BOOKY BAKE OFF – where writers share their book news along with their recipes and baking stories – good and bad!!!
And today I'm very excited to welcome the lovely Nancy Holland – who has popped in from the USA, to share her strawberry cake recipe, which is perfect for Wimbledon week
Nancy's book, Found: One Secret Baby is released by Harper Impulse on 7th July.
About Nancy...
Born in California (and always a California girl at heart), I'm now a teacher in the Upper Midwest. I wrote my first novel at the age of seven – a saga about a family of chipmunks and the family of ducks who lived in the pond next door. I’ve been writing ever since.
My husband and I are lucky enough to have two smart, wonderful children who live on opposite coasts of the US. Since I've become a HarperImpulse author, my remaining daydream is to live in Paris or London.
And Nancy's book is...
And today I'm very excited to welcome the lovely Nancy Holland – who has popped in from the USA, to share her strawberry cake recipe, which is perfect for Wimbledon week
Nancy's book, Found: One Secret Baby is released by Harper Impulse on 7th July.
About Nancy...
Born in California (and always a California girl at heart), I'm now a teacher in the Upper Midwest. I wrote my first novel at the age of seven – a saga about a family of chipmunks and the family of ducks who lived in the pond next door. I’ve been writing ever since.
My husband and I are lucky enough to have two smart, wonderful children who live on opposite coasts of the US. Since I've become a HarperImpulse author, my remaining daydream is to live in Paris or London.
And Nancy's book is...
Buy links:
Amazon
And now for Nancy's Bake Off story...
Found: One Secret Baby, my book out July 7 from Harper Impulse, is a twenty-first century variation on the Cinderella story. My heroine, Rosalie Walker, doesn't need rescuing, thank you very much, but she has spent much of her life taking care of her late mother. When Morgan Danby comes into the story, one reason among many she distrusts him is her not-entirely-unfounded fear that he's trying to buy her in order to create a family for his step-brother's son, whom she'd been raising since the boy's mother died.
As part of Morgan's campaign to persuade Rosalie to marry him, he buys her two very expensive dinners. After one of them, they order the signature low-calorie dessert of a (fictitious) Malibu restaurant that caters to movie stars -- angel's food cake and lemon sorbet. Rosalie is suitably impressed, but I prefer my desserts to at least taste as if they have lots of calories.
The cake my grandmother always made for my birthday (a signature dessert of sorts) managed to taste rich, as well as yummy, and still be moderately not-unhealthy. Starting with angel's food cake the way my made-up restaurant did, cuts calories without cutting taste, and the store bought kind is, in my experience, almost as good a homemade, so it cuts preparation time, too. I can't call what follows a "recipe," since Grandmother made it up as she went and I learned to make it by watching her. Still, it's something to try next time you see strawberries in the store. [Note: preparation is spread over a whole day as ingredients need to be chilled between steps]
Amazon
And now for Nancy's Bake Off story...
Found: One Secret Baby, my book out July 7 from Harper Impulse, is a twenty-first century variation on the Cinderella story. My heroine, Rosalie Walker, doesn't need rescuing, thank you very much, but she has spent much of her life taking care of her late mother. When Morgan Danby comes into the story, one reason among many she distrusts him is her not-entirely-unfounded fear that he's trying to buy her in order to create a family for his step-brother's son, whom she'd been raising since the boy's mother died.
As part of Morgan's campaign to persuade Rosalie to marry him, he buys her two very expensive dinners. After one of them, they order the signature low-calorie dessert of a (fictitious) Malibu restaurant that caters to movie stars -- angel's food cake and lemon sorbet. Rosalie is suitably impressed, but I prefer my desserts to at least taste as if they have lots of calories.
The cake my grandmother always made for my birthday (a signature dessert of sorts) managed to taste rich, as well as yummy, and still be moderately not-unhealthy. Starting with angel's food cake the way my made-up restaurant did, cuts calories without cutting taste, and the store bought kind is, in my experience, almost as good a homemade, so it cuts preparation time, too. I can't call what follows a "recipe," since Grandmother made it up as she went and I learned to make it by watching her. Still, it's something to try next time you see strawberries in the store. [Note: preparation is spread over a whole day as ingredients need to be chilled between steps]
- Wash, hull, and slice about a half-pound of strawberries, sprinkle with sugar, and set aside for several hours.
2. Whip a pint of cream with slightly less sugar than usual, then fold in the juice that has collected in the bowl of strawberries and chill thoroughly. (You may have more than you need for the cake, but in my opinion there's no such thing as "extra" whipped cream).
3.Take 1 plain angel's food cake (store-bought is fine) and cut in half crossways, setting top half aside. Spread roughly one-quarter of the whipped cream over cut side of the bottom half and arrange roughly one-third of sweetened strawberry slices on the whipped cream.
4. Carefully put the top half of the cake on the bottom half and frost with the rest of the whipped cream. Arrange strawberries on top (and around the sides, if wanted).
5. Chill thoroughly and serve cold. The cake may be too soft to hold candles well.
4. Carefully put the top half of the cake on the bottom half and frost with the rest of the whipped cream. Arrange strawberries on top (and around the sides, if wanted).
5. Chill thoroughly and serve cold. The cake may be too soft to hold candles well.
Variant: Instead of sugared strawberries, omit the sugar and flavor the whipped cream with sweetened chocolate powder (used to make chocolate milk) to taste. Garnish with chocolate curls.
What a delish cake for Wimbledon Week. Thanks so much for sharing Nancy.
If you'd like to catch up with Nancy, find her here:
nancyhollandwriter.com
www.twitter.com/nancyholland5
If you'd like to catch up with Nancy, find her here:
nancyhollandwriter.com
www.twitter.com/nancyholland5
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