The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson, Served with a Recipe for Carrot-Pineapple Cupcakes

I am excited to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for the buzz-worthy new novel The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson. Accompanying my review is a recipe for Carrot Pineapple Cupcakes with Apricot Cream Frosting that fits the essence of the book. 

Publisher's Blurb:

From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.

                                                    Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 7, 2023) 
                                                                            Hardcover: 384 pages

My Review: 

I had a feeling I was going to enjoy The House of Eve from the start--historical fiction is my jam. I had to keep reminding myself not to order it from my monthly book club subscription because I had signed up for the tour--especially hard when publishing got delayed for the very good reason that it was picked for Reese Witherspoon's book club and it started generating lots of buzz. It's great when a book gets a lot of hype, and ends up deserving it. Sadeqa Johnson has written a compelling story about strong young black women and the hardships and choices they faced in the 1950s. 

Teenage Ruby doesn't have an easy life, left to live with her aunt when her uncaring mother's boyfriend focuses his attention on her. She is studying hard to gain a scholarship and be the first one in her family to attend college when she meets a young Jewish boy and their hidden relationship results in pregnancy. Eleanor is attending Howard University when she meets William, studying to be a doctor and from one of the upper crust black families in Washington DC. They are in love, but his mother doesn't approve and isn't happy when pregnancy speeds up their marriage plans. Their stories are told in different ways, Ruby's in first person and Eleanor's in third person, which I wasn't sure was going to work, but it did. Both of their stories and how they dealt with their circumstances were engrossing and I found myself quickly caught up in their plights. 

The House of Eve is not a light read, but it's a good and ultimately hopeful one. I appreciated the author's afterword about how she came to write the novel and the lack of information compiled and published on unwed black women. She noted, "I'm drawn to writing historical fiction because I feel charged to tell the truth about American history, whether grim or happy." Sadeqa Johnson is a talent and her storytelling has me moving her novel, Yellow Wife, up to the top of my TBR pile.   

-----

Author Notes: Sadeqa Johnson is the award-winning author of four novels, including Yellow Wife. Her accolades include the National Book Club Award, the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, and the USA Best Book Award for Best Fiction. She is a Kimbilio Fellow, former board member of the James River Writers, and a Tall Poppy Writer. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children. To learn more, visit SadeqaJohnson.net.

-----

There were food mentions throughout the book such as scrapple, okra, and fried fish, tuna salad, chocolate-covered pretzels, ice cream and candy, chicken soup with matzoh balls, pastrami sandwiches, spaghetti, seafood salad, wilted spinach, cocktail shrimp, cheese and Ritz crackers, stew, avocado with vegetables, sweet tea, biscuits, crab cakes and sunny-side-up eggs, and poundcake, pies and baked goods.

When William is seeking forgiveness from Eleanor, he brings her a big piece of carrot cake from the bakery. It made me crave a good carrot cake, and so I decided to showcase these carrot cupcakes I made back in 2009. They lean to the healthy as they are from a spa cookbook, but they are delicious--the pineapple and applesauce make them very moist. 

Carrot-Pineapple Cake with Apricot Cream Frosting

Adapted from Cooking With the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta

(Makes one 8-inch cakes or 12 cupcakes)

The book says, "Most carrot cakes deliver healthy ingredients with loads of fat. In this very simple, moist cake, applesauce is substituted for the usual oil, and crushed pineapple adds moistness and flavor. The cake is delicious even without the creamy frosting--try serving it lightly dusted with powdered sugar, alongside a citrus salad or fresh pineapple."  

2 eggs

zest of 1 orange

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups grated carrots

1 1/4 cups drained crushed pineapple in juice

1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened

Apricot Cream Frosting:

6 dried apricots, cut into 1/4-inch dice

4 oz Neufchatel or low-fat cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly brush an 8-inch pan with oil. 

Beat the eggs with the orange zest and sugar until thick. Stir in the applesauce and the vanilla. Sift the flours, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture, then fold in the carrots, pineapple, and coconut.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.

To make the frosting, soak the apricots in hot water until they are very soft. Drain thoroughly. With a hand mixer, whip the Neufchatel until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar and the 1/4 tsp vanilla, fold in the apricots. Spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cooked cake, and cut into thin wedges to serve. 

Note: The cookbook suggests variations such as adding 1/2 cup golden raisins, soaked and drained to batter, sprinkling the chopped apricots over the cake instead of mixing them in the frosting, adding chopped pecans to the batter, or making it as a loaf cake or cupcakes.

-----

Note: A review copy of "The House of Eve" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and learn what other reviewers thought about the book below.

