I recently ordered a recipe book called The Cupcake Bible, and there’s a recipe sticks out to me as a Try-Soon-Please-And-Thank-You type of thing. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this makes it to some part of my Christmas baking fiasco that runs during December :) Here’s the general idea of what the book details:

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Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes:

1 cup of creamy peanut butter, divided

¼ cup (or ½ stick) of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup of packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

½ teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

1 cup of milk

1 ½ cups of mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided (plus more for the top, if you’d like)

Peanut Butter frosting (or, if you’re a Kentucky girl like me, “icing”) – instructions to come!

Instructions for Cupcakes:

1. Oven should to be at 350 degrees.
2. Clearly, you’ll need to use baking cups in the pan, use Pam, smear butter… Something to keep the cupcakes from sticking.
3. Use an electric mixer (on medium) to mix the butter and ½ cup of peanut butter together.
4. Add the brown sugar, and mix again – thoroughly.
5. Add one egg, then blend with the electric mixer.
6. Add the other egg, then blend with the electric mixer.
7. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a different bowl.
8. Add the mixture from step #7 into the peanut butter blend, but not all at once. Instead, alternate between adding that mixture and the milk.
9. Use the electric mixer on low until everything is blended.
10. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.
11. Dip the batter into the pan.
12. Bake for about 15 minutes.
13. Let them cool while you prepare the icing (instructions to follow).
14. Spread icing over the cupcakes.
15. Heat the remaining peanut butter in microwave (on High) for about fifteen seconds – or until it’s melted – then pour over the iced cupcakes.
16. Heat the remaining chocolate chips in microwave (on High) for about fifteen seconds – or until it’s melted – then pour over the iced cupcakes.
17. Add additional chocolate chips to the top, if you’d like.

Ingredients for Icing:

½ cup (or 1 stick) of unsalted butter, softened

½ cup of creamy peanut butter

2 cups of sifted powdered sugar

½ teaspoon of vanilla

3-6 tablespoons of milk

Instructions for Icing:

1. Use electric mixer (on medium) to mix ½ cup (or 1 stick) of butter and ½ cup of peanut butter in a bowl.
2. Gradually add 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla.
3. Add 3-6 tablespoons of milk, one at a time until it’s smooth.

Preston and Nick endured the breakup of all breakups when Nick accused her of cheating on him. He insisted, and she denied while the rain pounded against her driveway and thunder roared in the distance. Then they both ran – Preston to a life of Rock and Roll, and Nick to a career in the Army.

Over four years later, they’re damaged and broken almost beyond repair. He’s carrying baggage from his military days, and she bears the scars of living a lifestyle she’s grown to hate.

When Preston’s label forces her to take time away from music, their paths cross in a parking lot not twenty-four hours after her hometown return, anger and sparks flying in a confusing blend. But regardless of the feelings neither has been able to shake, too many lies and secrets stand in the way of the one thing they need in order to recover.
Each other.

~ ~ ~

Main Site/Blog: http://clsmithbooks.blogspot.com

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My mom rarely baked when I was a child – she was too busy working – but the one thing she made on a pretty regular basis was Snickerdoodle Cookies. Probably because they were my dad's favorite. Like my mom, I don't have a lot of time to bake – and I find cookies too time consuming. Luckily, I discovered this wonderful recipe.

~ ~ ~

Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake

· 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

· 1/2 C white sugar

· 2 1/2 C flour

· 1 t baking powder

· 1/2 t baking soda

· 1/2 t salt

· 1 C butter, softened*

· 1 C sugar

· 1 C brown sugar

· 3 eggs

· 2 t vanilla

· 1 C full-fat sour cream*

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease or spray the inside of your bundt pan.

In a small bowl combine the first two ingredients until well mixed. Generously dust the inside of your bundt pan with cinnamon sugar (you want it to form a crust when it bakes). Shake out extra. Save some for the middle of the cake.

Next, mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and set aside.

In a third, larger, bowl, mix butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.

Then alternate adding flour mixture and sour cream to your sugar, butter, and eggs, mixing after each addition.

Pour enough batter into your bundt pan to coat the bottom.

Sprinkle in a (not too) generous layer of cinnamon sugar (if you use too much, the cinnamon sugar layer turns hard after the cake cools).

Add the last of the batter. Do NOT mix.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55-65 minutes. Allow to cool for 30-45 minutes (I find it comes out better if it's almost cool). Invert onto a plate or wire rack and allow to finish cooling—or eat warm :D

(*I have subbed out non-fat greek yogurt (Fage) for half the butter and half the sour cream with good results. )

Betsy Henley has sworn off cowboys for good, and only an invitation from a long-time crush could draw her back in to the rodeo world she left behind. She accepts, eager to find out if Alex Lucero sees her as more than his former team- roping partner’s little sister.

There’s only one problem. . . Alex is now roping with her ex-boyfriend, who also wants her back. How can she choose between the man she’s lusted after for years and the man she has a history with?

Then again, maybe Betsy doesn’t have to.

~ ~ ~

http://amiestuart.com

My sister made this cake and posted a picture of the gorgeous end product on Facebook. She started with a recipe she found at Epicurious.com but made a few changes, reduction of calories not among them.

~ ~ ~

Triple layer banana chocolate chip cake with peanut butter icing and chocolate shavings

Ingredients

Cake:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 10-ounce bag mini chocolate chips

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Mini chocolate chips, crushed chocolate bars or shavings for garnishment

Equipment: Three 8" round cake pans, parchment paper

Preparation

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pans with parchment; coat paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of bowl. Beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients; beat on low speed just to blend. Add bananas and sour cream; beat just to blend. Fold in mini chips. Divide batter evenly among pans; smooth tops.

Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; peel off parchment and let cool completely.

For frosting:
Using an electric mixer, beat first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes.

Assemble:
With a bread knife, even out the layers as needed to create level surfaces. Place one cake layer on a platter. Spread one fourth of the frosting over that layer and repeat for layer two. Place the third cake layer on top. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Garnish with chocolate chips, crushed / shaved chocolate.

Cake can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

An all expenses paid, trans-Atlantic cruise has romance written all over it...unless you’re the poor sap who has to inspect the toilets and time the cafeteria lines. As if secret-shopping her company's failing cruise ship isn't bad enough, Lydia Johnson is forced to bring along a "top talent" new hire as her assistant. With a heart barely healed from her ex-fiancé’s deceit, she's in no mood to train a man who might cheat her out of an overdue promotion.

Paul Thomas may be new to J.P. Theriot Enterprises, but he certainly knows his way around cruise ships. The Cajun charmer also isn't shy about pursuing his desires, including his wary, but oh-so-sexy-when-she lets-her-hair-down manager. He's shared more about himself with Lydia than any other woman...except who he really is--J.P. Theriot.

~ ~ ~

Claire Gillian Website

Much of the inspiration for the food in the Mistress of Fortune series comes from a 17^th century book by Hannah Wolley called The Queen-Like Closet or Rich Cabinet. It’s a collection of recipes, menus and household hints that 17^th century women used to run their households.

As you’ll see, baking in the 17^th century was somewhat less precise--and does that seem like a lot of sugar and flour to you? Still, I can almost smell the warm scent of freshly baked biscuits when I read this recipe!

~ ~ ~

The Best Biscuit Cakes (as made by a 17^th century housewife)

Ingredients:

4 new laid eggs
2 spoonfuls rose-water
1 pound sugar

1 pound fine flour

Put 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks into large bowl and beat them very well. Add the rose-water and sugar and beat for one hour. Add the flour and beat them together for a good while, then put them upon plates rubbed over with butter and set them into the oven as fast as you can. Have a care not to bake them too much.

London, 1679

Isabel, Lady Wilde, mistress of King Charles II, has made a good living disguised as fortune teller Mistress Ruby, counseling London’s elite. But after the murder of one of her customers, business has taken a downturn and Isabel is on the verge of accepting the king’s offer to move into the palace.

Isabel’s plans are interrupted when a beggar girl named Susanna shows up at her home, claiming to be her niece. Isabel always believed that her older brother, Adam, died alone during the plague. When Susanna reveals that Adam was actually murdered, Isabel is compelled to take up an impossible task: discover the truth about her brother’s death, twelve years after it happened.

Isabel’s investigation leads her through the gamut of London society, from bear-bating matches and brothels to the realm of wealthy bankers. But as she uncovers her brother’s dark secrets, Isabel begins to wonder whether the past is better left buried—especially when uncovering the truth could lead to her own funeral.

~ ~ ~

http://hollywest.com

I hope you enjoy the cake. And since I don’t have a picture of the cake I’ve attached a picture of my butter tarts, which if you’d like the recipe let me know in the comments below. I’ll choose one and send the winner a copy of my erotic romance Hot Fusion.

~ ~ ~

Plum Cake

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare an 8-9 inch spring form pan.

· 1/2 C butter

· 3/4 C plus 1T sugar

· 2 eggs

· 1 T baking powder

· Pinch salt

· 5 to 6 large plums [or more if you want more fruity] cut in half and pitted. My dad uses prune plums in the recipe, but when I did it I just used black plums

· 1 T cinnamon

· icing sugar

 

• Cream together butter and sugar
• mix dry ingredients together
• add eggs and beat well
• stir in dry ingredients
• spoon batter into pan
• arrange plums skin side up on hand surface. If plums are really big you can always quarter them
• Sprinkle lightly with 1 T sugar and cinnamon

Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until done, toothpick comes out clean. Let sit for a minute in the pan before removing.

Enjoy!

After fleeing her hometown years ago, Kara Sinclair has returned to breathe life back into the bakery her deceased grandmother left behind. She has a history in this town—one that involves her one true love. A boy she’d thought she’d give her life to before circumstance got in the way. She needs to focus on her task, but one look at Maxwell Stone and all the old feelings return. And it isn’t long before she can think of nothing else but reigniting the passion they once shared.

Max never understood what drove Kara away all those years ago, and once she returns to their Canadian hometown, he’s hell bent on getting her back into his life…and his bed. But when he uncovers the reason she left him behind, he must decide if he can move on from the past and trust his heart with the only woman he’s ever loved.

~ ~ ~

You can find me at:

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Hi Guys and Gals, I wanted to share the "cake" I made for my birthday this year out of a lot of improvisation because I was too lazy to go the store. It came out as more of a bread/cake, but it's my favorite thing to have in the house, DH isn't happy if it's not around for breakfast.

~ ~ ~

Banana Cocoa Cake On Easy Mode Recipe:

1 cup sugar (I normally use half brown and half white, but with either choice it will taste good)

2 bananas, slightly overripe

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use hot chocolate mix sometimes, the marshmallows give it a little extra something, something *wink*)

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all your dry ingredients with your wet ingredients and mush up the banana enough to use it as an oil replacement, but there can still be banana chunks in the batter if you prefer, I like it extra banana-riffic. Pour the batter in a 9 inch cake pan and pop up in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. That's it, no muss, no fuss. Unless you don't like peeling bananas.

