Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 01 - Death by Chocolate (31 page)

“Cool.”

“Well. I guess if everything’s taken care of, I’ll leave and let you get some rest. I know this has been pretty stressful for you.”

I sighed. “Yeah, you could say that. Death by Chocolate is not a fun way to go, and I’m thinking death by fire would have been even worse.”

“Well,” he said again and started moving toward the door. “I’ll see you around.”

I got up my courage. After all, I’d just stood up to a murderer. “How about going to dinner with me at my parents’ house tomorrow night? It’ll be worse than Chinese water torture, but the food’ll be good.”

He stopped with one hand on the door knob and grinned. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Pick me up around five
?”

He left and I gave myself a moment to let my lips play with a silly smile before I went to the base of the stairs. “Fred! Get down here! It’s confession time!”

“I’m not your priest!” he shouted back. “You don’t need to confess to me!”

It was going to be a long night. 

THE END

Check out Lindsay’s not-so-secret chocolate recipes, then read a chapter of the second book in the series,
MURDER, LIES AND CHOCOLATE
.

LINDSAY’S PRIVATE RECIPE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/2 c. butter, softened

1-1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 T. vanilla (yes, tablespoon, NOT teaspoon)

1/2 t. baking soda

dash of salt (bigger dash if you use unsalted butter)

1-1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. oat flour

8 (or more) oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like to use semi-sweet, dark and white)

1/2 to 1 c. chopped nuts, unless someone is allergic

Cream butter with sugar. If butter is too hard to stir with a spoon, use a potato masher to soften. Add egg and vanilla and stir briskly until well mixed. Combine dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Dough should be very stiff and just a little sticky. Add more flour or butter as necessary to achieve this state.

Form dough into balls larger than a jacks ball and smaller than a golf ball. Place on cookie sheet a couple of inches apart. Bake at 375º for 8 minutes. Cookies will be moist and chewy with a firm outer crust.
 

Makes 2 dozen cookies, more or less, depending on how many samples were tested before baking.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE

Preheat oven to 350º

Cake:

¾ c. sugar

1 c. flour

1 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

¼ c. cocoa

½ c. milk

3 T. oil

1 t. vanilla

Sift dry ingredients into a 9x9 pan, ungreased. Add wet ingredients. Mix a little bit. Smooth over.

Topping:

½ c. white sugar

½ c. brown sugar

¼ c. cocoa

1-½ c. water

Mix sugars and cocoa. Spread evenly over batter. Pour water over all. Bake for 45 minutes. Pudding cooks through to bottom. Serve slightly warm or cold with ice cream. Or just serve with a spoon!

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350º.

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. peanut butter (crunchy or smooth or a combination)

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar (firmly packed; I prefer dark brown for a richer flavor)

Stir in:

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt (1/4 if butter is salted)

1/2 t. baking soda

1 c. flour

1 c. chocolate chips (milk chocolate or M&Ms for a mellow experience; semi-sweet or darker for a maximum chocolate experience; add more than a cup if you’re having a bad hair day)

Cream together butter and peanut butter. Beat in sugars. Stir in egg and vanilla. Mix salt, soda and flour well, then add to mixture, stirring until well blended. Add chips. Press into balls roughly an inch in diameter or the size of the kidney stone you wish your ex-husband would get. Flatten on baking sheet, leaving ½ to 1 inch between cookies. Bake until firm but not hard, about 10 minutes.

DECADENT CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Preheat oven to 300º.

3  pkgs. cream cheese (8 oz each), softened

1 c. sugar

3 T. flour

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

3 eggs

3 T. amaretto, Frangelica, Bailey’s or just plain cream 

2 t. vanilla

6 oz. pkg. chocolate chips

Combine cheese, sugar, flour and chocolate. Beat until well blended. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Blend in liqueur or cream and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into chocolate crust (below). Bake 70-80 minutes or until filling is set.

Top with:

Vanilla yogurt sprinkled with chocolate chips

Fresh or frozen strawberries* either alone or over vanilla yogurt and/or chocolate chips

Fresh or frozen raspberries* either alone or over vanilla yogurt and/or chocolate chips

*I love to put sugar on the berries, let them set for a while, then drain off the resulting juice, add 1 T. cornstarch to juice and cook in microwave in 45 second increments, beating with wire whisk after each increment, until thick. Cool, add berries back to juice, chill and pour over cheesecake.

Chocolate crust:

8-1/2 oz. pkg, chocolate cookie wafers, crushed (about 2 cups)

1/3 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

Mix and press into spring-form pan. No spring-form pan? Fold aluminum foil in half, form into a circle and put inside regular 9 inch cake pan. Don’t obsess about getting the crust all the way up. Already got the crust in the pan before you remembered about the aluminum foil? Put it on the outside of the pan and continue. Who’s going to notice a slight irregularity in edges when that luscious piece of cheesecake is lying in front of them, ready to be eaten.

