Submitted by Michele Schubert
AUNT PATTY’S SOUR CREAM CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING
TIME: 2 HOURS 15 MINUTES, PLUS COOLING TIME • SERVES 12
INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1 cup sour cream
¼ tsp. baking soda
4 cups sugar
2 cups butter, softened
7 egg yolks
7 egg whites, stiffly beaten
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. almond extract
Praline Frosting (makes 1½ cups):
1 cup chopped pecans
6 Tbsp. butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10” tube pan.
Stir together the sour cream and baking soda in a bowl; set the mixture aside. Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the egg whites. Stir the flour and salt together in a separate bowl, and then set the mixture aside.
Alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 90 minutes, or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on the wire rack. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
To prepare the frosting, place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F. Flip the pecans over and bake for another 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
Place the butter, brown sugar, and cream in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Continue to boil and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the toasted pecans; stir gently for 5 minutes, or until the frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly. Spread immediately over the cooled cake.
Submitted by Lara Nocerino
CAROLINE HOLLIDAY BELLEFLEUR’S CHOCOLATE CAKE
TIME: 2 HOURS • SERVES 12
INGREDIENTS:
1 package Swansdown Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (or Duncan Hines, if you
can’t find Swansdown anymore)
1 package (8 oz.) seedless dates
1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. shortening
½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. brewed coffee
1 cup chopped pecans
I know you’ll be surprised, people of Bon Temps, that my recipe contains a mix! This has been my dark secret for many years. I’ve always driven to Clarice to make the purchase, so no one would see me. So now you know! If you’re a purist, please use your favorite chocolate cake recipe, providing it’s very moist.
Mix the cake mix and bake in a greased 9 × 13” glass pan, following the box directions.
Cook the dates, water, and sugar in a double boiler for 30–40 minutes. Spread on top of the cooled cake.
While the date mixture is cooling on the cake, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, salt, shortening, vanilla, coffee, and pecans. Spread on top of the cake. Sometimes I use pecan halves to create a pattern to make it look prettier.
From Caroline Bellefleur, as told to Charlaine Harris
DINER KEY LIME PIE
TIME: PREP TIME 30–40 MINUTES, REFRIGERATION TIME 4 HOURS • SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS:
3 Tbsp. butter
25–30 chocolate wafers
1 package lime Jell-O
½ cup hot water
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup sugar
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk, refrigerated until very cold
Green food coloring
1 tsp. lemon zest
Melt the butter. Crush the wafers and mix with the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture into a 9” pie pan to form a crust. Save crumbs not used for crust to sprinkle on top. Dissolve the Jell-O in hot water, then add the lemon juice and sugar. Whip the evaporated milk until it thickens.
Add the Jell-O mixture to the milk and whip until stiff. Add four drops of green food coloring and lemon zest. Spoon the mixture into the crust. Sprinkle remaining chocolate crumbs on top and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
Submitted by Treva Jackson
LOUISIANA PRALINES
TIME: 30–45 MINUTES • SERVES 5–10
INGREDIENTS:
Butter for greasing the saucepan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¾ cup half-and-half
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
24 whole pecans (optional)
Note: Like any candy, this recipe needs a dry day (below 50 percent humidity) to set up perfectly. Higher humidity results in sticky candy. If it’s pouring rain, you may end up eating it spooned over ice cream—which is fabulous, too.
You’ll need a large, heavy saucepan (at least 2 quarts) with a lid and a very sturdy handle. The boiling syrup must be vigorously beaten, so deep sides and a firmly attached handle are a must. When making candy, the goal is to have it crystallize when you want it to, and not a minute before. That means that if even a grain of sugar or salt falls into the heated syrup before you’re ready to spoon it out, the contents of the saucepan will set up like concrete, and you’ll get no candy, plus you’ll have a nasty mess to clean up. So the following instructions are set up to make certain no untoward grains of sugar destroy your candy before its time.
Butter the sides of your saucepan. As the pan warms, the butter will melt, and any sugar grains sticking to the side will slide into the pan before they cause trouble. Place the sugars, half-and-half, and salt into your prepared pan. Stir constantly over low heat until the mixture blends and the sugars melt into the half-and-half. Raise the heat to medium. Place the lid on the pan and allow it to heat for a few minutes. This will let the steam from the mixture wash any remaining sugar crystals down the side of the pan.
