Release Day for "A Kitchen Affair"

Today is the release for my third novel, A Kitchen Affair. My last two novels were romantic suspense novels, but with this one, I decided to try something a little different. This is a sweet romance; no explicit sex scenes, which are usually the norm for romance novels. That's not to say there isn't sex in the book. There is, but it's left to the reader's imagination.

With this book, I was able to combine two of my favorite things, writing and food. When you write about a personal chef, you have to include some really great food and with Jenny cooking for at least three dinner parties, you can expect to read about some scrumptious dishes. I tried to introduce a dish in every chapter. I now wish I had included the recipes at the end of each chapter, but oh well, that's what blogs are for, right? So, below you will find a recipe for Chocolate Rum Cheesecake, which Jenny makes for Derek in the book.

You can purchase A Kitchen Affair on Amazon or on Barnes & Noble 

Carol

Chocolate Rum Cheesecake

For the crust:

1 1/4 c. crushed chocolate wafers

1/4 c. cocoa

2 T. sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

For the filling:

2 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

5 - 12 oz. packages semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

1/2 t. almond extract

1 t. vanilla

1/3 c. rum 

2/3 c. sour cream

Preheat the oven to 300°f. Grease a spring form pan.

To make the crust, combine chocolate wafer crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and melted butter. Press into bottom of spring form pan and chill.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until it's smooth adding sugar gradually. Add in eggs one at a time and mix at low speed. Add cooled chocolate, vanilla, almond extract, rum, and sour cream. Beat at low speed until completed blended. Pour into the spring form pan and bake for 1 hour. After the hour, turn off the oven, but leave the cake in for one hour longer. Cool at room temperature and then chill for at least 24 hours before serving.