CHOCOLATE EARTHQUAKE CAKE

Preheat oven to 350º.

1 c. chopped nuts (I use more)

1 c. coconut (I use more)

1 box chocolate cake mix, prepared according to package directions

(I prefer the deep chocolate varieties, but lighter varieties can be used…though I can’t imagine why anyone would want
less chocolate)

1/2 c. butter

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 lb. powdered sugar.

Grease or spray 9x12 pan. Cover bottom of pan with nuts and coconut. Pour cake batter on top.

Melt butter in a bowl in microwave. Add cream cheese and powdered sugar and stir. Spoon over unbaked batter, spreading as much as possible. Bake 42-45 minutes. (You cannot test for doneness as cake will be sticky even when it’s done. About all you can do is eat a piece or two. Or three or four.)

Sprinkle with chocolate chips while still hot so they’ll partially melt.

BROWNIE NUT FUDGE PIE

Preheat oven to 375º.

1 unbaked pie shell (see below)

2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate

2 T. butter

3 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. dark corn syrup

1 c. nuts

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Beat eggs, sugar, chocolate mixture and corn syrup. Mix in pecans. Pour into pastry lined 9-inch pie pan. Bake 40-50 minutes just until set. Serve slightly warm (to die for!) or cold with ice cream and hot fudge sauce.

(This pie crust does not contain chocolate. It is merely the device that allows one to lift chocolate pie from the pan. Therefore, I see no point in wasting time on all that cutting the grease in until it’s the size of mutated peas. This crust is quick and easy and always flaky…and allows you to spend more time with your chocolate.)

1-1/3 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/3 c. oil

3 T. cold milk

Mix flour and salt. Add oil and milk. Mix.

Put between two sheets of wax paper. Roll out to something vaguely resembling a circle.

Remove top layer of paper, then lay it gently back onto crust. Flip crust over and remove new top layer (old bottom layer) and discard. Lay pie tin, upside down, on crust. Flip crust and pan right side up. Remove and discard remaining layer of wax paper.

Flute edges of pie crust by pinching between thumb and forefinger of one hand while pressing finger of other hand between said thumb and forefinger. (Use first knuckles if you have long fingernails.) Some people think this fluting makes it pretty. The truth is, it assures that none of the chocolate filling will spill out into the oven in case of overfill.

###

MURDER, LIES AND CHOCOLATE

Chapter One

“Are you out of your freaking mind? No, you cannot have my house.” I spoke the words through gritted teeth to keep myself from shouting since it was noon and my small restaurant, Death by Chocolate, was packed. I didn’t want my customers to hear me screaming at my almost-ex-husband. Might ruin their appetite for dessert. I had no doubt Rick deliberately chose that setting so I wouldn’t yell at him.

“Lindsay, you’d have to be crazy to pass up a deal like this.” Rick leaned across the counter and gave me his most engaging, most insincere real estate salesman smile. “You’ll get almost twice what that old place is worth, and I’ll sign the divorce papers the minute you sign the Contract for Sale.”

Rick knew how to work me. He’d convinced me to marry him five years ago, and now he’d delayed our divorce for almost a year. Every time I got a court date, he got a continuance. I really, really wanted him to sign those papers, and I certainly could have used the extra money, but I’ve learned not to trust a Rick bearing gifts. He was up to something. Had he discovered my house had oil under the basement? Was the railroad scheduled to come through? I was pretty sure those things only happened in old movies, but I was equally sure this deal would have some money in it for Rick, more than was in it for me.

“Do you not see that I’m busy right now? Go away.” I turned to the man who’d taken a seat on the stool next to where Rick stood. “What can I get for you, sir? Our special today is a ham sandwich and a piece of Sinful Chocolate Cake.”

“I’m not leaving,” Rick said. “I’m meeting my client here. Throw a little business your way. We’ll be at that table in the corner in case you change your mind. Give it some thought.” He smiled and winked as he walked across the room.

Had I really once thought that smile was sexy?

Paula Roberts, my best friend and co-worker, was waiting tables while I took care of the counter. That meant she’d have to deal with him. Not that I wished Rick on her, but better her than me. At least he was a good tipper, especially when he was with a client. The old
impress.

For the next hour I focused on serving sandwiches and chocolate goodies and tried to ignore Rick. I did notice that an older male joined him. Probably really was a real client. I’d expected him to bring in his latest bimbo. Excuse me…I mean, his latest girlfriend.

The man was likely the client who wanted to buy my house since he and Rick kept looking at me.

When Rick and I split up he moved his bimbo-of-the-month, Muffy, into the big home we once shared, and I moved into one of our small rental properties. I wasn’t happy about it at the time, but I’d since become quite fond of that house. It has character and personality as well as great neighbors. Paula and her son, Zach, live on one side with my OCD computer nerd friend, Fred Sommers, on the other.