While the candy is cooking, prepare an area to spoon the candy by greasing a cookie sheet or placing a sheet of greased waxed paper on a butcher block or marble slab.
Remove the lid. Once the sugar syrup boils, turn the heat down to a simmer. If any crystals remain on the sides of the pan, carefully remove them with a wet paper towel wrapped around a fork. Never put your fingers into the pot. Bring the syrup to 234 degrees F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, bring it to the soft-ball stage. Remove from the heat.
Add the butter and vanilla, but don’t stir—you’re just letting the butter melt and the alcohol boil out of the vanilla right now. Wait 5 minutes. Add the chopped pecans. Stir vigorously with a clean wooden (nonconductive) spoon until the candy loses its gloss and thickens. Warning: The syrup is hot enough to inflict serious burns. You’re incorporating air into the sugar syrup, which makes the candy soft and easy to eat, like fudge or taffy, instead of hard like a lollipop. Once it thickens, you need to move fast. Quickly spoon the candy into small mounds onto the prepared surface. If it starts to set up or gets too hard to work, beat in a teaspoon of hot water to loosen it up.
When the candy is all spooned out, press a whole pecan into the top of each praline, if desired. Allow the pralines to cool before serving.
Tip: Store the pralines in a tin lined with waxed paper to seal out humidity.
Cleanup note: Place the pan in the sink and fill it with hot water; let it sit for a little, and it’ll be a lot easier to clean. If it’s still a mess, fill it
with water and place it on low heat on a burner. The sugars on the sides of the pan should soon melt away.
Submitted by Denise Little
PERDITA’S BREAD PUDDING WITH BOURBON SAUCE
TIME: PREP TIME 35 MINUTES, BAKING TIME 60 MINUTES • SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS:
Bread Pudding:
½ cup seedless golden raisins (or dark raisins)
Enough bourbon to soak raisins
10 day-old slices of white bread, torn into pieces
4 cups milk, scalded
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
½ cup apple, peeled and chopped
Warm water
Bourbon Sauce:
2 sticks butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. bourbon (or more to taste)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, cover raisins in bourbon to soak. Combine the bread, milk, and cream in a large mixing bowl and stir until blended. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and sugar together till well blended. Pour egg mixture into bread mixture and stir. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and stir well. Drain soaked raisins. Stir in the melted butter, raisins, pecans, and apple. Pour the mix into a greased 9 × 13” 2-quart baking dish, set the dish in a larger baking pan filled with warm water about 1” deep, and bake for 1 hour. Remove the dish from the pan of water and let the pudding cool.
To prepare the bourbon sauce, melt butter in a double boiler. Combine sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Add sugar and egg mixture to butter. Whisk sauce in double boiler over hot water until sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat and add bourbon to taste.
Portion out the pudding and spoon bourbon sauce over each serving.
Bread pudding submitted by Belle Franklin; bourbon sauce submitted by Treva Jackson
PORTIA’S SWEET POTATO PIE
TIME: PREP TIME 15 MINUTES, BAKING TIME 60 MINUTES • SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups canned mashed sweet potatoes
2 eggs
1¼ cups evaporated milk
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. rum
4 Tbsp. melted butter
1 unbaked pie crust (9”)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix the sweet potatoes, eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum, and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Pour into the pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake for an additional 50 minutes, or until the filling is firm.
Submitted by Ali Katz
WICKED PEACH CAKE
TIME: BAKING TIME 35–40 MINUTES • SERVES 8–10
INGREDIENTS:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 package peach Jell-O
½ cup peach schnapps, divided
3–4 good-sized peaches, chopped to make 1½ cups
½ box powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.
Prepare cake mix according to box directions. Add Jell-O and ¼ cup schnapps. Fold in peaches. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let cake cool for a few minutes, then turn it onto a cake plate and let cool until just warm. Mix together ¼ cup schnapps and powdered sugar to make a glaze. Poke several holes into the top of the cake with an ice pick or similar-sized utensil before drizzling the glaze over the cake. Add more schnapps if glaze is too thick.
