Homemade Chocolate Pudding with Meringue

This was my favorite dessert when I was growing up. Mom made it often because, living on a farm, she always had everything on hand to make it.

Ingredients:

Thickened Pudding

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

3 eggs, divided

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

After Baking Meringue

In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, cocoa, flour and salt until well blended. Divide eggs, reserving whites for meringue. Whisk egg yolks into milk. Add milk and egg mixture to dry ingredients and whisk to blend and remove all lumps. Place saucepan on stove top with medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly as mixture thickens. When thick enough to coat a spoon, remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter and stir to blend. Pour into casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes, or until pudding has set.

Remove from oven and top with meringue. Return to oven and bake 10 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown. May be served warm or chilled. Serves 4 - 6.

Notes:

Ready to Serve

The recipe can be doubled or tripled with good results.
If you skip the meringue, don’t add egg whites to pudding. They cause a grainy texture.

The best utensil for stirring the pudding is an egg turner with a flat edge that scrapes the bottom of the saucepan.

Watch the pudding carefully. “Stir constantly” means just that! 

If don't care for meringue, use butter to dot the top of the pudding before baking so it becomes a melted butter sauce. Whipped topping or ice cream may also be substituted for the meringue.

Meringue

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

½ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
6 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Place egg whites in mixing bowl of electric mix at high speed, and beat until stiff peaks form. Mix sugar with cream of tartar, and add to beaten egg whites, one spoonful at the time on medium speed. Beat at high speed until sugar dissolves. Spread over the top of the pudding or pie. Bake at 400°F for ten minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Notes:

Room temperature eggs whites will beat up into thicker, taller meringue.

If you don’t have cream of tartar, you can make meringue without it. The cream of tartar only stiffens the whites.

The secret to great meringue is to beat the whites until they form extremely stiff peaks, and only then add sugar.

You can make a meringue of any size by using a ratio of 2 tablespoons of sugar per egg white.

To test whether sugar has dissolved, rub a small amount between thumb and forefinger. If you feel sugar grains mix a bit longer.

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Since publishing her first book at age 27, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Blake has gone on to write over 65 historical and contemporary novels in multiple genres. She brings the story-telling power and seductive passion of the South to her stories, reflecting her 8th-generation Louisiana heritage. Jennifer lives with her husband in northern Louisiana.

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Southern Pecan Pie

Pecan pie (pronounced “puh-khan” where I live) is a holiday tradition in the South. I make two of these incredibly rich, wonderfully tasty desserts for Thanksgiving every year, plus two for Christmas—one is never enough! Vintage recipes for these pies were concocted to use the pecans native to the lower U.S., also the sugar cane syrup, butter and eggs plentiful in rural areas. My version came from my mom, who found it on a dark Karo corn syrup bottle in the Fifties, but has been adapted to my family’s taste.

Pecan Pie with Fluted Crust

Homemade pie crust is always better, but if pressed for time, I put a fluted edge on a crust from the diary case. Few notice the difference – or are too polite to mention it! I’m including my crust recipe in case you want to experiment. Whatever you do, enjoy!

Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

4 large eggs, whisked

4 tablespoons butter, melted

¾ cup sugar

1 cup dark Karo corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, salt, syrup, vanilla and butter. Add whisked eggs and mix well. Add pecans. Pour into unbaked pie shell.

Bake in center of oven for 60 – 70 minutes, until pie crust edges are brown and pecan filling is firm in the middle.

Notes:

Oven temperatures vary. If the crust appears to be browning too fast, cover the edges with aluminum foil.

Pie filling will deflate as it cools, forming a flat, candy-like crust on top on the pie.

Cane syrup may be substituted for the dark Karo corn syrup.

Real butter and real vanilla make the best pie.

Pecans may be left whole, broken, chopped or ground fine, as desired.

Pie Crust

Ingredients:

½ cup shortening’

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons ice water

Directions:

Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl. Add shortening and cut into flour with a pastry blender. Add ice water, and mix lightly until it forms a dough ball. Roll out on a floured surface to approximately 1 ½ inches larger than your pie plate. Place in the plate. Trim away excess dough and crimp the edge with a fork, or leave the excess dough and create a fluted edge.  

