An excerpt from my short story, New Beginnings, a story of a love so deep, it overcomes all obstacles,
including death. Now available in Whispered
Beginnings: A Clever Fiction Anthology (www.annaslegacy.com).
Myra loved the smell
of spring off the ocean. It always had a hint of lilac and whispered of new
beginnings. But this was not a spring of new beginnings. She did not want a new
beginning. She wanted him. She wanted Derek.
She watched the waves
crash into the rocks, the rhythm matching the throbs in her chest. Her eyes moved to the vast horizon of water.
Was he still out there? Could he still be alive? Maybe marooned on a small
island or hurt on a foreign ship? It would take the death of hope to accept he
was never coming home.
I know, kind of a tease of an excerpt, but hey it's a short
story. I can't give it all away. Besides this is called Novel Bites, not Novel
Glutton. :o)
In order to celebrate the release of Whispered Beginnings, I have made a very special dessert for you. Whispered Beginnings is an anthology of
stories dealing with romance and relationships. Who doesn't love to get carried
away into a story full of love and hope? AND who doesn't love some chocolate to
make those stories just a little more euphoric? So ladies and gentlemen, I
present to you:
Cherried
Away Brownie Sundae
Ingredients:
1 pouch Fudge Brownie mix (any brand, you're gonna spruce it up)
Ingredients on the back of your brown mix (mine needed 1/3 cup oil, 2
Tbsp water and 1 egg)
2 can of cherry pie filling
1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream (I have a gallon there, just in case I get
hungry while cooking)
1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 bag of milk chocolate chips
We're going to do this in 4 steps. It may seem time consuming, but most
of your time is waiting for stuff to cool and freeze, so you can do other
things in-between and if you have kids, you'll get interrupted anyway.
Step 1: Make the cherry
brownies
Preheat oven to 350
Grease 8x8 pan (I love Baker's Joy and highly recommend it, but you can
use Pam, butter, Crisco, whatever your Momma used)
Follow recipe on brownie pouch
Stir to mix
Add 1/2 cup of cherry pie filling (put the rest in the fridge you'll use
it later)
Stir to mix
Pour into greased 8x8 pan
Cook at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Let brownies cool completely. And by completely I mean until they are no
longer warm, both on the sides and on the bottom. You don't want to melt your
ice cream.
Step 2: Add the Ice Cream
Let your ice cream set out for about 10 minutes. You want it soft enough
to spread, but not melted.
Spoon ice cream over completely cooled brownies.
Put in freezer for approximately 1 hour or until ice cream is firm again.
Step 3: Make the Chocolate
Ganache
Before you go running to the hills Chocolate Ganache is super easy to
make. Make it once and you'll wonder why you ever shied away from it in the
first place.
Grab your double boiler. What you don't have a double boiler? That's ok,
fill a sauce pan with water and then place a glass bowl over it, like this:
Viola a double boiler.
I have a double boiler so I'm just gonna use it. Fill the bottom pan with
water and set to med-high heat. In the top pan (or glass bowl) dump the bag of
milk chocolate chips.
Add 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
Now stir until it's all melted. It won't take too long. Hey you just made Chocolate Ganache!!
Once it's melted pull away from heat (careful if you're using that glass
bowl, don't forget your oven mitts) and let it set for just a minute. Again you
don't want it to melt the ice cream, but if you let it set too long it won't
spread.
Now spread Chocolate Ganache onto the ice cream and put the brownies back
into the freezer for approximately half an hour.
Step 4: Dive In!!
Once the Chocolate Ganache has set, it's ready to serve. Now if your
ganache was too warm when you put it over your ice cream you may have to wait a
little longer. But if not, it's ready to serve.
Cut your brownies with a long, sharp, knife. You want to get through the
ganache and brownie. Use a spatula to get it out of the pan.
Top with leftover cherry pie filling, little or a lot, your preference,
that's why you have an extra can of cherry pie filling.
Now go grab your copy of Whispered Beginnings and dive into stories of
love, while your mouth falls in love with this chocolate cherry splendor called
Cherried Away Brownie Sundae.
What? You don't have a copy of Whispered Beginnings? Well, let me remedy
that... if you buy your copy from www.annaslegacy.com, 10% will be donated to
Anna's Legacy who are giving to St. Jude's this year. So you can eat your
cake... err... brownie and support a worthy cause.
Enjoy!