Submitted in memory of Sharon Hicks
Drinks
CLASSIC SOUTHERN SWEET TEA
TIME: 15 MINUTES FOR HEATING AND STEEPING • SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS:
1 quart water, preferably filtered
1 cup sugar
6 tea bags (flavor of your choice, but plain old Lipton is traditional)
Ice
Place a heavy 2-quart stainless steel saucepan on the stove. Fill just over halfway with water.
Add the sugar. Heat the water until the sugar melts, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat.
Drop in the tea bags. Allow to steep for roughly 5 minutes, or to taste. The longer the bags steep, the stronger the tea will be. Remove the tea bags and discard. Add ice to the mixture and stir. Pour the tea into a pitcher. Serve by pouring into ice-filled glasses.
Tip: Garnish with mint or lemon balm, if desired.
Submitted by Denise Little
COUNTRY PORCH LEMONADE
TIME: 15 MINUTES • SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS:
1 quart water, preferably filtered
1 cup sugar
3 lemons
Ice
Place a heavy 2-quart stainless steel saucepan on the stove. Fill just over halfway with water.
Add the sugar. Heat the water until the sugar melts, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat.
While the water is heating, slice the lemons in half. Cut six perfect round slices to garnish with, one from each cut lemon half. Set aside the garnish slices. Juice the six remaining lemon halves. Strain out the seeds and pulp. Add the lemon juice and ice to the warm sugar water. Stir. Pour the lemonade into a pitcher. Serve by pouring into ice-filled glasses. Garnish each glass with a slice of lemon.
Submitted by Denise Little
Inside True Blood
Alan Ball Answers Questions from the Fans
Although True Blood certainly wouldn’t exist without Charlaine’s celebrated bestselling novel series, there’s no doubt that the driving force behind the sexy, sassy television show is its creator, producer, and writer, Alan Ball, who was captivated with Charlaine’s wonderful characters at first sight and has reimagined them for television while staying true to their original versions at the same time.
When I approached him for an interview about the series and his work, Mr. Ball said yes quickly and graciously. Rather than ask him questions that have no doubt been covered in other venues, I decided to allow the fans a rare chance to ask Mr. Ball questions about his work on True Blood and just about anything else Sookie-related that they desired. The response was overwhelming, and I selected the best questions to pass along to him. I’m pleased to reveal his answers here.
How did you first discover the Sookie Stackhouse series?
—RACHEL KLIKA
I was early for a dentist appointment and stumbled upon the books at a nearby Barnes & Noble. I picked up the first book and couldn’t put it down. Once I got into the series, I knew it had to be a TV show.
In Season 2 of True Blood, the maenad character Maryann Forrester (played brilliantly by Michelle Forbes) was developed to a fuller extent when compared to her role in the book by Ms. Harris. Why did you decide to develop this character further?
—DEIRDRE BRENNAN
Part of the challenge in adapting Charlaine’s novels is to create strong stories for the characters other than Sookie and still remain very faithful to the spirit of the books. We loved the maenad attacking Sookie and poisoning her with her claws, and then we looked for ways for her to interact with the other characters as well as being dangerous to Sookie. Ultimately, she gave us something for the entire cast to go up against.
What was your motivation for having Bill ask Sookie to marry him in the end of the second season when it was so far from the books? Was it that it was a good way to have Bill kidnapped/disappear?
—ADDIE BROWN
I think the motivation was to give them a moment of happiness, a hope that something they thought was off-limits to both of them was actually within their grasp. They’ve been through so much to
gether during their relatively short relationship, it felt nice to give them a moment of “normalcy” and the hope that they could have a happy ending. Of course, this being True Blood, there isn’t much chance of that.
What inspired you to make the Sookie books into an HBO series?
—KIM MCCOLLOM
I was so deeply entertained by the experience of reading the books, I just thought it would make a great TV show. The world and the characters seemed too large for just a movie—to me, it begged for the larger canvas of a TV series.
Your show has resonated with such a wide demographic group of people—many not typical fans of vampires and the paranormal. What [do you think] sets True Blood apart from all the other vampire movies/ shows to attract such a following?
—KIM MCCOLLOM
I think it’s because of several different elements: the characters and the world that Charlaine created; the performances by the amazingly talented cast; the humor, the romance, the scares; the focus we try to keep on making everything, no matter how outlandish, grounded in the emotional lives of the characters. It’s just a really fun show to make and hopefully a fun show to watch.