For millennia Megaera, a Fury, has functioned as Hades right hand by passing judgment on demons who break the sacred laws. Stalwart in her moral compass, but harboring a curse triggered by rage, she walks a thin line between perfection and destruction. But when she digs into a case uncovering a string of demon rapes, she incites a war with Mount Olympus that could ripple chaos throughout the ages.

Omen Cole was demon made during the Civil War after repeated torture at the hands of his enemies. Sentenced to an eternity as watchdog over his emotionally frail, once human ex-wife, he’s haunted that he couldn’t save her from a brutal assault.

Now it’s happened again. And Megaera needs his testimony. Omen will sell his body—and anything else—to avenge his fragile ex-wife. If that means an alliance with Megaera, he’ll make it the most memorable of their eternity.

~ ~ ~

www.elisehepner.com

In my family, we're all about the food. There's nothing like a Sunday, a holiday, or a birthday without some homemade goodies. As we're celebrating all three of those this weekend, this is a family-ish recipe that we sourced from the Joy of Cooking and tweaked ingredients and amounts to meet our own tastes.

~ ~ ~

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Bundt Cake

Cake dry ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cake wet ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sour cream*
1 teaspoon vanilla*
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Other cake ingredients:

1 pint of washed blueberries
1 tablespoon or so of lemon zest

Streusel ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (I prefer pecans for this recipe)
1/3 cup sugar or packed light brown sugar or a combination thereof (I prefer the brown sugar)
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Materials:

Bundt pan
Pan or dish in which to melt the butter either on the stovetop or in a microwave--use your judgment
Spatula
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Stand mixer or a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer
Medium bowl
Whisk
Smaller bowl that's easy to pour things out of
Pat of butter to grease the Bundt pan with

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the streusel by mixing all of the ingredients together in one bowl until it resembles wet sand.

In the small bowl, mix together the sour cream and the vanilla (hence the star by them in the ingredients list). Let this sit for a moment.

In the medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the cake and then whisk together so they are fully incorporated with each other.

In the stand mixer--or in the large bowl and using the hand mixer--cream together the softened butter and sugar. When the sugar is fully mixed into the butter, creating a sandy look once again, add in the eggs one at a time. After you have mixed in the eggs, pour in 1/3 of the dry ingredients mix. Mix this together until mostly incorporated. Add in 1/2 of the sour cream mixture. Mix together. Add in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix. Add in last 1/2 of wet ingredients. Mix. Add in last 1/3 of dry ingredients. Mix. Use the spatula to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated. At this stage, you are done with the mechanized mixer. Fold in the blueberries and the lemon zest with the spatula.

Grease the Bundt pan with the butter if you haven't already. Pour 1/3 to 1/2 of the cake mixture into the Bundt pan and even it out with the spatula. Pour the streusel mix on top of this layer and evenly spread it. Pour the remainder of the cake batter on top of the streusel and even it out. Bake for 30-40 minutes in the oven, or until the top is nicely browned and a tester stick comes out clean. Enjoy warm, cold, slathered in fresh strawberries or however you like!

Best Erotic Romance 2014 contains sixteen stories of sizzling sex and romance. From the beaches of St. Thomas in Kelly Maher's "Closing the Deal" to a Texas ranch in Crystal Jordan's "Stay With Me", these authors will have you reaching for an icy drink to cool yourself down. Edited by Kristina Wright, and foreword by Lauren Dane.

~ ~ ~

http://www.kellymaher.com

This fabulous dessert has to be one of the best chocolate concoctions I’ve ever made—and by using so much cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark is my favorite), you can almost convince yourself that those antioxidants make this a healthy fix for your chocolate cravings! The sauce remains syrupy and makes enough to spoon over your ice cream, as well.

~ ~ ~

Hot Fudge Cake

1 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. cup milk
2 T. shortening or coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º and butter/spray an 8” or 9” square pan. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and sugar. Stir in milk, melted shortening and vanilla. Spread mixture in the prepared pan (it will be very stiff).

Sauce:
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
5 T. cocoa powder
1 3/4 C. hot water
Mix brown sugar and cocoa powder and sprinkle over the cake batter. Pour hot water over all. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes, or until cake feels firm beneath the sauce. Serve warm with ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers.

Kitchen Hint: You can re-warm leftover cake in the microwave. Separate into pieces with sauce over each piece, cover, and heat in 30-second intervals until it’s as warm as you want it.

As a bright season brings a fresh start to Willow Ridge, Annie Mae Knepp feels she can never make peace with the past. Her disgraced ex-bishop father is furious she has taken her five siblings to live with her. She’s never been truly at home in her faith…or believing in herself. And Annie Mae fears no man will want to take on the responsibilities she’s gladly shouldered. True, her quiet neighbor Adam Wagler has been steadfast and unshakeable helping her through her trials, but he surely couldn’t think of someone so lost as more than a friend. Believing she is unworthy because of her doubts, Annie Mae will find in a moment of surprising revelation that God can work impossible miracles—and that love makes all things new.