Book Review Tour Stops:

Friday, March 3rd: @bookmom22
Friday, March 3rd: IG: @mamabookwormreads  and TT: @mamabookwormreads 
Friday, March 3rd: @addictedtobooks86
Saturday, March 4th: @stephreadsalot on TikTok 
Monday, March 6th: @notinjersey – REVIEW
Monday, March 6th: @storytimewithshelbs on TikTok 
Wednesday, March 8th: @subakka.bookstuff – REVIEW
Wednesday, March 8th: @lindahamiltonwriter on TikTok – REVIEW
Thursday, March 9th: Run Wright and @karen_runwrightreads – REVIEW
Thursday, March 9th: @bookdragon217 – REVIEW
Friday, March 10th: 5 Minutes for Books – REVIEW
Friday, March 10th: Kahakai Kitchen – REVIEW
Monday, March 13 th: Helen’s Book Blog – REVIEW
Tuesday, March 14th: Books Cooks Looks – REVIEW
Wednesday, March 15th: @rachellelovesbooks – REVIEW

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of Cinderella and the Duke by Lydia Drake, Served with Recipes for Two Sweet & Tart Lemon "Puddings"

I'm excited to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for Cinderella and the Duke by Lydia Drake. Accompanying my review of this Regency romance are links to two sweet and tart lemon desserts. 

Publisher's Blurb:

Miss Julia Beaumont has exactly one night to find herself a husband…

The Weatherford Ball is the last chance Julia Beaumont has to escape the clutches of her horrid stepmother. Any potential husband will do–rich, poor, even a reasonably well-groomed walrus. But all of Julia’s matrimonial chances are completely obliterated…thanks to the actions of an infuriating and utterly rakish duke.

Gregory Carter, Duke of Ashworth, would never risk his cherished bachelorhood by flirting with marriage-starved debutantes. But one look at the luscious and refreshingly clever Julia, and he simply can’t resist a stolen kiss–scandal be damned. Then just as things start getting deliciously interesting, the lady flees…leaving only a slipper behind.

And it must have been one dandy of a kiss. Because now Julia has proposed to him. After all, the lady needs a husband, and this roguish duke will certainly do. It’s simply a matter of making him the perfect scandalous offer…

Publisher: Entangled: Amara (December 27, 2022)

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages

My Review:

Cinderella and the Duke was a cute Regency romance and fairytale retelling but I feel slightly mislead. I signed up for the book tour after reading a description that said, "The clock strikes midnight with Lydia Drake's sparkling new Regency series that blends Pride and Prejudice and Cinderella in one romantic romp." So, as I am reading through the book, I can't figure out how this story has Pride and Prejudice in its blend components and I go back to Amazon, and there is NOTHING there that mentions P&P. I start thinking maybe I was crazy (always a possibility) and then I finally find the blurb on the book description on Litsy. Anyway, I might not have signed up if I had known it was only a Cinderella-ish story (there's an evil stepmother and a left-behind shoe), but the book was engaging enough and the heroine charming enough that I enjoyed it. It's a debut for author Lydia Drake and I liked the humor, especially the wit and banter back and forth between Julia and Gregory. As often in romance and historical romance, there are misunderstandings that could have easily been cleared up with some communication and a few plot points that seemed a bit forced but overall, if you like Regency romances with a fair about of spice and fairytale vibes, you should enjoy it. 

-----

Author Notes: Lydia Drake is a reader of all things romance and a drinker of all the tea. A New Jersey resident, her favorite activities include taking the train to New York City, scouring used bookstores, spending time with her family, and wrangling her hyperactive cockapoo puppy. She loves talking romance with her fans.

Connect with Lydia on Instagram: @the_lydia_drake

-----

For food inspiration, there's not a lot--mainly tea and pastries, picnics and pastries, and a bowl of stew and a beer at an inn. For an old-fashioned-ish English dessert, I would recommend either one of the lemon desserts below from Nigel Slater.  The combination of tart and sweet reminds me of the personality of the main character too!

A lemon posset for raspberries, mulberries, and the like From Ripe by Nigel Slater

Lemoncello Syllabub, also by Nigel Slater

Note: A review copy of "Cinderella and the Duke" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and learn what other reviewers thought about the book below.

