Recipe - Bev’s Raspberry-Gin Chocolate Truffles from Caroline Roberts - Blog Tour - Bookish World Cup - England

Today I am bringing you a recipe from Bev, Emma's friend and assistant in The Cosy Seaside Chocolate Shop. They sound delicious and my review for this fabulous book is up on 10th August, so try to remember to come back for that too! 

Bev’s Raspberry-Gin Chocolate Truffles

 (Makes approx. 24)

Ingredients:

125ml double cream *

250g of good quality (at least 70%) dark chocolate, finely chopped

2 tablespoons raspberry gin (or why not try sloe gin, elderflower gin – whatever takes your fancy!)

125g dark, milk or white chocolate to decorate

Method:

1. Bring the cream just to the boil in a small pan. Remove from heat and stir in the dark chocolate until melted.

2. Stir in the gin. Pour into a bowl and chill until firm (in a fridge for around 4 hours).

3. Scoop out a teaspoon of mixture, roll into a ball with your hands – this is the messy bit! – and place onto greaseproof paper. Repeat.

4. Melt your preferred decorating chocolate gently in a bowl over hot water (white or dark – both work really well).

5. Using a fork or cocktail sticks dip the truffle balls into the melted chocolate to coat all over. Transfer to greaseproof paper to set.

*As these truffles are made with cream, store in a fridge and eat within one week.

Perfect served with prosecco and friends!

Amazon UK

When Emma opened her gorgeous little chocolate shop in the harbour village of Warkton-by-the-Sea, she realised a lifelong dream. Love is also blossoming with her hunky beau, Max, who’s slowly healing her fragile heart.

Summer is here and life has never felt so sweet. Until the rainclouds start to gather…

A rival sweet shop and killjoy landlord give Emma a headache, and when a face from the past turns up unannounced, Emma finds herself spiralling down memory lane. With Max’s crazy work schedule driving him to distraction, Emma’s in danger of making some choices she might regret . . .

With close friends, spaniel Alfie, and the whole village behind her, can Emma get the chocolate shop and her love life back on track?

Only time will tell in this deliciously romantic novel of love, loss, hope and second chances.

And for more chocolate shop goodies, please do follow along with the rest of this blog tour.  I am very curious to see just how much chocolate is involved!

Guest Post - Caroline Roberts talks about her new release The Cosy Christmas Teashop

Hi Rachel,

Thank you so much for hosting me on your fabulous Rachel’s Random Reads! Today is rather special as there is only one day to go to the publication of The Cosy Christmas Teashop (e-book available on the 14th October) - so it’s feeling rather like Christmas Eve to me.

I’m really excited about this book release. I loved writing Ellie and Joe’s story in The Cosy Teashop in the Castle, and it’s been lovely to revisit them and Claverham Castle for this sequel. I loved the setting so much and could just picture it being even more magical in the Winter time, and it has been great to meet up again with the characters from the original book; it felt like going to visit old friends. In the Cosy Christmas book, Ellie and Joe have now been married three years, and have new trials and tribulations to face, as well as lots of fun, love and laughter. I won’t say too much about the plot, I’ll let you find out the storyline for yourselves, but it should make you laugh, smile and occasionally bring a tear to your eye.

Being set in the quaint Castle Teashop, as well as there being some fabulous wedding events featured too, there was lots of room for festive cakes and bakes in this book. I had a ball thinking up mouth-watering ideas, from rainbow-layered Wedding cakes to mint-choc brownies, gingerbread stars, mince pies, crumbly shortbread, Christmas cakes, crunchy-chewy meringues, homemade fudge for the Christmas Craft Fayre, and much more. There are also two recipes for readers to find at the back of the book: Ellie’s Snowy Christmas Cupcakes, and Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble (one of my winter favourites, it’s so warming and homely) which both feature in the storyline too.

Here’s an extra recipe for you to try out:

Ellie’s Mini Chocolate-chip Shortbreads:  Makes 12

(Ideal to bag up as Christmas gifts, or to share over a cup of coffee or mugs of warming hot chocolate)

Oven Gas 3 or 170C

150g plain flour
100g butter
50g caster sugar 
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
50g chocolate chips (dark ones are lovely in this!)


Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla essence.
Using a fork gradually stir in flour and a pinch of salt, then add the chocolate chips, and mix to a firm dough with your fingertips.
Roll out (between two sheets of cling film helps!)to a rectangle approx 1cm deep and cut into 4cm squares. Transfer squares to a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
Place on baking tray for 17-20 mins and cook until a pale straw colour. 
Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container (unless they’ve all been eaten!). Delicious!

Thanks for having me here,

Caroline x

You are very welcome Caroline. I really am looking forward to reading The Cosy Christmas Teashop and those short bread look delicious. I hope you have a wonderful publication day tomorrow.

About Caroline Roberts

Caroline Roberts lives in the beautiful Northumberland countryside with her husband. The sandy beaches, castles and rolling hills around her inspire her writing. She enjoys writing about relationships; stories of love, loss, friends and family - stories to make you laugh, smile and sometimes shed a tear or two. A slice of cake, glass of bubbly, and a cup of tea, would make her day – preferably served with friends! She believes in striving for your dreams, which led her to a publishing deal with Harper Collins (yippee!) after many years of writing. The Cosy Christmas Teashop is her third novel.

If you’d like to find out more about Caroline, visit her on Twitter, Facebook and her blog – she’d love to hear from you!

Twitter  @_caroroberts
Facebook  www.facebook.com/CarolineRobertsAuthor
http://carolinerobertswriter.blogspot.co.uk

Amazon link for The Cosy Christmas Teashop  https://t.co/Li4tJNaUNl

Amazon link for The Cosy Teashop in the Castle https://t.co/4oSo0o3EDD

From sleigh bells to wedding bells . . .