~ ~ ~

http://www.naomikingauthor.com/

Marina Kelly, the heroine in Where There's Smoke is a specialty baker of sorts, and she makes a scrumptious German Chocolate Cake for her father's birthday in the book. Despite its name, German Chocolate Cake is actually an American invention, and this recipe comes from CountryLiving.com

~ ~ ~

German Chocolate Cake Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup(s) boiling water

4 ounce(s) German's Chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup(s) cocoa

1 teaspoon(s) baking soda

1 teaspoon(s) salt

2 cup(s) sugar

1 cup(s) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

4 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon(s) vanilla

1 cup(s) buttermilk

Make batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flower two 9 inch cake pans. Tap out any excess. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over German's Chocolate. Stir until smooth and set aside. In another medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, using a mixer set on medium-high speed, beat sugar and butter until very light, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, until well incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and add chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add flour mixture by thirds, alternating with buttermilk and ending with dry ingredients. Thoroughly clean mixer beaters. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir a half cup beaten whites into batter. Fold remaining whites into batter.

Bake cake: Divide batter equally between pans and spread evenly. Bake on middle rack of oven until a toothpick inserted in center of each cake layer comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Use a knife to loosen cake from sides of pan and invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, carefully slice each layer into two separate layers.

Finish cake: Place 1 layer on a cake plate and top with small amount of coconut-pecan frosting. Repeat with second, third and fourth layers and remaining frosting. Serve or store in an airtight container at room temperature.

COCONUT-PECAN FROSTING

1 cup(s) sugar

1 can(s) (12-ounce) evaporated milk

½ cup(s) unsalted butter

3 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon(s) vanilla

2 1/3 cup(s) (one 7-ounce package) flaked coconut

1 ½ cup(s) chopped pecans

Directions: In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in coconut and pecans. Transfer to a bowl and, stirring occasionally, allow to cool to room temperature before frosting cake.

The Kelly Family is back, and this time, they've got a score to settle!

After years of dealing with his cheating ex-girlfriend's betrayal, Detective Levi Hawks has found love again with Marina Kelly, something he never truly believed would happen for him. And when an unexpected foe rises from the past and begins to threaten her entire family, Levi will do anything to find the culprits and bring them to justice. But what happens when his own past comes calling? Will Levi hold tight to the woman who picked up the pieces and brought joy back into his life, or will he make the mistake of going back to the woman who broke his heart to begin with?

Where There's Smoke features all the Kellys you met in the first 4 novellas (Ethan, Storm, Frankie & Marina), bringing them all together to solve a case that threatens each of their lives. Get to know the family a little better in this first full-length Kelly Family novel!

~ ~ ~

lashellcollins.com

 

The perfect reward after a hard day of work is cheesecake. Don't argue with me, I know I'm right. The thing is, an entire cheesecake isn't good for anyone so I changed the way I make cheesecake – I make them mini with the help of cupcake wrappers.

~ ~ ~

Kristina's Mini-Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of smashed graham cracker crumbs (buy the crumbs or just toss a packaged of crackers in a plastic bag and use your rolling pin to crumble)

3/4 cup plus 2 TBS sugar, divided

3 TBS melted butter

3 pkg Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup whipping cream

**Toppings - lemon zest + blueberries, strawberries, cherries, a mixture...go to town!

**18 cupcake wrappers

Preparation:

Heat your oven to 325. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, 2 TBS sugar and butter together; press into the bottoms of paper lined muffin pan cups. Next, beat the cream cheese, remaining sugar and vanilla until it's well blended. Then, add eggs and mix on low until well blended. Pour this over the crumb lined cups. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the center is nearly set and then set out to cool. Let it cool completely. Place in the fridge for at least two hours. Once cooled, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form and then spread over the cheesecakes. Top with whatever toppings and serve.

**Note from Kristi: this makes 18 mini-cheesecakes. But who needs to eat 18 cheesecakes all at once, right? So, I like to freeze them once they're made - I place them in an oblong tupperware container and stack, putting wax paper between the layers. They're perfect an afternoon snack. To thaw, just set them out on the counter for 20 or so minutes and badda-bing, top with the lemon zest and the fruit of your choice and enjoy!

The wrong guy might be just right for her. When her celebrity boyfriend of three years dumps her and claims he's now gay, unlucky-in-love author Casey Cash decides to get out of New York. A cruise seems like the perfect escape: everyone onboard will be locked away from television, newspapers and internet gossip pages, allowing her some much needed relaxation. There's only one problem: her oh-so-helpful agent has hired a male escort for her...and a big NYC paper has sent a pesky reporter on-board, vowing to get the dirt. Mason Drury doesn't want to write an expose on Casey, but he's in a bind. After a source flipped on him, he's persona non grata at his newspaper. Celebrity trash or not, this story will put him back on top. Too bad he finds himself breaking the first rule of reporting by getting attached to his subject and letting bias influence his story. Casey's much more interested in sexy Mason than the annoying escort who's bunking in her room. Mason might even have romantic potential if she can shake her well-meaning-but nosey-fans. Oh, and that reporter. She's got to avoid him at all costs...

CONTENT WARNING: A smattering of sass, sex and a heaping happily ever after. A Lyrical Press Contemporary Romance

~ ~ ~

Website: http://www.kristinaknightauthor.com
FB: http://www.facebook.com/kristinaknightromanceauthor
TW: @AuthorKristina
GR: http://www.goodreads.com/authorkristina
PI: http://www.pinterest.com/authorkristina

This was one of the recipes that they taught us in eighth grade Home Ec class (I bet they don't call it home ec anymore). We all took Home Ec and we all took Shop. All I remember from either are these pinwheels (and making ninja death stars in Shop that were masquerading as Christmas ornaments.) They're simple and yummy, but they don't keep very well -- eat them hot or within a few hours of cooking for tastiest results.

~ ~ ~

Butterscotch Pinwheels

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Combine flour, baking powder and salt; cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 or 5 times. Roll dough to a 12-inch square on a lightly floured surface.

