Excerpt & Recipe from How To Bake A Chocolate Soufflé by Carly Ellen Kramer

23269278How To Bake A Chocolate Soufflé
(Cherry Harbor, #1)
By: Carly Ellen Kramer
Publisher: Self-Published
Published: Sept. 23, 2014
Genre: Fiction

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Forget what your English professor told you – life stories are not written in college.

Madeleine LaBlange, Annie Anderson, and Audrey Navarro shared formative years as roommates at Chicago’s Catholic haven for women, the historic Abbott College. If only they could have predicted the collisions between their carefully crafted life plans and the realities they discover beyond campus…

Madeleine harbors dreams of becoming a concert pianist while Dr. Reynold Fenwick, her mercurial graduate school mentor, harbors fantasies of Madeleine. Will pursuing her dreams be worth the cost? Will an evening in Budapest change her life forever?

Annie plans to build a perfect family with her perfect husband in the cutthroat news media industry, until an abrupt tragedy shakes the foundations of her marriage. What happens when she feels pulled between the two men she loves most, her husband and her father?

Audrey leaves her religious, restrictive parents behind and aims for Chicago’s downtown skyline, dating recklessly and staring down each grueling workday one Chicago Dog at a time. Will an island respite lure her away from her corporate future? When she finds herself in the arms of an unexpected lover, will she have the courage to stand up for her own evolving sense of self?

Follow the journeys of these remarkable women, and cheer them on as they navigate life, love, and chocolate soufflé.

Includes over a dozen decadent new recipes from Crowded Earth Kitchen!

Excerpt

Warm ambiance and decadent aromas greeted the well-dressed pair immediately upon their arrival at Első Pesti Rétesház. Madeleine and Fenwick were ushered graciously into what appeared to be the well-appointed dining room of a large private home. The plaster walls were painted a warm gold color and were accented with gilded mirrors, while the small antique wood tables were set with embroidered ivory linens.“Valami inni?” Their waiter inquired. Madeleine looked at Fenwick, who mimed the question by lifting his water glass.“Mineral water, please.”“Yes,” replied the waiter, indicating that he followed her English.

“Arran tokaji and water,” Fenwick requested. He knew Madeleine was performing again tomorrow and understood her abstinence, but wagered he would be better company with a drink in hand than without. The waiter nodded and disappeared.

“What do you recommend?” Madeleine asked, glancing at a menu she couldn’t read. It was a practical question, given the circumstances, but also a comfortable topic of conversation.

“I haven’t tried anything here that was not to my liking, but the spicy chicken strudel with paprika cream sauce is one of my favorite starters.”

“When in Rome,” Madeleine laughed.

 

Spicy Chicken Strudel with Paprika Cream Sauce

Chicken

Dough:

  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons water
  1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, paprika, and sugar in a large bowl.
  2. Add beaten eggs, olive oil, and water.
  3. Knead well (add another tablespoon of water if necessary) and let rest under a clean cloth for 1 hour.

 

Filling:

  • ½ diced onion
  • 1 teaspoon diced Hungarian hot wax pepper (more or less to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken.
  1. In a pan over medium heat sauté onion, Hungarian hot wax pepper, and paprika in the olive oil until the onion is translucent. Remove from heat.
  2. Stir in sour cream and chicken.

 

Assembly:

  1. Preheat oven to 350° f.
  2. On a lightly oiled surface, roll dough into rectangle, approximately 14 x 8 inches.
  3. At 1 inch intervals along the long sides, make cuts two inches in toward the center of the rectangle. Place filling in a long, narrow stripe down the center of the dough. Lift cut edges on either side toward each other, working end to end, twist together, and lay flat. chicken1
  4. Your completed strudel will have a braided appearance. Sprinkle with paprika.
    chicken2
  5. Bake on a parchment lined pan for 15–20 minutes, or until crust is golden. Slice and serve warm with sour cream.

 

 

author

Carly Ellen is a food traveler and writer who loves incorporating delicious recipes into her stories. She has a minor obsession with French boulangeries, and is sublimely happy with a fresh baguette and cup of espresso in any European cobblestoned square.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

 

4 Thoughts on “Excerpt & Recipe from How To Bake A Chocolate Soufflé by Carly Ellen Kramer

  1. Ooo that sounds yum! I don’t have the patience to bake that though. I just finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir and I think I can manage his recipe for Nothing Tea – You get some hot water, then you add nothing.

  2. I don’t eat meat but oh that looks yummy. I bet I could make a veggie version of that pretty easily. Hmmms! Thanks ladies!

  3. Loved your interview on Net Galley. Keep up the good work.

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