilla-flavored)
1½ ounces Kahlúa (Matt uses Clare’s homemade)
1 ounce espresso (chilled to room temperature)
1 ounce white crème de cacao (or Baileys Irish Cream)
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour all ingredients over the ice. Shake well. Strain into a martini glass rimmed with a mixture of cocoa and sugar or fine shavings of chocolate.
FYI: 1 ounce of liquid measure equals 2 tablespoons or 6 teaspoons.
Matt Allegro’s Ugandan Chicken Stew with “Groundnuts” (Peanut Butter)
Matt introduced billionaire Eric Thorner to this fragrant, one-pot stew in Uganda, the first stop of their world coffee tour. Because this East African nation is landlocked with limited livestock and fisheries, groundnuts (aka peanuts) have become an important source of protein for Ugandans. It is the women who traditionally gather and sort the legumes, and many of their recipes contain these nuts. Guests are also served the nuts as a welcome food.
During his early years traveling the continent of Africa, Matt learned to prepare a version of this simple, hearty stew while staying in the home of a Ugandan friend. He especially enjoyed preparing it for Clare during the early years of their marriage, exciting his young wife’s taste buds with savory flavors while entertaining her with equally savory tales of his African travels.
Serves 6
2–3 pounds chicken
½ tablespoon salt
½ tablespoon black pepper
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2½ cups chicken stock
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons chopped parsley (for garnish)
Step 1—Prep the chicken: Cut the chicken into 2-to 3-inch pieces. Discard the small bones (ribs, wings, and neck bones) but leave the larger bones in the stew for richness. Rub the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and set aside.
Step 2—Start the simmer: Melt butter over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet or stew pot, and add the chicken and onion. Add a small amount of stock and cover. Reduce heat and simmer over lowest heat possible for
20 minutes, periodically adding chicken stock until it is all used.
Step 3—Add the peanut butter: Remove ½ cup liquid from the pot and add it to the peanut butter. Mix to create a paste. Return the peanut butter paste to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.
Step 4—Thicken with egg yolk: Further reduce heat and remove ½ cup cooking liquid and set aside to cool for a minute or so. Break the eggs and separate the yolks. Whisk the slightly cool liquid into the egg yolks, and then add the egg mixture to the pot and mix into the stew.
Step 5—Finish the stew: Simmer gently until chicken is done, about 15 minutes. Do not heat the stew above a simmer from this point or the eggs will clump instead of thicken. Garnish with parsley and serve over white, brown, or basmati rice.
Cleo Coyle’s Queso Fundido
(Mexican Cheese Dip)
Clare faced a dilemma while catering the Appland party. Some staff members had issues with eating dairy or gluten. Others were junk food junkies, still hooked on college computer-lab fare of 24/7 candy bars, pizza, and nachos. When Clare spied Doritos on Eric Thorner’s Gulfstream jet, she knew he and his gang would be up for this gooey, delicious Mexican-American dip.
Because eating fundido is a whole lot of fun, one might get the impression that that’s where the name originated. In truth, queso fundido means “melted cheese” in Spanish. The dish, which combines the bubbly flavor of warm cheese with the bright, malty flavor of Mexican beer, originated along the borders of Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.
Serves 4
1 plum tomato, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sea salt
Dash black pepper
½ cup Corona or other pale lager beer
6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1-inch chunks
6 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into 1-inch chunks
Tortilla chips
Chorizo, your favorite sausage, or bacon bits (optional, for topping)
Step 1—Roughly chop the cheeses: Break block cheeses into 1-inch pieces, and set aside.
Step 2—Prep the veggies: Chop tomato, onion, and jalapeño pepper. I recommend using only the green part of the jalapeño, discarding the seeds and the white membrane, which hold more heat than flavor. (For tips on working with jalapeños, and suggestions for other peppers to use in this dish, see note at the end of the recipe.)
Step 3—Cook the veggies: Heat a nonstick, oven-safe saucepan, or a well-oiled, cast iron saucepan over medium heat (if you do not have a nonstick, oven-safe saucepan, see note in Step 6). Sauté veggies until the onions are soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.
Step 4—Simmer: When the veggies are soft, add the oregano, salt, and pepper to the saucepan. Add and heat the mixture to simmering, stirring occasionally and scraping browned bits that may stick to the pan. Let simmer 3 to 5 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.
Step 5—Add the cheese: Add cheese chunks, a handful at a time, while stirring vigorously. Allow each addition to melt and the mixture to become blended and smooth before adding more. When all the cheese is added and mixture is smooth, you’re ready to finish. You can serve now or save it for a few hours before service. Add chorizo, sausage, or bacon bits, if using (for directions on how, see note at the end of recipe).