Spread dough with butter; sprinkle with brown sugar. Spread raisins or nut over dough if wanted (I like it with raisins.) Roll up jellyroll fashion; pinch seam to seal.

Cut into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place cut side up on greased pan.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Will’s a widower with three little girls, including six month old twins, to look after. Most days it’s all Will can do just to get home from his advertizing job in time for goodnight kisses, but now his mother-in-law is leaving the country with her new boyfriend and Will needs the help of a professional nanny.

Benji loves being a nanny; looking after other people’s kids is the next best thing to having his own, and as a gay man, he figures it’s as close as he’s going to get. He’s between jobs and is thrilled when he gets the call from Mannies Incorporated to interview with Will's family.

He falls in love with the girls right away, but also finds himself attracted to their father. Benji knows he shouldn’t moon over his boss, especially when Will desperately really needs his services as a nanny, but he can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have a family of his own.

~ ~ ~

http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com/

Thank you for having me as a guest today! Have you ever had a craving for a moist, flavorful chocolate cake but … you didn’t have the ingredients? Well, here’s a great recipe for chocolate cake and it doesn’t require butter, eggs or milk.

~ ~ ~

Poor Man’s Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 375. Cooking time 25-35 minutes.

2/3 cup cocoa

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 t baking soda

4 t baking powder

Dash salt

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add:

1 cup oil

2 cups water

1 t vanilla

1 t white vinegar

Fits one 9 x 13 pan.

Super easy right? The cake is really good. I just eat it plain! You could certainly make an easy frosting for it with cream cheese or butter and powdered sugar.

Dominating BDSM Billionaires - The Complete Series Bundle

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Tabitha didn't come to Hawaii to be spanked, but that's the cost of being saved from drowning by Marcus and the start of an affair so intense they must decide - is this a holiday fling or the real thing?

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Tabitha Quinn's Hawaii vacation was anything but ordinary. Dominant billionaire Marcus Granger saved her life, swept her into his bed, and then left her heartbroken. Now she's back in New York, and she'll never see Marcus again ... or will she?

Her Wish, His Command

Doctor Anna Foster may just get what she wants: sexy fellow researcher Jonah Granger. Now that they've admitted their attraction, Anna may even be able to tell him what she really wants: to submit to him.

His Passion, Her Temptation

Monica Granger and Ben Coron must thwart the takeover and heal the rift between their families. If they don't, they'll never trust one another enough to pursue the dominance and submission they both need.

~ ~ ~

http://www.maliamallory.com

This cake is a great dessert for warm weather. Light, fluffy, and oh-so yummy. I admit, I’m not a fan of cooking. Anything with more than 6 ingredients and I’ll leave the cooking to the chef - my hubby. But I’ve wowed my family and friends with this oh-so easy cake. It’s sweetly delicious!

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Pistachio Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

· 1 box white cake mix

· 1 package (3.5 oz.) instant pistachio pudding mix

· 3 eggs

· 1 cup vegetable oil

· 1 can (12 oz.) lemon-lime soda (such as Sprite or 7Up)

Frosting:

· 1 package (3.5 oz.) instant pistachio pudding mix

· 1 ½ cups milk

· 1 tub frozen whipped topping (8oz.), thawed

· ¼ cup chopped pistachio nuts, for garnish

Directions

Cake:

1. Heat oven to 350°. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottoms of pans with wax paper and spray again.

2. Beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, and soda on high for 2 minutes.

3. Divide batter equally into the pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cool completely before frosting

Frosting:

1. Beat pudding mix and milk until blended, about 2 minutes.

2. Fold in whipped topping

3. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate and frost the top using about 1 cup of frosting. Place the remaining layer on top and frost the top and sides. Garnish with nuts (optional).

4. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Pirate captain Thayer Drake lures ships onto reefs for plunder, and business is lucrative. Yet, saving a lass from drowning after her ship wrecks becomes more than he bargained for when the crazy wench dives back into the raging sea for her blasted purse.

Tavern songstress Gilly McCoy, penniless and fleeing from the man who murdered her lover, stowed away on the doomed ship. Now at Drake's mercy, Gilly must earn her passage by performing for the captain. And that is not all: she must also kiss the captain at every ring of the ship's bell. But she discovers kissing the handsome rogue is not entirely a bad bargain...

Drake is intrigued by the beauty, but there is no room in his black heart for a woman. He has demons that he drinks nightly to forget. Meanwhile, Gilly has her own secrets to keep—including why her purse is more valuable to her than her life...

~ ~ ~

www.jbrayweber.com

Hi Readers!
When I signed up for Romance Cooks I figured I'd do a recipe from my latest release, like a lot of other contributors. Then I remembered my latest release is a sci fi novel, and the most notable recipe in it is mopane caterpillars, reptile eggs and salad....how about we have some Space Cake instead?

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Space Cake

You will need:
eggs
butter
brown sugar
self-raising flour (if you can't get self-raising, use plain and add a spoonful of baking soda)
cocoa
instant coffee
200g dark chocolate
50g white chocolate
200ml double cream
mini white chocolate stars
8" cake tin
6" cake tin
a sheet of acetate

Take four large eggs. Weigh them. Remember that weight.
Weigh out the same weight of butter, sugar and self-raising flour.

Purists mix everything by hand, but I'm lazy like that :) Put your butter and sugar in a mixer and cream together.
Add a spoonful of flour, and one egg. Blend until completely mixed. Repeat until you've mixed in all your eggs.

