Asking for Truffle: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery
Page 28
“Then that’s a mystery that’ll have to be solved another day,” he said.
“But you are going to stay? You are going to keep the shop?” Althea asked, wringing her hands. “You have to now.”
“I already said I would, didn’t I?” I answered. “Oh, I’m going to have a lot to learn about living in a close-knit community like Camellia Beach. And about trust. And chocolate. I think I’ll need a lifetime to learn about chocolate.”
Thank you, Mabel. Thank you for trying to scam me.
Because of her, I think I’ve finally found my home.
Recipes Snipped From the Camellia Current, Camellia Beach’s Local Newspaper
A day without chocolate is like a day without sunlight.
—Bertie Bays, resident of Camellia Beach, South Carolina
Bertie’s Sweet and Spicy Comfort Chili
When the weather turns damp and chilly, make a batch of this sweet and spicy chili. It’ll make your tummy sing.
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28-oz can tomatoes, cut up
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 medium green, red, and/or yellow sweet pepper, chopped
2 habanero peppers, chopped (optional)
2 4-oz cans diced green chili peppers
2 cooking apples, cored and chopped
3 tbsp. chili powder
1 fair trade dark chocolate bar, chopped
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 15-oz can red kidney beans, drained
1 15-oz can black beans, drained
1 14.5-oz can whole-kernel corn, drained
⅔ cup slivered almonds
Cheddar cheese and plain yogurt or sour cream (optional)
In a large skillet, cook beef, onions, and garlic until meat is brown. Drain off fat. In a slow cooker, stir together beef mixture, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, sweet pepper, hot peppers, green chili peppers, apples, chili powder, chocolate, curry, cinnamon, kidney beans, black beans, and corn. Cook on high until chili begins to bubble. Add slivered almonds. Reduce heat to low and cook until thick (about 2 hours). Serve topped with grated cheddar cheese, yogurt, or sour cream if desired.
Mabel’s Hot Chocolate Shots and Hot Chocolate
(This Is Not Your Childhood Hot Chocolate Recipe)
We can’t tell you how we got our hands on this particular hot chocolate recipe. Everyone in Camellia Beach will attest to how carefully Mabel guards her secrets. So be sure to snip it out and hide it in your safe right away, because I can guarantee you won’t be seeing this one printed again.
By the by, here’s a bit of trivia you can use to impress others at your next dinner party: Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are not the same thing. Hot chocolate is made using chocolate bars. Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder.
Ingredients
For the hot chocolate shots:
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
5 oz of 70% or higher fair trade dark chocolate (about 1½ bars), coarsely chopped
1 tsp. salt
For the hot chocolate:
3 cups whole milk
1 tsp. corn starch
For the hot chocolate shots:
In a medium saucepan, bring the whole milk and heavy cream to a slow boil. Turn down the heat and add the chocolate and salt. Whisk until smooth. Serve immediately in shot glasses.
For the hot chocolate:
Follow the instructions for the hot chocolate shots (above). Add whole milk and corn starch to the mixture. Heat over medium low heat. Whisk until smooth. Serve in mugs. (Optional: top with whipped cream.)
Dark-Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles
(So Simple Even Charity Penn Can’t Ruin This Recipe)
So sinfully dark. So easy to make. You’ll impress your guests with these bite-sized chocolaty truffles. Make it once, and your friends will return again and again for more. This recipe is guaranteed to become a holiday favorite.
Ingredients
¾ cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. of salt
6 tbsp. butter
7 oz of 70% or higher fair trade dark chocolate bars (about 2 bars), coarsely chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
About 60 whole roasted hazelnuts
½ cup cocoa powder
(For a little extra crunch, use chocolate bars with nibs added or toss a small handful of chocolate nibs into the melting chocolate.)
Mix the sugar, cocoa, and salt in a bowl. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the chocolate. Stir until melted. Add cream and the sugar/cocoa mixture. Stir until creamy and smooth. Pour into a square dish. Cover and refrigerate for several hours until chocolate is set.
Remove chocolate from the refrigerator. Use a teaspoon to scoop out chocolate. Roll into bite-sized balls with a hazelnut at the center. They might be hard to roll at first, but as the chocolate warms to room temperature, it will become easier to work. If chocolate becomes too soft, return to the refrigerator for a few hours.
Roll balls in cocoa powder. Serve immediately or store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Acknowledgments
Chocolate! I couldn’t have done it without you.
Oh, what’s that? There were a few others who helped get this series together? Sorry, I haven’t eaten any chocolate yet today, so that’s all I can think about right now. Excuse me.
Okay, I’m back. (Licking fingers.)
First, a huge thank-you goes out to cookbook author and all-around fun person Holly Herrick for sharing kitchen stories and helping me brainstorm what could happen in Penn’s chocolate shop. Also, I need to thank Michael Hoffman, the bean-to-bar chocolate artisan behind Bitte Chocolate in Charleston, South Carolina, for spending an afternoon teaching me all about the delicious chocolate-making process and patiently answering all of my silly questions. My story is richer thanks to him. If you find yourself in Charleston, buy one of his chocolate bars. Trust me, you’ll thank me for it.
A million thanks to my agent, Jill Marsal, for believing in my series with its nutty characters and for becoming one of its biggest cheerleaders. She gave me the best roller coaster ride of my life when selling this book. Also, I cannot give enough thanks to the talented editors (especially Anne Brewer) at Crooked Lane Books for championing my yummy series and for making publishing a book so much fun.
Finally, I’d like to thank the incredible authors in the Lowcountry Chapter of Romance Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Mystery Writers of America, whose unflagging support has kept me pounding away at my keyboard, especially Amanda Berry, Nina Bruhns, Amy Fagley, C. J. Lyons, Dianne Miley, Nicole Seitz, Tracy Anne Warren, and Judy Watts for patiently listening and giving advice as I worked out plot problems and tilted at windmills while writing this book. I couldn’t have done it without you!