Sometimes You Just Need Chocolate--Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Ames

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Daryl Wood Gerber, aka Avery Ames, has the amazing talent of being able to be in two places at once. Make that more than two places at once! How, you ask, does she do it?

Well, she's going to share at least one secret with us. And what could be better at getting us through the mid-week slump than CHOCOLATE! 

DARYL WOOD GERBER aka AVERY AMES: As I prepare for the release of two books in two months, promoting under two names, I need sustenance. (Okay, maybe a glass of wine at the end of the day, too.) You might think that writers simply write, but it’s not true. We wear lots of hats, including a PR hat. We do blog tours; we social network; we talk on the radio. We even cook and share recipes!! Fine, not everyone cooks, but I do. I write culinary mysteries.Often when I post a recipe that includes chocolate on Mystery Lovers Kitchen, a blog that I share with other authors who love to cook up crime, (including one of Jungle Red’s own, Lucy Burdette,) fans tell me about a recipe I should try. I love that.

However, there are times that the recipes include flour and that challenges me, because I need to eat gluten-free (which means no wheat or gluten). When I first found out about my severe allergy (for some it’s a milder version, understood as an intolerance), I thought I’d have to give up all baked goods. Not true. A few minor items can change the recipe to make it gluten-free, and virtually unchanged in taste and texture. Also, there are boxed items on your grocer’s shelves, nowadays, that make some baked goods even easier to make.

Carolyn P. shared this recipe with me over the holidays. She found it in a Women’s World magazine. I have to admit the recipe itself was extremely hard to read. Not just because it was a scanned recipe, but because the text had portions of ingredients set side by side, with one of the portions used and another reserved for later. Argh. On the other hand, it felt sort of like my mysteries, with clues hidden in the text. Read carefully, or you might miss something. So here is the mysterious, yet now clarified (I think ) version of the WW Bailey’s cake, gluten-free! Enjoy while savoring a nice cuppa (tea or coffee) and a good mystery!

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cake

Ingredients:

(serves 8-12)

For cake:

1 pkg. dark chocolate cake mix, gluten-free

3 eggs

2/3 cup Bailey’s Irish cream

1/2 cup oil

2/3 cup water

For frosting:

1 ½ cups butter, at room temp

1 cup white chocolate chips, melted

3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar (more if needed)

1/3 cup Bailey’s Irish cream

Directions:

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2  8”-round cake pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, Bailey’s lrish cream, oil, and water.

Divide the mixture between cake pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely (at least 20-30 minutes).

For frosting:

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, on medium speed, beat butter until smooth and fluffy. Add white chocolate, Beat until blended. Add sugar until combined. Add Irish cream. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (You might need more powered sugar. Your call.)

To frost:

Place one cake layer, top down on serving plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer, smooth side up. Spread with remaining frosting on top and along sides.

*If desired, reserve ¾ cup frosting for rosette garnish.

PS This recipe doesn’t include cheese. That might surprise you because I write A Cheese Shop Mystery series, but I also write A Cookbook Nook Mystery series, which means often recipes are included that come from cookbooks, recipe boxes, old friends, and more.  FYI, Charlotte Bessette, the protagonist in the Cheese Shop series, can cook, but Jenna Hart, the protagonist in the Cookbook Nook series, can’t. Jenna is a foodie, but this recipe with the many ingredients and its scattered form would have given her heart palpitations!!

When you read a mystery, do you try to figure out all the clues from the beginning?

Do you like to read mysteries about food?

Have you ever had a recipe give you heart palpitations?

DEBS: Daryl, aka Avery, is going to give away a book to one of our commenters. Whether it's a Cheese Shop mystery or a Cookbook Nook mystery will depend on which hat she happens to be wearing.  Either way, enjoy!

A View from a Different Room by Daryl Wood Gerber

 LUCY BURDETTE: Today I'm so happy to introduce/reintroduce our friend Daryl, whom you all probably know as Avery Aames of the famous cheese shop mysteries. She's been having a ball researching her new series--which you can tell if you follow her posts on Mystery Lovers Kitchen. Welcome Daryl, congrats on the new book--and tell us more!

DARYL WOOD GERBER:

Thank you so much for having me on Jungle Red! I love it here. For those that might have noticed the title of this post, yes, you read it right...

I flipped around the more familiar title because sometimes that is what I need to do when I write. Look at something from a different angle. Step outside my comfort zone. See what is really there and not what I expect to be there.

This awareness came to me while I was driving north up the coast of California to do research for the first in what I hope to be a long and prosperous new series: A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY. The series is set in the fictional coastal town of Crystal Cove and features Jenna Hart, a culinary bookshop owner who is an avid reader and admitted foodie. I had driven up Highway 101 and Route 1 many times. I live in Los Angeles, but many of my family live in northern California. These are familiar routes. There is beautiful countryside. However, this time as I was driving, I noticed more. Because I was doing research, I paid attention to every winery, store, and house. I noticed which barns were in good stead and which were neglected.  I noticed the terrain and its texture, which hills were gold, which trees were green, what needed water and what was thriving. I read signs. I now know where every fruit stand is along these roads. I also know that one farmer had a great sense of humor—he painted huge signs telling people what trees he had planted. 

You know what I mean…you drive along and say, what’s that, an almond tree? The trees were citrus and, according to the farmer, we do better if we eat more citrus. I saw a huge…HUGE… American flag hanging from a pole on private property. Wouldn’t you love to know why? It wasn’t like it was a former president’s abode. I counted all the hothouses that protected orchids. I noticed parks, racetracks, and golf courses. As I toured the area between Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz, which is where I’ve set my fictional town, I took note of the gentle valleys to the right and all the signs with images of hikers and bikers. California is super friendly to outdoorsy types, by the way.

What I particularly loved, as a result of this research, was that I became connected again with my state. I adore California, but I have taken it for granted. The majestic mountains, the rolling hills, the fabulous blue coastline. In addition, I realized I need to pay more attention to people. Lately, I have been doing my darnedest not to tune out everyone. I look at people. I make eye contact. I make mental notes of their style, their moods, and their quirks [great info for a writer]. And I smile just to see whether they will smile back…most will; many think I’m loco.

What have you noticed lately that surprised you? Was it always there? Are you aware when you zone out? 

DARYL WOOD GERBER aka AVERY AAMES writes the Agatha Award-winning, nationally bestselling Cheese Shop Mystery series. As Daryl, she writes A Cookbook Nook Mystery series, featuring a culinary bookshop and café owner. Daryl’s short stories have been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, and other awards. As an actress, Daryl has appeared in “Murder, She Wrote” and more. Check out her recipes on her blog and friend her on Facebook.