After a rocky start, Ellie Hall baked her way into everyone’s hearts at Claverham Castle – even the miserly Lord Henry was won over – and the run-down teashop regained its old sparkle.

Now Ellie has upgraded cupcakes for fairytale masterpieces as the proud caterer for an ever-growing list of weddings at the castle. The teashop team love baking to the tune of happy ever afters, but can they pull together when a certain bridezilla pushes them all to boiling point?

Christmas is just around the corner, and a last minute booking threatens to snow the team under. Ellie and her hunky hubby Joe have their own Christmas dreams to chase, but they’re determined to pull through and give this special couple the winter wonderland wedding they deserve.

Will Christmas at the Cosy Teashop be a showstopper to remember?

Guest Post & Recipe - Daisy James talks about The Runaway Bridesmaid

Have you ever wanted to run away from a situation and never look back? I’m sure most of us have been in that situation when the flight or fight instinct kicks in. But would you run away from your sister’s wedding - when you are holding the bridesmaid’s posy? 

Well, that’s exactly what Rosie Hamilton did. A fancy wedding in Connecticut which she had single-handedly arranged for her beloved, but spoilt little sister, fabulous, floaty dresses and flowers and catering - she left it all behind. After finding Freya in the linen closet with her wedding date, she slings her bouquet out of the window and storms away in her hired red roadster. Enough was enough!

And whilst Rosie adores the vibrant buzz of Manhattan, its vertiginous glass buildings, its quirky, cosmopolitan residents and its awestruck tourists, she needs to get away from the overwhelming sense of loneliness that had infused her bones. So she ditches her Louboutins for Wellies and flies off to London - well, Devon to be precise - where she holes up in her late Aunt Bernice’s thatched cottage hoping that her heartache seeps away.

Rosie doesn’t know what to do with herself in the tiny hamlet of Brampton where there’s only the village shop, the village fête for entertainment. But then she discovers her Aunt’s illustrated recipe journal entitled ‘Bake Yourself Better’. Not only is the diary crammed with beautiful drawings of flowers and herbs, it is also contains recipes to ‘bake yourself better’. 

She decides to take her aunt’s advice. The first recipe Rosie tries just has to be  ‘Strawberry Tarts for Broken Hearts’ where her aunt has recorded:  
  
‘Strawberries are often referred to as the fruit of love. When the strawberries in this recipe are sliced as directed they appear heart-shaped, bursting with sweetness and zinging with a luscious rich red, the colour of love and passion. They are nutrient-rich and packed with healthy antioxidants, especially if grown in your own garden! Some believe they possess healing qualities and can alleviate melancholy. And if that isn’t enough to tempt you, darling Rosie, the strawberry plant is part of the rose family.’

And she sets to, to bake, bake, bake until she’s liberally doused in flour and sugar and exhausted from her culinary exploits.

There are many other recipes to try out on a wet April afternoon - ‘Fig Delights for Passion-filled Nights’ and ‘Sweet Basil Biscuits for New Love Interests’ - all of which Rosie bakes - with varying degrees of success. 

But will Rosie find the solace she craves? Or the love and happiness her aunt has urged her to find? 

All will be revealed in The Runaway Bridesmaid!

Here is a taster for your blog readers

Sweet Basil Biscuits for New Love Interests:

Ingredients:
150g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
150g plain flour, sieved
Large bunch of basil

Instructions
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the ground almonds and mix. Fold in the flour and knead gently. Wash the basil and dry with a paper towel. Remove stalks and chop. Roll the basil into the mixture until it resembles a speckled green sausage 8-10 cm in diameter. Wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for ten minutes whilst you clear up. Cut into biscuits approx. 1 cm think and place on a greased baking tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden (gas mark 6, 200˚C). Cool on a wire rack.

I’d love to hear from readers who’ve tried out any of the recipes in The Runaway Bridesmaid - either via Facebook or Twitter or Instagram - and photos would be a bonus!!!

Here are my links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009889775019
Twitter: https://twitter.com/daisyjamesbooks

Thanks ever so much for having me, Rachel.
Happy Reading Everyone.

Daisy

Thank you very much to Daisy, for that great recipe and in-depth look at The Runaway Bridesmaid. I am already looking forward to reading it.

The Runaway Bridesmaid

Amazon UK

What a girl wants…

Squeezing herself into a frothy, flouncy, bubble-gum pink dress, Rosie Hamilton thinks that being a bridesmaid for her spoilt little sister Freya can’t get any worse.

But discovering her boyfriend in bed with the bride, ten minutes before Freya is due to say ‘I do’, is the icing on the sequinned wedding cake – and Rosie’s cue to pack her bags.

Swapping her Louboutins for Wellingtons, Rosie throws her bridesmaid bouquet in the air and flies from bustling New York to sleepy Devon. Her late Aunt Bernice’s cosy countryside cottage is the only place that’s ever felt like home.


Now, for the first time in her life, and with the help of her beloved Aunt’s diaries, Rosie must put herself first for a change – and decide what she really wants…



About Daisy James

Daisy James is a Yorkshire girl transplanted to the north east of England. She loves writing stories with strong heroines and swift-flowing plotlines. When not scribbling away in her peppermint-and-green summerhouse (garden shed), she spends her time sifting flour and sprinkling sugar and edible glitter. Her husband and young son were willing samplers of her baking creations triple-tested for her debut novel - The Runaway Bridesmaid. She loves gossiping with friends over a glass of something pink and fizzy or indulging in a spot of Afternoon Tea - china plates and teacups are a must.

Daisy would love to hear from readers via her Facebook page or Twitter feed, especially if they have given any of the recipes in her book a whirl - photographs are very much welcome.