#WickedWednesday with Lyncee Shillard #recipe #chocolate

WICKED WEDNESDAY

I'm delighted to have Lyncee as my guest blogger today. And YOU will be delighted with her post and a yummy, wickedly good recipe!

Hey Hey everyone! I’m so excited to be here and share some wickedness with you. When I’m not plotting/writing murder, mayhem, and steamy sex I love to spend time in the kitchen. I enjoy cooking and I’m always looking for ways to include a ‘little’ something that makes my recipe a little wicked. Actually, my current WIP is a romance suspense called What’s In The Pie? It deals with all kinds of deadly and wicked food things. But for today’s wickedness…

This cake is standard St. Patrick’s Day thing in our house be we also enjoy it at Thanksgiving, and several other times during the year. My family would eat it all the time but it is time consuming, so I limit them to a couple times a year. I mean all wickedness should be controlled.

Irish Cream Chocolate Torte

What you need…

For the cake…

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ¹/₂ cups sugar

3/4 cup water

¼ cup Irish cream

¹/₂ cup unsweetened cocoa

¹/₂ cup butter softened

3 eggs

1 ¹/₄ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the filling…

2 cups whipping cream

2 teaspoons Irish Cream

2 tablespoons sugar

For the glaze…

2 tablespoons butter

¹/₂ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

¼ cup Irish Cream

What you do…

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Set aside.

Combine all cake ingredients in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until smooth.

Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.

Combine whipping cream and Irish Cream (okay transparent time – I’ve been known to buy cool whip and stir in the Irish Cream – actually most of the time - shhhhh it’s a wicked secret 😉). Beat at high speed, scraping bowl often, until soft peaks form. Continue beating, gradually adding 2 tablespoons sugar, until stiff peaks form. 

Cut each cake layer horizontally in half using serrated knife (there are a lot of youtube videos on how to do this with toothpicks to make the layers even – how complex this becomes is really determined by your level of OCD)  Place 1 split cake layer onto serving plate; spread with 1/3 of whip cream filling. Repeat with remaining cake layers and filling, ending with cake layer. Refrigerate torte at least 1 hour.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 1-quart saucepan; stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes or until chocolate chips are melted. Remove from heat; stir in Irish Cream. Spread glaze over top of torte, allowing glaze to drizzle down sides. Refrigerate until serving time. Actually, the longer you let it chill the better it is. This is often considered torture my kiddos.

Bio:

I create my murder, mayhem, and steamy sex in cold Northern Michigan (the place of four seasons - they lie! It's just different levels of winter) with my husband. Our children have begun their own adventures, and just as I got into the swing of empty nest, then my grandson came to live with us. Now I’m doing 8 again… they argue everything just case you forgot. And I now remember why I eat doughnuts and drink vodka 😊

When I’m not hanging out with the 8-year-old, I’m writing or working on my side hustle – Writing with Crayons – it’s journaling (I do workshops and stuff).  For the 5 minutes of ‘me’ time I get a week 😉 I spend it reading, crocheting, or making self-care products.

I’m a planner babe and vodka wizard. I also enjoy taking pictures, I'm not claiming to have a talent it's just something I like to do.

If you would like to come and hang out with me…we will talk doughnuts, vodka, and planners…

Website: https://lynceeshillard.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lyncee

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LynceeS/

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3344793.Lyncee_Shillard

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lyncee-Shillard/e/B007WGBKYK/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1534257851&sr=8-1

My current release it Taking A Risk…

It was Monday. She should be home cleaning her refrigerator. And enjoying red peanut M&M’s. Not dying with strangers...

Available at:

Amazon Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0844X43H1/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Ebook: https://books2read.com/u/3npgqe

Thanks for having me and letting me share my wickedness!

How to be #Wicked in the Kitchen by Dee S. Knight #recipe #chocolate

WICKED WEDNESDAY 

I should say Deliciously Wicked Wednesday. Please read on for Dee's yummy chocolate recipe.

For those who know me as an erotic romance writer, this might sound kind of kinky. But no. Today, I am not writing about prurient couplings but about something far more wicked and compelling. Today I address the wicked subject of…chocolate cake. Yes, that most enticing, desirable, delectable food, chocolate cake, is now available literally in five minutes, from start to finish for those who have the ingredients on hand and a microwave.

  

Now, I know that there are a lot of bad things to say about chocolate: the processed product has loads of carbohydrates, sugar, and cocoa butter (a fat). I realize that there are chocolate allergies and also (sadly) that cocoa production has some ties to human trafficking. I don't mean to downplay any of that. But I'd rather focus on the good things chocolate can bring about. It makes us happy. It gets us "through" and substitutes for rational thought when rational thought can't take place—like when our boyfriends break up with us, we lose our jobs, or our book proposal isn't accepted. It can be our very own wicked little secret.