Pour into a bowl and carefully fold in the rest of your flour, being carefully not to knock too much air out of your mixture.
(if you're more of a cake mix person, congratulations, you've just made a cake from scratch! Seriously, the rest is just tarting it up)

Mix a heaped teaspoon of instant coffee with hot water until fully dissolved. Add to your cake mix, along with two heaped tablespoons of cocoa. Mix thoroughly.

Grease your cake tins, pour in the mix, and turn your oven to medium. My oven doesn't have any numbers on the dials, thanks to the previous tenants in this flat, but it turns out 99% of food can be cooked at 'low', 'medium' or 'high'. The big tin will take longer to cook than the small tin, so put that on the top shelf.

Cook for about twenty minutes. To check if they're done, you can either use a skewer - insert it in the deepest part of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is done - or listen to it. A cake that's still cooking will crackle quietly. A cake that's done won't.

While it's cooking, make a sugar syrup by dissolving 150g sugar in 150ml water over a gentle heat. If you want a more 'grown up' cake, add some chocolate or coffee liqueur to the syrup after taking it off the heat.

When the cake is done, remove from the tins and leave on a baking rack to cool. Use a pastry brush to soak the tops of both cakes with the sugar syrup. This makes them super moist!

While the cakes cool, make your chocolate ganache by heating the cream until it starts to bubble. Take it off the heat and add the dark chocolate, broken into a small bits, stirring constantly until you had a delicious thick, smooth ganache.

Moon time! Make a bain marie by balancing a small pyrex bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Add two thirds of your white chocolate and let it melt. Take the bowl off the heat and add the rest of the white chocolate, stirring until fully incorporated. Doing it this way tempers the chocolate, meaning when it cools it should be glossy, melt in the mouth, and when you break it there should be a satisfying snap. Use a palette knife to smear the melted chocolate onto the acetate. Draw a crescent moon shape into it with a knife point while still liquid. Cool in fridge.

I didn't have any acetate, so I tried stretching cling film over a baking tray. It wasn't 100% successful. You can get special acetate with designs printed on in cocoa butter, if you want your moon to be super fancy.

Ice the larger cake all over with ganache. Put the smaller cake on top and ice that too.

Sprinkle with white chocolate stars.

When your moon has solidified, place on the top tier.

Enjoy your chocolate space cake!

When a theft goes wrong and Jared finds himself under arrest, his daring escape results in an extra passenger. Richard Kuiper the Seventh does not appreciate being magnetically handcuffed to a common criminal, even if he does enjoy the chance to indulge his sexual appetites guilt free.

Hiding out with some old friends of Jared’s while they attempt to unlock the handcuffs, a bond grows between the two men that’s more than magnetic, but Jared’s initial mistrust comes back to haunt him. When the cuffs are removed Richard storms off, straight into a trap, and now Jared must decide what he’s willing to risk for a man he’s barely known for a week: his life, certainly, but his heart? He’s never risked that before.

~ ~ ~

www.solelyfictional.org

I usually save the prettiest layer for the top and thinly ice the cake.

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The cake

Round version

Six eggs, separated

Salt

Butter

2/3 cup vanilla sugar (you can use a vanilla bean to flavor the sugar but I just add a tablespoon of vanilla extract)

1 cup flour

My version (in case you mess up a layer or want thicker layers)

9 eggs

1 cup vanilla sugar (you can use a vanilla bean to flavor the sugar but I just add a tablespoon of vanilla extract)

1 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon of flour

Butter

I use the amount of ingredients for the oblong cake, baking them in round cake pans, but I gave you both.

Prepare six 9 inch cake pans for baking: cut 6 circles of waxed paper to fit the bottom of the pans, grease the bottom of each one with butter, place the paper in and grease that as well. Set the pans aside until ready to use. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy; continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and the remaining sugar together until lemon-colored and very thick. About ¼ cup at a time, sift the flour on top of the egg yolk and sugar mixture and fold it in. mix a tablespoonful of eaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then gently fold in the rest of the whites. Keep a light touch throughout, handling the batter just enough to make sure it is evenly blended. Take a prepared pan and spread one-sixth of the batter on the bottom as evenly as possible.

I only have two round cake pans, so I usually put them in two at a time and it works out fine.

Let the batter touch the sides of the pan at several points. Place it in the middle of the preheated oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cake hardens and begins to turn color. Remove from the pan with a spatula, invert and quickly but carefully tear off all the paper. Cool on a cake rack.

The cream filling

It calls for 6 ounces of semisweet baking chocolate, but I use the whole box which I think is 8 ounces?

3 tablespoons of strong coffee (my secret is get some flavored coffee like Raspberry or Tiramasu but I never told my mother-in-law) J

1 cup of salted butter (don’t use margarine for this one)

1 cup vanilla confectioner’s sugar (you can use a vanilla bean to flavor the sugar but I just add a tablespoon of vanilla extract)

3 eggs

Melt the chocolate with the coffee over very low heat. Cream the butter with the sugar and  beat until fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and beat until it is well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time and continue beating until the cream is light and fluffy. Keep in fridge until ready to use.

Kendra Prescott, a high-powered Atlanta real estate broker, is sent England to coax the owner to sell a beautiful cottage. Family portraits line the stairway, and Kendra finds one man, Benjamin Sheffield fascinating. Too bad he lived almost two centuries ago.

In eighteen sixty-three, Benjamin Sheffield escaped England because of a trumped up murder charge. He came to America to disappear in the vast Western frontier, but is delayed by a little thing called the War Between The States.

