Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Chocolate Recipes & More


I got my author copies of Chocolate Never Faileth yesterday!!!

My children literally danced around the house, sang, and then personalized their copies with Sharpies.

(My son asked if they seriously all got copies, and I had to respond with, "Um, yeah. Actually, I've put aside copies of ALL my books for each of you kids." Apparently chocolate is the first one he particularly cared about.)

(Not that I blame him.)

Within minutes, my youngest begged to make something out of the book. Her first request (Easy Chocolate Pudding, page 87) was met with, "Sorry, we don't have whipping cream." She would not be deterred. She had to make something from the book. Right. Now.

So I helped her make my Sinful Chocolate Cupcakes (page 21) and Classic Chocolate Buttercream Icing (page 170) to go on them.

We used her copy of the book, so it's been officially "christened" in the kitchen, complete with a dusting of flour and a splatter of milk.

The kids enjoyed reading the anecdotes and quotes, looking at the pictures and recipes and remembering how we tested this one and how we came up with that one. My daughters were so tickled with their copies that they shoved the books into their backpacks to show off at school.

It was a fun trip down memory lane . . . especially when I thought about how it's been just under a year since I turned in the manuscript on October 6, 2009.

In honor of the release and my children's enthusiasm, below are the recipes for the cupcakes and the icing. (You'll have more icing than you need for a dozen cupcakes. Like that's a problem, right?)

I'm getting word of a bunch of fun promotional things coming down the pike (one of which I'll let you know about just as soon as it's official!). For starters, watch for TV ads on KSL 5 this weekend between general conference sessions. (I KNOW!!! How cool is THAT?!!!)

This week's book signings:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 5-8 pm, BYU Bookstore
Signing books and giving away samples.

And the next day:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, flagship Deseret Book store in Salt Lake
Also giving out samples and signing books. BUT THE TIME HAS CHANGED. I'll be there immediately following the afternoon session of general conference: 4:00 - 5:30. (So NOT during Ladies Night. BEFORE it.)

With housekeeping business out of the way, it's recipe time!


Sinful Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa

Preheat the oven to 400. Put paper baking cups into a cupcake pan. Melt the butter; cool in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the soda and sour cream. Stir well and set aside. The mixture will puff up as it sits. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla. Add the cooled butter and puffed-up sour cream mixture. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the baking powder, flour, and cocoa; beat for a minute or two until the batter is fully mixed. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for about 18 minutes. Cool and ice with your favorite icing. Makes 1 dozen.


Classic Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt (about 1/8 tsp)
half of a 32-oz bag of powdered sugar (about 4 1/4 cups)
2/3 cup cocoa
5-8 TB milk, as needed

Beat together butter and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add a generous 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the powdered sugar mixture to the butter mixture, followed by 1 TB milk. Continue alternating between the two until you reach the desired consistency.




20 comments:

TisforTonya said...

a cookbook just isn't a cookbook until it's been christened with a dusting of flour :) smart girl!

and Congrats!!!!

Lara Neves said...

I'm glad that the summer of chocolate did not make your children sick of chocolate forever!

Kristina P. said...

Thanks for the recipe teasers!

Julie P said...

I absolutely love how enthusiastic your children are about your book!

Melissa Cunningham said...

Totally made a copy of those recipes and printed them out. Not that it matters. I intend to buy the book, buy hey, I might just get a craving tonight! LOL

wendy said...

yummmm.....chocolate cupcakes smoothered in way to much chocolate icing..........

I can't wait to see the book....I'll look for it when I come to Utah for Thanksgiving.

how cute that your kids are so excited about it.

Stephonie said...

Congratulations!!! Was it just as thrilling to pick up Chocolate for the first time as it was to pick up your very first published book?

I am very excited to get my own copy! I may have to send a sibling out to get a copy for me. :)

Annette Lyon said...

It was just as thrilling--but in a totally different way. Possibly MORE thrilling, because of the sheer amount of work it took. Such a different project than a novel, and such a challenge!

Amie Borst said...

that's so awesome! and conference weekend promo spot? how cool is that!

Meggen said...

Congrats, Andie! You've worked very hard for this and deserve all the "sweet" rewards that will come of it! Much love and stuff . . . Meg

Sherri said...

Congratulations! I can just picture your kids dancing around...so fun. Wish I got channel 5 so I could freak out when I saw your book displayed on tv :)

Myrna Foster said...

Congrats!!! That is so exciting! And thank you for sharing the recipes!

Amanda D said...

Congrats! That's so exciting. Good luck at your signings this weekend. Wish I could be there.

Susan Anderson said...

How exciting. I always love getting the author's copies! And I love that your kids were dancing around the house.

=)

LisAway said...

I think I know what I'm gonna make for dessert tonight! :)

I love that you've got a copy of each of your books for each kid. What a great mommy. Priorities!

Erin said...

Thank you for the recipes. I have this post in my reader, and I refuse to mark it as read. I can't eat dairy yet, however, so I feel very sad that the recipe has butter, milk and sour cream. But I am still going to buy the cookbook, and one day, when I CAN eat dairy again, I am going to die of happiness while making your creations.

Randi said...

I can not wait to make these! Thank-you, thank-you for the recipes!!

Anonymous said...

Mmmm...mmm...mmm!!

It looks absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. Or two! :)

LisAway said...

Made them, love them! (even blogged about them!)

Vallimasoos said...

How wonderful! Your best critics are in awe of you! I'd say that alone makes it a best seller! I am following you from Duck Duck Cow

BOOKLOVER DEALS FOR PRIME DAY!

Amazon's famous Prime Day events are huge for so many reasons, and for bookworms, it's even better: books aren't high-ticket ite...