 And considering all the forms chocolate can take, I like cake best. This recipe isn't my own but I'm not sure it's all that well-known. Why is it wicked? Well, it's fast, it's made with readily available ingredients, and it alleviates all guilt because you don't have a whole big cake sitting around tempting you for a week. I hope you enjoy my wicked one-serving cake!

WICKED 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

1.     Add dry ingredients to 12-oz mug, and mix well.

2.     Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

3.     Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

4.     Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

5.     Put the mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high (1000 watts). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

6.     Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

7.     EAT!

This can serve two but only if you don't want to feel wicked.

Dee S. Knight has written erotic romance for more than a dozen years—taking time out of her writing schedule

for chocolate cake breaks as needed. Find out about her, her latest book, Naval Maneuvers, and some of her friends at https://nomadauthors.com. She can also be reached on Twitter (http://twitter.com/@DeeSKnight).

Buy Link : Amazon

#Wicked (Fast!) #Fudge for Wednesday or Any Day by Ann Parker #chocolate #recipe

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Chocolate reins supreme. And one of the best ways to eat it is in the form of fudge. Wait until you see the recipe Ann has for us today. And she's a mystery author. Her series looks amazing, too. But first, a wicked delicious chocolate extravaganza!

Who can resist chocolate? Especially while writing or reading?

Chocolate’s irresistibility definitely puts it in the “wicked” camp for me! And fudge—the creamy, rich, over-the-top homemade variety that melts in your mouth—is top of my list. 

If you feel the same way, then this recipe for fast fudge (made in the microwave, no less) is for you. 

What makes it doubly amazing is its simple ingredients, the non-fussy instructions (no candy thermometers, double boilers, etc.), and the speed with which one can make a batch. 

Alas, I cannot claim credit for the basics of this recipe… I found it loooong ago in a now-tattered and splattered copy of the Sunset Microwave Cookbook, and tinkered from there. 

Ingredients

1 box (1 lb.) powered sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa

½ cup (1/4 lb.) cold butter

¼ cup half-and-half

2 teaspoons vanilla (ßor almond or orange or peppermint extract, depending on what calls to you!)

¾ cup coarsely chopped nuts (ßoptional!)

Some butter or coconut oil for coating the pan 

Tools of the Trade

8-inch square baking dish

2-quart glass mixing bowl and microwave-safe lid

Aluminum foil

Wooden mixing spoon

Whisk

Heat-resistant spatula

Marching orders:

Line the square baking dish with aluminum foil (I’ve heard other folks use plastic wrap. But plastic wrap and hot, melted chocolate?? Nuuuuuhhhh, don’t go there...). Coat the foil with butter or coconut oil. Set the square dish aside, and turn your attention to the glass bowl...

Dump the entire box of sugar into the bowl. (You can sift it in, if the possibility of having little unmixed sugar bits in the final result offends your sensibilities).

Add the cocoa.

Mix chocolate-sugar with your spoon.

Cut the butter into smallish cubes, scatter over the chocolate-sugar mixture. Pour in the half and half and your choice of extract.

Grab that spoon again and mix it up. (Don’t worry if it’s not “well mixed.” It’s all going to be blasted in the microwave anyway.)

Cover the bowl with a lid or a microwave-safe plate, if you don’t have a proper lid at hand.

Rev your (microwave) engine and get ready to roll…

Put that covered glass bowl of chocolate goodness into your microwave oven and nuke on “high” for two-and-a-half minutes.

Pull out the bowl, grab your whisk, and whisk the contents vigorously until the butter melts. Continue to whisk until the gloss begins to fade.

If you choose to add nuts, mix them in now. (Or you can wait and press them into the top when you’re done.)

Then—quick! quick!—take your fudge and “pour” (I use that word advisedly… I usually have to scrape it out with a spatula) it into the square baking dish. Using the spatula (or the back of a spoon) spread the fudge to fill the pan.

Very important step, not to be skipped à With the spatula or spoon, scrape the leavings out of the mixing bowl and devour. Call it taste-testing, if you need to justify it to the drooling hordes in your household. But the truth is, you did the work, you reap the rewards!

Refrigerate, uncovered, for an hour or two, if you can wait that long. (I dare you!)

Cut into pieces. Take a few choice pieces for yourself and refrigerate the rest.

Return to your reading/writing with truly wicked fudge in hand.  

Ann Parker (website www.annparker.net) writes the award-winning Silver Rush historical mystery series and a serious chocolate junkie. The newest book in her series is A Dying Note.