When Kendra falls and loses consciousness, she wakes up in the middle of Civil War torn Georgia. She doesn’t know what happened to the cottage, but when she sees Ben, she realizes he is the key, her only chance of returning to her own time. Trouble is, now that she’s met him, she isn’t sure she wants to.

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http://selenafulton.wordpress.com

Thank you so much for hosting me today. In the second book of the O’Leary series, A GOOD TIME, the heroine, Indy, raves about her sister’s chocolate cake. Indy loves all chocolate (as do I), but Quinn’s chocolate cake is irresistible. By creating the perfect cake in the book, I set myself up for quite a challenge because I didn’t have a recipe to go with it. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to make a cake irresistible. Enjoy!

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Quinn’s Irresistible Chocolate Cake

2 c flour

2 c sugar

1 c cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

¾ c vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 c milk

1 c hot water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch cake pans.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, oil, vanilla, and milk and mix on low until well blended. Slowly add hot water while mixing. Batter will be runny.

Pour evenly into prepared cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pans for a few minutes and then remove to cool completely. Frost when cool.

Chocolate frosting

2 sticks soft butter

1 c cocoa powder

5 c powdered sugar

½ c milk

Additional milk as needed

Mix butter, cocoa and powdered sugar until combined. Add ½ cup of milk and mix completely. Add more milk to desired consistency. Frost bottom layer of cake. Add top layer and frost.

A passionate free spirit and a sweet-talking playboy sound like a match made in heaven—until life gets in the way of all the fun and games…

Indy Adams values her freedom above all else. She works hard to support herself, moonlighting as a waitress while she fights for her first big sale in the Chicago real estate market. The last thing she needs is to be tied down, so she doesn’t think twice about declining her philandering boyfriend’s marriage proposal. Besides, she just landed a new client, a wealthy lothario—exactly the kind of guy who would understand her no-strings approach…

Handsome, rich, and charitable, most women jump at the chance to even talk to video game developer Griffin Walker, let alone date him. So he can’t understand why Indy wants nothing more than a few steamy nights together. Despite his romantic track record, Griffin longs for real love—complete with a home and family—and he wants it with Indy. But a blessing in disguise may lead them both to a life they never expected, and give Griffin a chance to show Indy that it’s okay to want more than a good time…

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http://www.ShannynSchroeder.com

I grant you this recipe is a little bit involved. It’s not the sort of thing you want to make at the last minute. It’s more along the lines of something you make to impress your mother-in-law. It’s also very pretty and spring-like. Great for Easter, although that has now passed, but Mother’s Day is coming up.

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For the sponge cake:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup milk

¼ teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Beat the eggs, adding the sugar gradually. Keep beating until the mixture is light and lemon-colored. Beat in the oil. Sift the dry ingredients together; add the vanilla and almond extracts to the milk. Stir in dry ingredients, alternating with milk mixture. Pour into pans and bake 20-25 minutes. Cool a few minutes in pans and unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

¾ cup apricot preserves

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 kiwi fruit, halved and sliced (to form crescents)

½ pint strawberries, sliced (reserve one whole berry for garnish)

Heat apricot preserves and lemon juice to boiling, stirring occasionally. Strain enough of the preserve mixture to measure 2 tablespoons syrup for glaze. Cool the remaining preserve mixture.

Whipped Cream Cheese Topping:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup powdered sugar

¾ cup chilled whipping cream

½ teaspoon vanilla

In a chilled bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

To assemble:

Place bottom cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with half of the preserve mixture. Spread ¾ cup of the whipped cream cheese topping over this. Top with second layer. Spread with remaining preserve mixture. Arrange fruit on top: the kiwi scallops go around the edge; place the whole strawberry in the center and arrange the remaining slices about the center in a star pattern. (This is just the base recipe. You can add whatever fruit you like to it and get creative with how you arrange it.) Brush top with reserved apricot syrup. You can also arrange any leftover strawberries around the base. Frost sides of cake with remaining cream cheese topping. Serve immediately or refrigerate no longer than 8 hours.

Serves 8-10.

After watching her beloved sister Sophia pine over the ton’s Golden Boy for years, Miss Julia St. Claire has foresworn love and put herself firmly on the shelf. Unfortunately, her social-climbing mother and debt-ridden father have other ideas, and jump at the chance to marry Julia off to the newly-named Earl of Clivesden…the man of Sophia’s dreams.

Since resigning his Cavalry commission, Benedict Revelstoke has spent his time in London avoiding the marriage mart. But when he discovers that the Earl of Clivesden has set Julia in his sights, Benedict tries to protect his childhood best friend from the man’s advances—only to discover more than friendship driving his desire to defend her. He surprises them both with the force of his feelings, but when she refuses him and her father announces her betrothal, he fears he’s lost her forever—until Julia approaches him with a shocking scheme that will ruin her for all respectable society…

…and lead them into an exquisite world of forbidden pleasures.

~ ~ ~

http://ashlynmacnamara.net

Hey, everyone! I thought I’d share a tasty historical treat with you all; something the heroine of a Georgian, Regency, or Victorian romance novel might eat. Serve them warm from the oven with tea for a treat!

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Rout Cakes

1 cup butter (softened)
¾ cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp sherry
2 tsp brandy
Zest of one orange
OR 2 tsp orange blossom water (if you can find it)
OR 2 tsp orange liqueur (Cointreao, Gran Marnier, etc)
3 ¾ cups flour
½ cup currants

Preheat oven to 350º

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and beat. Add vanilla, sherry, brandy and zest or orange water/liqueur and mix. Add in flour 1 cup at a time. Add currants with last ¾ cup of flour.
Dough will be cookie-like. Make rounded balls the size of walnuts and bake on a parchment paper or Silpat 20-25 min (until golden). They puff up a bit, but don’t spread so you can put them relatively close together.