Book Tour Review Stops:

Monday, January 2nd: Laura’s Reviews  and @laurasreviews_1

Monday, January 2nd: Romantic Reads and Such

Wednesday, January 4th: @daniereads87

Thursday, January 5th: @ladywithaquill

Thursday, January 5th: Books, Cooks, Looks

Friday, January 6th: @sarahs.bookstack

Monday, January 9th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, January 11th: @infinite.readlist

Wednesday, January 11th: @plottrysts

Wednesday, January 11th: Becky on Books

Thursday, January 12th: Kahakai Kitchen

Friday, January 13th: Stranded in Chaos

Tuesday, January 17th: @1bookmore and One Book More 

Tuesday, January 17th: Jathan & Heather

Wednesday, January 18th: @temmathomas

Thursday, January 19th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Friday, January 20th: @sarahs.bookish.reviews 

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "On a Night like This" by Lindsey Kelk, Paired with Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Happy Aloha Friday! I am very excited to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for On a Night Like This, a new rom-com novel by Lindsay Kelk. Accompanying my review is a suggested recipe pairing, fudgy and delectable frosted brownies. 

Publisher's Blurb:

Within days of wishing she could change her life, Fran Cooper is acting assistant to a celebrity, on a yacht in the Mediterranean, and en route to a tiny Italian island and the glittering Crystal Ball, along with the world’s rich and famous.

When she – quite literally – bumps into a handsome American called Evan, a man able to keep his cool in the face of chaos, the magic really begins.

Evan makes her a promise: no last names, no life stories, just one unforgettable night. Yet Evan belongs at the Crystal Ball and Fran is a gatecrasher. They may be soulmates, but their homes are an ocean apart, and their lives a world apart. They’ll never meet again – unless, on a night like this, everything can change forever…

Publisher: HarperCollins (January 18, 2022)

Paperback: 352 pages

My Review:

Sometimes I need a good frothy feel good book, not at all taxing and with a sense of humor and fun. On a Night Like This was just that--a rom-com in book form, and just what I needed for the February blues. Fran Cooper is feeling stuck in her life in a small English town, engaged but not happily, and looking for a job that doesn't involve being a teacher which is the plan her fiancé's family is pushing her towards. A temporary opportunity to do was she does best, be a personal assistant, pops up and she is soon on a yacht headed to the social event of the year, while babysitting a mega-famous singer. Of course things begin to go very off course and soon Fran is crashing the Crystal Ball and runs into Evan, the handsome stranger she had a "meet cute" with earlier in the day. Although they come from different worlds, they decide to hang out for just one magical night...

I really enjoyed this book, it's predictable sure (think Cinderella without the stepmother and stepsisters), but it was a lot of fun, sweet and cute and I enjoyed Fran and watching her finally begin to come into her own. Evan is fairly swoon-worthy and although the romance is a bit insta-lust/love, it works. There is enough snark in Fran, her friend Jess to make me laugh out loud several times and keep a smile on my face. If you are looking for = good winter escape feel-good romance, On a Night Like This is a great pick!  

-----

Author Notes: Lindsey Kelk is a writer and children’s book editor. When she isn’t writing, reading, listening to music, or watching more TV than is healthy, Lindsey likes to wear shoes, shop for shoes, and judge the shoes of others. Born in England, Lindsey loves living in New York but misses Sherbet Fountains, London, and drinking gin and elderflower cocktails with her friends. Not necessarily in that order.

Find out more about Lindsey at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-----

Food Inspiration: 

There was quite a lot of food in On a Night Like This from British snack foods to pepperoni pizza. Mentions included muffins, coffee, custard pudding, banana bread, a ham sandwich, Hobnobs, Terry's Chocolate Oranges, pasties, tea sandwiches, scones, chicken and spicy rice, tropical fruit, a giant freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie, Percy Pigs, McCain oven chips and a Findus crispy pancake, Toblerone, assorted cocktails, orange San Pellegrino, cheesecake, cheese, sandwiches, sliders, macarons, chocolate brownies, tea, a bag of Quavers, and Bailey's. 

If I were picking something to represent the book in food, I'd go with something chocolate, like a delicious brownie. Nothing comforts and soothes like chocolate and this recipe for Chocolate Fudge Brownies with The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from the Joy the Baker Cookbook are still one of my favorites. The Ovaltine powder in the frosting is addicting and definitely moreish. And if you want to enjoy it with a cup of coffee laced with Bailey's, well I won't tell anyone. ;-)

Note: A review copy of "On a Night Like This" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

   

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Midnight in Everwood" by M.A. Kuzniar, Served with Three Chocolate Recipes

Happy Aloha Friday! I am happy to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar, a reimagining of the story of The Nutcracker.  Along with my review, I have paired it with three favorite chocolate recipes that fit the vibe of this book. 

Publisher's Blurb:

The Nutcracker for adults, perfect for fans of Robert Dinsdale’s The Toymakers, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and Stephanie Garber’s Caraval. 

