Assault and Batter

by Jessica Beck

  INGREDIENTS

  1 cup pancake mix

  1/2 cup buttermilk

  1 egg, beaten

  1/4 cup granulated sugar

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  Canola oil for frying (the amount depends on your pot or fryer)

  INSTRUCTIONS

  In a bowl, mix the pancake mix, buttermilk, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract to a decently smooth consistency.

  Drop bits of the batter using a small-sized cookie scoop (the size of your thumb, approximately) or two spoons into the hot oil. Fry at 360 to 370 degrees F for 3 to 4 minutes, flipping halfway through.

  Yields 6–8 donut drops.

  Variations on the Enhanced Fruit and Pancake Surprises Recipe

  If you’re feeling especially adventurous, as we sometimes are, I reserve some of the basic pancake batter before I add any fruit from the previous recipe and use it as a coating for sliced bananas and apples. This gets a little messy when you dip them, but they are delicious. Simply dip the banana slice or apple into the batter, then fry for a minute or two until the treat is golden in hue. We like these dipped in chocolate or sprinkled with cinnamon sugar before eating, but they also make a nice little side item for the donuts listed above.

  INGREDIENTS

  1/4 to 1/2 cup of the enhanced batter in the previous recipe before fruit is added

  1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and sliced

  1 ripe banana, sliced into half-inch sections

  Canola oil for frying (the amount depends on your pot or fryer)

  Toppings

  Chocolate sauce, heated

  Cinnamon sugar, made up of 2 tablespoons granulated sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  INSTRUCTIONS

  Prepare the fruit, dip it in the enhanced batter, and then fry for 2 minutes, flipping halfway through.

  Yields as many slices as you like.

  AFTERWORD

  Dear Reader,

  I hope that you’ve enjoyed my latest donut mystery. Thanks again for joining me on another new adventure with Suzanne, Grace, Momma, and the rest of the gang in April Springs, North Carolina. Some of you have noticed that I’ve cut back on the recipes offered in each book. That’s in direct response to a great deal of mail I’ve gotten recently that the number of recipes has been a bit overwhelming, in some cases even detracting from the mystery itself. That was never my intent, so in response, I’ve decreased the number of recipes in each book. Also, there have been several comments that the recipes mixed within the chapters is distracting and interrupts the flow of the story itself, so I’m moving them all to one place in the back of the book.

  In addition, I’ve had quite a few folks say that they would like my donut books to be a bit shorter, more along the lines of my diner and ghost cat mysteries. Keeping that in mind, I’ve cut a few scenes in order to provide you all with a more compact novel that I trust you will enjoy.

  I hope that you approve of these changes, especially since they have the added cumulative benefit of allowing me to provide more books in the future for your reading pleasure. In particular, the recipes take a great deal of time, and I discard many recipes for every one that I end up using. That will leave me more time for creating fiction and exploring the worlds we’ve been enjoying together.

  And finally, I’d like to take this time to thank you all for reading these mysteries that I have so much fun creating. They are a delight for me to write, but without you on the other end, they would be nothing more than me shouting into a hurricane, barely heard and quickly forgotten.

  Until we meet again, I wish you all the best,

  The Author

  If you enjoy Jessica Beck Mysteries and would like to be notified when the next book is being released, please send your e-mail address to newreleases@jessicabeckmysteries.net. Your e-mail address will not be shared, sold, bartered, traded, broadcast, or disclosed in any way. There will be no spam from us, just a friendly reminder when the latest book is being released.