After the scandalous demise of her marriage, Lady Olivia Carlow knows the rakes of the ton will think her fair game. So when a letter arrives bearing an indecent offer from the incorrigible Roland Devere, she seizes the opportunity. Turning the tables on the notorious rogue, she blackmails him into playing her betrothed for the season. But no matter how broad his shoulders or chiseled his features, she will never fall prey to his suave charm.

When Roland boasted he'd be the first into Lady Olivia's bed, he couldn't have imagined that behind those brilliant blue eyes lurked a vixen with a scheme of her own. Still, Roland is not about to abandon his original wager. If anything, learning that the lovely Olivia is as bold as she is beautiful makes him more determined to seduce her into never saying "never" again.

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www.isobelcarr.com/

I'm a coffee addict and this Cappuccino Cake is perfect for someone like me. In Pink Buttercream Frosting, my heroine Bailey is searching for the perfect chocolate cake recipe and I think this would work for her too.

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Chocolate Cake:

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable or coconut oil

3 large eggs, at room temperature 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment paper and sides of pan with butter or cooking spray.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Slowly add the hot coffee and stir until just combined. Scrap the bottom of the bowl and don’t overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer pans from oven to cooling racks. After the cakes have cooled, carefully turn one layer out onto cake plate.

Cream Cheese Coffee Frosting:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, cut into cubes

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/3 cup strongly brewed coffee, at room temp

1 (8oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy. Slowly add in coffee until well combined. Fold in whipped topping with a spatula.

Refrigerate frosting for 30 minutes before spreading on cake

To Frost Cake: Turn one cake layer onto serving platter. Spread 1/2 the frosting over cake. Top with remaining cake layer and remaining frosting. Sprinkle cinnamon over top of cake. Sprinkle chocolate chips around outer edge of cake.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing.

Store in refrigerator.

(Note: I have found that the best cream cheese frosting is made by not softening the cream cheese beforehand. I cut it into cubes and beat a little at a time, adding more until all is incorporated. It seems to hold up better still cold.)

Desire: Blend sinful with sweet. Whip to perfection. Don’t forget to lick the spoon…

Aidn Greer is a much-sought-after Dominant in the BDSM lifestyle with an unusual problem. He hasn’t owned a submissive in more years than he cares to think about. He’s bored with unchallenging women, yet mentoring other Doms and training subs has left him cold as well. He’s craving something other than plain old vanilla—a taste of something sinfully sweet that, for once, he can really sink his teeth into.

Professional cake baker Bailey Harris wasted ten years bored to tears with her marriage, enduring a job she hated, and harboring a secret desire for something passionate, fulfilling and dark. Then she found it…in the world of BDSM. Exploring on her own brought the kind of mind-opening experiences that led her to declare her independence—and exposed a yearning to find the one Dom for whom she’s willing to kneel. Permanently.

When Aidn and Bailey meet, it’s fire and ice. Sugar and spice. And an experience that satisfies every detail of both their fantasies. Almost. While the big, beautiful sub is everything Aidn wanted, her fierce independent streak could be more of a challenge than he bargained for…

~ ~ ~

www.lissamatthews.com

Over the summer, I posted on Twitter that I was making a cake for my family and the reaction to the images I posted was tremendous. So, I thought I’d share the recipe for Chocolate Café Au Lait Cake. Warning, I’m a Southern girl, so there’s nothing “lite” about this recipe.

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Chocolate Café Au Lait Cake

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 30 to 37 minutes

Serves: 12

1 stick (4 ounces) margarine

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 package devil’s food or chocolate fudge cake mix

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee powder

1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

Melt margarine in a 1 quart glass bowl in the microwave oven on HIGH 1 minute. Stir in graham cracker crumbs and let cool. When cooled, stir in chocolate chips and walnuts, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Prep cake mix according to package directions then turn batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle graham cracker crumb/chocolate chip/walnut mixture over cake batter, dividing evenly between the pans. Using your fingertips, lightly press the mixture into the batter (crumb mixture should not sink all the way into the batter).

Bake cake as package directs, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven and cool completely before unmolding. Keep layers crumb side up.

In a medium bowl, beat cream, coffee powder and powdered sugar on high until stiff. Place one cooled cake layer, crumb side up on a serving plate. Spread three-quarters of the whipped cream mixture over the cake. Top with remaining cake layer, crumb side up then frost sides of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Do not frost top of cake. Refrigerate until serving time.

It isn’t a birthday celebration without a little pain to chase the pleasure—at least according to Dalton and Cade, the two men who stole Erin’s heart. Relationships are complicated and Erin has been retreating—both emotionally and physically—from her lovers. Pushed away for reasons they don’t understand and determined to overcome her resistance, the men devise a wicked plan. They’ll use two very special gifts and one captivating night to reclaim her submission. They don’t count on Erin’s trip to subspace exposing a heartwrenching confession…one that threatens to rip the triad apart forever.

Warning: Contains a well-trained, dirty-talking submissive who succumbs to the commands of her Master, custom nipple clamps, tongue wagging oral sex, a well-deserved punishment with a butt plug, men who share more than a few heart-racing kisses and a custom-made-work-of-art sex chair that shows this M/M/F triad just how powerful their passion for one another is. And that’s just chapter one.

~ ~ ~

www.sarabrookes.com