To make a fluted pie crust edge: Roll out the pie crust dough to form a circle approximately 1 ½ inches larger than your pie plate. Place the uncooked crust into the plate with excess draped over the rim. Lightly press the crust into the plate so it takes the plate form and there are no air pockets under it. Fold the excess crust under all the way around the pie plate rim to form a small ridge. Place the side of your index finger on the crust ridge at an angle and gently pinch the dough ridge with your thumb. Place thumb in the indentation just made, press down with your index finger at an angle as before, and pinch with your thumb again. Continue around the crust in this manner until you reach your starting point. The placement of your index finger doesn't matter as long as it’s held at approximately the same angle each time you press down. Practice makes this a fast and easy embellishment.

Notes:

For a flakier crust, place bowl with flour, salt and cut-in shortening in the freezer overnight.

Overworking the dough will toughen it; handle as little as possible.

For more varieties of pecan pies, also different pie crust edgings, see my Pinterest Board, “For Love of Pie”: http://pinterest.com/jblakeauthor/for-love-of-pie/

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Since publishing her first book at age 27, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Blake has gone on to write over 65 historical and contemporary novels in multiple genres. She brings the story-telling power and seductive passion of the South to her stories, reflecting her 8th-generation Louisiana heritage. Jennifer lives with her husband in northern Louisiana.

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Jennifer's Holiday Cookies

There’s something about this time of the year, isn't there? Like bears preparing for the long winter ahead, we begin to crave high-calorie food -- not to mention it being a major holiday tradition. The urge to bake strikes me at this season, with some of my favorite things being homemade bread, pecan and sweet potato pies, chocolate pudding and cookies that include nuts.

Mexican Wedding Cookies are special treats made with walnuts that are scrumptious with hot tea, cocoa, coffee or a cold glass of milk. Also known as Russian Tea Cakes, they're easy to put together, so let’s get started.

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

2 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cardamom (optional)

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup powdered sugar for final dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Sift together flour, 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar, salt and cardamom. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture a little at the time, to form a soft dough. Add chopped nuts and mix until just blended. Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, form into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Do not compress.

Bake 12 minutes. Let cool. Place remaining 1/3 powdered sugar in a small bowl and roll each cookie in it.

Makes two dozen cookies.

Notes:

Pecans, almonds or hazelnuts may be substituted for the walnuts.

For best results, do not substitute margarine for the butter.

Rolling the cookies before they cool will cause the powdered sugar to melt.

Additional cookies recipes can be found at: http://www.allrecipes.com

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Since publishing her first book at age 27, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Blake has gone on to write over 65 historical and contemporary novels in multiple genres. She brings the story-telling power and seductive passion of the South to her stories, reflecting her 8th-generation Louisiana heritage. Jennifer lives with her husband in northern Louisiana.

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Special 99¢ Boxed Set Sale - The Love & Adventure Collection: Part 1

That's right - 2 classic historical romances by Jennifer Blake for just 99¢! What better way to relax after a long day of cyber-shopping? This is a limited-time special.

 LOVE AND ADVENTURE COLLECTION BOX SET: PART 1
 

99¢ 

Kindle version only available for now - we'll be publishing Jennifer's backlist at special pricing to other online bookstores beginning Spring 2013. 

THE STORM AND THE SPLENDOR
Julia, involved in a dangerous international plot, becomes a sea captain's reluctant bride. When a violent storm flings them into the decadent splendor of a Turkish court, will they trust to love...or die in each other's arms?

LOVE'S WILD DESIRE 
Catherine, tricked into attending an infamous quadroon ball, masks her identity until it's too late. Forced to wed the handsome planter who compromises her, she seeks a place in his life. But the madman stalking her will not rest until she pays the price for...Love's Wild Desire.

And if you missed the days earlier this week when Part 2 was offered free, you can still pick up the digital boxed set of 3 books at a special price of just $2.99 for a limited time.

 LOVE AND ADVENTURE COLLECTION BOX SET: PART 2
 

$2.99

(Please note, these novels were first published in the 1980s when forced seduction in romance was not the hot-button issue it is today. If these types of scenes offend you, please consider other works by Jennifer instead.)

Blockade runners, soldiers and gamblers: Men of adventure who live hard and love harder, yet still crave the one thing these determined heroines have left to give. Three complete bestselling novels by one of the genre's true greats.

SURRENDER IN MOONLIGHT
Despair sends Lorna into the arms of a daring blockade runner in a deserted house, while Ramon's caresses are driven by retribution. Forced together during a harrowing flight from war-torn Louisiana, they discover the heart's-ease of passion - but can they escape the danger that awaits them on the high seas?

NOTORIOUS ANGEL
Eleanora is a respectable lady, widow of a Spanish grandee, former angel of mercy to the wounded in war-ravaged Central America - and keeper of a precious secret. She was also once the mistress of Colonel Grant Farrell. And the hardened soldier is coming for her....

