Like all writers, I want very much for people to buy my books. I mean, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? But also like most writers, I don’t want to be the one doing the selling. At a bookstore signing or book festival, the understood purpose is to sell books, which puts writers in the uncomfortable position of marketing our own work, something most of us don’t do well.
When you participate in a book group, on the other hand, you skip the commerce and get straight to the art. Instead of having to make like a snake-oil salesman touting your wares, you get to be with readers that have already bought the book and in most cases, read it. The stage is already set for the kind of really interesting discussions that can only happen when everyone is–so to speak–on the same page.
The other thing I love about book clubs is they tend to eat well–the big advantage of participating in person rather than over the phone or on-line. Most of them are as adventurous about food as they are about books, and they love trying recipes that are either specifically mentioned in the book or at least evocative of the story. So in the spirit of book groups everywhere, I offer this recipe from The Laws of Harmony:
Sunny’s Blue Ribbon Blackberry Brownies
¾ cup blackberry purée*
4.5 oz unsweetened chocolate (preferably Scharffenberger)
½ cup (1 stick) butter
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
⅔ cup flour
½ cup toasted chopped hazelnuts(optional)
1 ¼ cups ganâche*
*For blackberry purée:
2 (10-oz) packages frozen, unsweetened blackberries, thawed
2 Tbsp sugar
This can be made the day before and refrigerated.
Place berries and sugar in food processor or food mill and purée until smooth. Press mixture through a sieve with a spatula and set aside. You’ll probably end up with more than a cup of seedless purée, but you can either save the overflow for another use or just drink it straight.
For brownies:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9×9-inch glass baking pan (if you’re using a metal pan, you can set the oven at 350°F) and line with parchment, letting it overhang on two sides. Then grease the parchment. (I know this is asking a lot, but later when you can just lift those gooey little puppies right out of the pan, you’ll be glad you went to the trouble.)
Melt chocolate with butter in the top of a double boiler or the microwave. (If you use the microwave, be sure to stir every 30 seconds or so to avoid burning the chocolate.) When mixture is smooth and warm, not hot, stir in vanilla and set aside.
In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat eggs with salt until foamy. Add white and brown sugars and beat at high speed about five minutes or mixture has doubled in volume. Carefully fold in the chocolate in three additions. Combine until smooth, but try not to deflate the eggs too much. Fold in ½ cup of blackberry purée, then sift flour over batter and combine until smooth. Fold in nuts, if using. Pour into prepared pan and bake on middle rack of oven 25-35 minutes. Do NOT overbake. Center should still be on the gooey side.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. The top will settle a bit. This is a good thing.
For the ganâche:
This can be made the day before and refrigerated or several weeks ahead and frozen.
2 cups heavy cream
1 lb. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (preferably Scharffenberger)
Heat cream in saucepan or microwave to just below the boiling point. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and let sit for about 5 minutes, then gently stir until smooth. (This makes four cups, and you only need 1¼ cups for this recipe. The rest can be frozen to use as a glaze for cookies or cake, a wonderful fudgy sauce for ice cream, or see above for use of excess blackberry purée.)
Measure 1¼ cups ganâche, rewarm it gently and stir in the remaining ¼ cup blackberry purée. You can add a drop or two of LorAnn blackberry flavor* if you’re prone to excess, but be sure to taste the ganâche first.
When the brownies are completely cool, lift them out of the pan, using the overhanging parchment paper. Set on a rack over a cutting board or cookie sheet and pour the warmed blackberry ganâche over them, smoothing with an offset spatula. Refrigerate till set, then cut into squares with a knife rinsed in hot water after each cut.
These are lovely at room temperature by themselves or with a scoop of ice cream, but I love them cold out of the refrigerator with a glass of milk.
*LorAnn flavorings are available at www.lorannoils.com. They’re very intense, so use sparingly.
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