Friday 20 June 2008

Devil's Foodcake Cookies

At work, I belong to a little group of ladies who periodically do things to raise money for charity. One of our favourite things to do is a cake sale at teabreak time. We are planning one on Monday, and will be splitting the proceeds between our local hospice and an animal charity in Greece.

One of my favourite 'cosy' murder mystery series is written by Joanna Fluke, and features Hannah Swensen, the owner of a cookie shop who seems to stumble over dead bodies. Each book includes recipes for the cookies and cakes mentioned in the story. The library just bought 'Candy Cane Murder' and it arrived on my desk yesterday. I started reading it last night.

How could I resist making some cookies from my new murder mystery story for the cake sale on Monday? I chose 'Devil's Foodcake Cookies' and used my american measuring cups for the first time.

I am really pleased with how they turned out- you roll them in granulated sugar before you bake them, so they are a little crunchy on the outside, and really chewy on the inside. (Of course, I had to taste them to make sure they were ok to sell at work!)

My plan is to post recipes and instructions for the crafts and cooking I do here, but seeing as this is published in a book, and the authors website www.murdershebaked.com does not list the recipes, just an index of which book to find them in, I don't think I should publish this one.

I can really recommend baking them though, and I am enjoying the story too, so why not check out your local library for a copy of the book?