’It was a rainy day that the magic came, and once magic has entered your life, you stay in its glittering clutch forever’

Nottingham, 1906

Marietta Stelle longs to be a ballerina but as Christmas draws nearer, her dancing days are numbered. At the wishes of her family, she will be obligated to marry and take up her place in society in the New Year. But when a mysterious toymaker, Dr Drosselmeier, purchases a neighbouring townhouse, it heralds the arrival of magic and wonder in her life. Although Drosselmeier’s magic is darker than Marietta could have imagined…

When he constructs an elaborate theatrical set for her final ballet performance, Marietta discovers it carries a magic all of its own. As the clock chimes midnight, Marietta finds herself walking through a land of snow-topped fir trees leading to a frozen sugar palace silent with secrets and must find a way to return home.

In the darkness of night, magic awaits and you will never forget what you find here…

Publisher: HQ (January 25, 2022)

Hardcover: 384 pages

My Review:

I am a fan of fairytale and classic retellings and reimaginings, especially when they are given a spark of new life and changed enough not to be just a rehash of the original story and Midnight in Everwood fits this description. I am a little sad I didn't get to read it closer to Christmas, given it's setting and timing of the Christmas holidays, but it works well as a wintery book. Although you will find elements to the original Nutcracker story, in Kuzniar's world, the action focuses on 21-year-old Marietta Stelle, who has a passion for ballet but whose place is her upper class society must be upheld by leaving her lessons and dreams pf performing and marrying well. There is a Drosselmeier, a doctor of some sort who is now a rich and mysterious toymaker and neighbor, and Marietta's parents would like nothing more than for her to marry him. Dr. Drosselmeier, is in agreement, darkly obsessed with Marietta who is troubled by his attentions, and afraid of the glimpses she gets of his magic. When he offers to construct a stage for her final dance performance of Sleeping Beauty, Marietta, trying to escape his clutches, ends up transported to a magical land where nothing is as it seems and escaping the castle outside Everwood seems impossible.

The setting of Everwood and the castle will make your mouth water--particularly if you crave sweets, but those delicious treats--rich and heavenly drinking chocolate, peppermint scented bathing pools, buttercream balls with costumed dancers and delicate and intricate pastries, made to please the King, do not come without a price. I did enjoy the magical setting of the book which is both beautiful and foreboding as the prison and the forrest surrounding it seem impenetrable and have a gothic feel to them. 

The book is tagged as adult and historical fiction and fantasy and I would say that it is new adult, or even young adult for a more mature teen. There is mention of violence to women, misogyny, and a mild sex scene but nothing graphic. It has romance definitely, and it's a good one, but the strongest relationships in it are between Marietta and her beloved older brother, Frederick, who must hide his homosexuality from his parents and society, and especially with the two women from other worlds who she meets while being held captive at the castle. It also is a coming of age story for Marietta, who grows from a willful and sheltered girl to a brave and strong woman. There are strong messages for female empowerment and following your dreams. 

If you like fantasy, magic, suspense, fairytales, ballet and confection, but told with a darker, edge, Midnight in Everwood is a wonderful book to curl up with and escape. I very much enjoyed it! 

-----

Author Notes: Maria Kuzniar spent six years living in Spain, teaching English and travelling the world which inspired her children’s series The Ship of Shadows. Her adult debut novel Midnight in Everwood was inspired by her love of ballet and love of The Nutcracker. She lives in Nottingham with her husband, where she reads and writes as much as can. 

You can learn more about Maria on her website and Instagram.

-----

Food Inspiration: 

Midnight in Everwood is full of wonderful food and confections with detailed descriptions of goblets of molten chocolate, fairy cakes, petits fours topped with swirls of buttercream, buttery crisp pastries with a river of salted caramel sauce melting over your tongue, a white chocolate and snowberry cake, sweet and light and tasting of Christmas morning, chocolate mice with cherries for noses, a bathing pool with large toffee-scented bubbles, and many more.

I suggest pairing it with some decadent truffles and/or good drinking chocolate like these:

Easy French Hot Chocolate by Chocolate & Zucchini 

Nigella's Hot Chocolate with Rum

My own Dark Chocolate Hearts with Fresh Raspberries

Note: A review copy of "Midnight in Everwood" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Deer Season" by Erin Flanagan, Served with Fudgy Frosted Brownies

Happy Aloha Friday! I am excited to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for Deer Season by Erin Flanagan. Accompanying my review is a recipe for Fudgy Frosted Brownies. 

Publisher's Blurb:

It’s the opening weekend of deer season in Gunthrum, Nebraska, in 1985, and Alma Costagan’s intellectually disabled farmhand, Hal Bullard, has gone hunting with some of the locals, leaving her in a huff. That same weekend, a teenage girl goes missing, and Hal returns with a flimsy story about the blood in his truck and a dent near the headlight. When the situation escalates from that of a missing girl to something more sinister, Alma and her husband are forced to confront what Hal might be capable of, as rumors fly and townspeople see Hal’s violent past in a new light.