GOLDEN FANCY
Serena never planned to wind up a gambler's woman and the toast of a gold rush town. Ward is beguiled by her innocence, but too scarred by the past to offer more than protection. Will their fragile bond survive as murder and madness close in around them?

 

Louisiana History Collection: Reading Order

Look below for huge discounts on SEDUCED BY GRACE in both print and ebook versions, news about THE TUSCAN'S REVENGE WEDDING, and a sneak peek at the boxed sets soon to be available for many of the titles Jennifer mentions in today's post!

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Are you a history buff or a person who prefers to read series books in order? Many people are both, including me! My Louisiana History Collection from Steel Magnolia Press isn’t exactly a series, as there are no character connections between the stories, but they do have a chronological order according to their historical events. For those who might want to read them that way, here is the list:

FIERCE EDEN - circa 1730, uprising of the Natchez Indians at Fort Rosalie
LOUISIANA DAWN - 1740s, early colonial period under the French
EMBRACE AND CONQUER - mid 1750s, transfer from France to Spain
SPANISH SERENADE - 1788, great fire that almost destroyed New Orleans
PERFUME OF PARADISE - 1803, transfer to the U.S. via the Louisiana Purchase
PRISONER OF DESIRE - 1858, political upheaval and the beginning of Mardi Gras
SOUTHERN RAPTURE - 1870s, Reconstruction period in Louisiana

Louisiana Dawn,
map of the state
 superimposed over
the image

In addition, SURRENDER IN MOONLIGHT describes the fall of New Orleans during the Civil War. Though the book starts in Louisiana at that time, its main setting is Nassau, Bahamas, center of blockade-running. For that reason, it was included in the Love and Adventure Collection, which will be releasing later this month.

The books of the Louisiana Plantation Collection deal with other aspects of Louisiana history during the antebellum period. MIDNIGHT WALTZ, for instance, gives the duties of the mistress of a plantation, plus details of the destructive hurricane that killed many wealthy planters at their summer homes on Isle Derniere in 1856. These stories have no particular reading order.

Finally, my 6-book Masters at Arms series illustrates social life in New Orleans in the 1850s as filtered through experiences with the dangerous sword masters, or fencing instructors, who taught men self-protection during this era of dueling. The books are available on Amazon from Mira Books. Their titles in order are:

CHALLENGE TO HONOR

DAWN ENCOUNTER

ROGUE’S SALUTE

GUARDED HEART

GALLANT MATCH

TRIUMPH IN ARMS

- Jennifer 

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 Kindle versions of The Louisiana History Collection, The Louisiana Plantation Collection and The Love and Adventure Collection titles can be found on these Steel Magnolia Press display pages right in the Amazon store.

  The Kindle versions of the Masters at Arms Series titles can all be found on this Amazon display page.

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SEDUCED BY GRACE, the second book in Jennifer's Three Graces Series - which can be read as a stand-alone - is now just $1.24 for the Kindle version, and $1.30 for the mass market paperback (plus being eligible for free shipping with a minimum purchase and for the 4-for-3 promo). How long will this sale last? We don't know! Mira is running the discount and we haven't seen their end date.

Kindle Version  |  Paperback Version

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Thank you to everyone who downloaded a copy of THE TUSCAN'S REVENGE WEDDING when it was free or purchased a copy at its introductory price of just 99c. We gave away over 47,000 copies, and have sold over 10,000 in less than 3 weeks. TUSCAN was in the overall Top 100 in the Amazon store for 2 full weeks, and is still in the Top 150 today! Kindle Version

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And finally, here's a sneak peek at the boxed collections mentioned in Jennifer's post that will be available -- along with several more boxed sets! -- on November 21.

Regular prices for each boxed set are listed below, but be watching here and in our newsletter for special promotions throughout the upcoming holiday season!

Louisiana History Collection: Part 1 - Reg. Price $7.95
Louisiana History Collection: Part 2 - Reg. Price $9.95
Louisiana Plantation Collection - Reg. Price $9.95
Love and Adventure Collection - Part 1 - Reg. Price 5.95
Love and Adventure Collection - Part 2 - Reg. Price 7.95

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Since publishing her first book at age 27, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Blake has gone on to write over 65 historical and contemporary novels in multiple genres. She brings the story-telling power and seductive passion of the South to her stories, reflecting her 8th-generation Louisiana heritage. Jennifer lives with her husband in northern Louisiana.

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