Step 6—Finish under the broiler: With the cheese melted and blended, you can now finish by broiling and serving in the same pan in which you cooked it. If your pan is not oven-safe, transfer the dip to a casserole, pie plate, or another ovenproof container before placing it under a broiler and serving. Be sure to grease the new pan with oil to prevent the cheese from sticking. Broil until the top just turns golden brown, about 2 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately, while mixture is bubbly and hot.
Beer Measuring Tip: Never measure the foamy white head when using beer in a recipe. Allow the beer to settle first.
Variation: For white Cheddar dip, replace extra sharp Cheddar with 6 ounces of queso blanco (or white Cheddar).
Serving tips and chorizo topping: Use tortilla chips for dipping. You may also garnish the finished fundido with cooked chorizo, sausage, or bacon bits. For the chorizo or sausage, slice open the casings, and cook the meat inside, mashing with a fork until it resembles ground meat. Drain the meat and sprinkle it over queso fundido before it goes under the broiler.
How to reheat: Simply warm the fundido over medium heat; stirring until melted and bubbly once again.
Pepper options: Jalapeño is traditional for this dip, but if you’d like zero heat, go for a bell pepper. For milder heat than a jalapeño, use a banana, cherry, or poblano pepper. For more heat than a jalapeño, try a fresh Serrano, or sprinkle in some dried cayenne. Suicidal heat? Try a Thai chili, Scotch bonnet, or habanero.
Pepper safety: Take care when cutting jalapeños or any hot pepper. The capsaicin in the peppers can burn skin. If you have a tiny scratch or winter-chapped skin, the burn can be painful. Should you absently touch your nose, lips, or your eyes while cutting hot peppers, you will surely regret it (ask me how I know). Use latex gloves to protect chapped hands; otherwise, work with care.
Clare Cosi’s Italian Beignets
The Appland crew missed out on this treat, but you can enjoy them by following this recipe. Clare’s grandmother used this basic dough to make a sweet treat and also a very traditional recipe—a savory Italian snack called anchovy fritters. While Clare’s father loved the fritters, Clare was not a fan. She preferred the sweet, fried dough treats that her nonna made from this dough. They taste like donuts but crispier. They puff up like a French beignet and are finished with confectioners’ sugar, but they’re not exactly that, either. Whatever you want to name them, once you taste them, you’ll call them delicious.
Yield: About 1 dozen fried dough treats (depending on size)
Easy yeast proofing:
¼ ounce dry instant yeast
¼ cup warm (not hot) water
1 teaspoon sugar
Beignet batter:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch salt
1 egg
1¾ cups water
1 tablespoon oil (canola or vegetable oil), plus additional for frying
Confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)
Step 1—Proof the yeast: To see the proof that your yeast is alive before mixing it into the dough, combine the instant yeast in a small bowl with the water and sugar. If the bowl does not foam up after 5 minutes, dump it and start over with a new batch.
Step 2—Mix the dough: Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, egg, water, and 1 tablespoon oil. Add proofed yeast mixture and mix well. Dough will be shaggy. Cover and allow to rise, about 2 hours, until doubled in size.
Step 3—Cut the dough: When dough has risen, pull off a piece, knead with lots of flour, then use a rolling pin to create a very flat, very thin sheet. Use a pizza cutter to cut out long strips, rings, or squares. (Clare’s favorite shape is long strips—which creates a treat on the crunchier side. Squares will give you a softer, pillowy treat.) Experiment with which shape gives you the most satisfying level of flavor, crunch, or softness.
Step 4—Fry the dough: Pour a few inches of oil into a skillet with high sides. Place the dough pieces in hot oil. They will float to the top of the oil and turn light golden brown (for the best flavor, do not allow the beignets to brown too much). Flip and fry on the other side. Drain on paper towels, dust both sides with confectioners’ sugar, and eat with joy.
Don’t Miss the Next Coffeehouse Mystery by Cleo Coyle
Join Clare Cosi for a double shot of danger in her next coffeehouse mystery!
For more information about the Coffeehouse Mysteries and what’s next for Clare Cosi and her baristas at the Village Blend, visit Cleo Coyle’s website at CoffeehouseMystery.com
Table of Contents
/> Berkley Prime Crime titles by Cleo Coyle
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
Forty-six
Forty-seven
Forty-eight
Forty-nine
Fifty
Fifty-one
Fifty-two
Fifty-three
Fifty-four
Fifty-five
Fifty-six
Fifty-seven
Fifty-eight
Fifty-nine
Sixty
Sixty-one
Sixty-two
Sixty-three
Sixty-four
Sixty-five
Sixty-six
Sixty-seven
Sixty-eight
Sixty-nine
Seventy