A drama about the complicated relationships connecting the residents of a small-town farming community, Deer Season explores troubling questions about how far people will go to safeguard the ones they love and what it means to be a family.

Publisher: NEBRASKA (September 1, 2021)

Paperback: 320 pages

My Review:

Deer Season quietly crept up on me and I found myself engaged from beginning to end in this literary mystery set in a small Nebraska community in the 1980s. Character driven with characters, who while not always likable, feel real and will stay with me. Clyle and Alma Costagan are childless, and have become family for Hal, their intellectually challenged farmhand and they look out for him, even as he is approaching 30. They aren't happy when he goes on a deer hunting trip with a couple of locals and when he comes back early saying he shot a deer, and with a dented truck with bloodstains, they think the hardest thing to do will be to smooth over the issues with his hunting permit and help him clean up. Unfortunately a teenage girl, Peggy Ahern, is missing and soon the community is suspicious of Hal, and Alma and Clyle do their best to defend him while having their own thoughts and worries about what Hal is capable of. 

The story is told by partially by Alma, a hard woman to like and considered by most to be an outsider since Clyle brought her back from the city when his mother died. The other chapters are told by Milo Ahern, Peggy's 12-year-old brother, wise beyond his years, and my favorite character in the book. I enjoyed the 1985 Nebraska setting and the cast of small town characters that make up Gunthrum. The mystery is solid and slow and steady tension is built to the end, but it is the relationships and the the meaning of family and loyalty that are the standouts. One of my favorites for the year so far, Erin Flanagan is a talent, and I'm going to look up her short story collections to read more from her. 

-----

Author Notes: Erin Flanagan is a professor at Wright State University. She is the author of two short story collections, The Usual Mistakes (Nebraska, 2005) and It’s Not Going to Kill You, and Other Stories (Bison Books, 2013).

You can Connect with Erin on her website or Twitter. 

-----

Food Inspiration:

I am a little bummed because there is plenty of food in Deer Season and I highlighted it in my Kindle e-book copy but then it reset and I lost all my notes. :-( Very sad! From memory, mentions included coffee, peanut butter toast, ham and eggs, pancakes, spaghetti, poached eggs, sausage, Oreos, potato salad, sugar cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, venison, cinnamon rolls, lasagna, fish sticks, meatloaf, baked pork chops, macaroni and cheese, potatoes, salad with Dorothy Lynch (a brand of salad dressing), Runzas (a pocket sandwich) and crinkle cut fries, venison and beer. I am sure there was more but that's a least a sample. 

For my bookish dish I decided to go with brownies. There's a mention in the book about Peggy, the missing girl, would sneak into the pan of brownies and cut a quarter of an inch off from the cuts already made and keep doing it over and over, thinking no one would notice but her mother did. Mainly, I was craving chocolate and brownies! ;-) I don't make brownies (or even bake) very often but when I do, I like this recipe from the Joy the Baker Cookbook that I first made years ago for a cookbook spotlight event. 

Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Frosting
Adapted from Joy The Baker Cookbook
(Makes one 8-inch (or one 11-x-7) pan)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350F. Grease and flour an 8-inch-square baking dish and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. In a medium, heatproof bowl, add butter and unsweetened chocolate. Place the bowl over, but not touching, the simmering water and allow to melt. Stir to incorporate. Once melted, remove the bowl from the simmering pot. Whisk in brown and granulated sugars. Whisk in eggs, yolk, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, all at once, to the chocolate mixture. Fold together with a spatula until well incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the brownie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting.

Frost when cooled. Brownies last, well wrapped, at room temp for up to 5 days.

Note: Joy the Baker has an amazing buttercream frosting (here) that I would have made but it calls for Ovaltine in it which neither I or my store had. I looked online and ended up with this recipe from TaraTeaspoon.com (here) that I think is both easy and delicious. You could also leave these fudgy brownies unfrosted, but why not just go all the way?! ;-)

Notes/Results: These brownies are so chocolatey and fudgy and I love a fudgy brownie! With the layer of frosting they are especially decadent and I am going to need to give them away because I have already eaten two since this afternoon. I put them in the freezer, both because I like slightly frozen brownies, and also to get them out of my sight. Although Joy the Baker's frosting is suburb, I would happily make these brownies and this brownie frosting again. 

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event  being hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's a link to this week's post. 

Note: A review copy of Deer Season was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.    

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.