Raspberry Danishes are not the only treat that Hannah Swenson makes in this her 22nd mystery novel. In this cozy mystery, Hannah is struggling to solve the disappearings in her small Minnesota town.
Book 22 and Hannah Swenson is still solving mysteries, but not the biggest mystery involves someone she loves!
Raspberry Danish Murder by Joanne Fluke
Outline and Tone:Â
The protagonist, Hannah Swenson, lives in Lake Eden, a small town in Minnesota about an hour outside of Minneapolis. Hannah owns a successful bakery and has an unusual habit of finding dead people. Hannah is a loveable character because she is smart, independent, and generous with her baked goods. In Lake Eden are her mom, two sisters and several friends. Hannah often gets her family and friends to help with solving murders and for taste testing treats. She is the kind of person I would like to befriend.
After 21 books in this series, you may think the story of the characters would get old, rusty, or dusty; they have not. If anything, the characters have become more complex because we know them better. If you have read the other books released before this one, then you know that the love triangle was finally resolved (I will not spoil it). However, Fluke adds an interesting twist to the lives of Hannah, Norman, and Mike. This new twist draws the reader back into their lives. As far as the murder goes for this book, that is part of the new twist too, so I can only say so much. The book reads quickly and as usual, it is interspersed with numerous recipes. There are so many good recipes in this book that it was hard to decide which ones to try first.
Hannah continues to find recently murdered people and in some way those people are tied to her life. In this novel, Hannah relies on her sister Michelle to uncover clues. The novel primarily follows the murder plot and that helps to keep the story moving quickly.
The author:
Joanne Fluke published her first Hannah Swenson novel, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, in 2001. Since then she has been a New York Times bestselling author several times. Some of her books have been made into movies on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery can be found online with Hallmark Movies. Joanne Fluke is active on Facebook and Twitter. She does many interviews with her local news station and posts them on her Youtube channel. If you want to see her take on the book and recipes, she has a YouTube channel that is dedicated to Raspberry Danish Mystery.
What is not to like?:
If this story has an interesting twist with well developed characters and a bevy of good recipes why wouldn’t you read it? The only reason not to read this novel is if you have not read previous novels in this series. Some of the Hannah Swenson novels would mostly work as if it was a stand alone, but because of the twist that involves the characters lives, I don’t recommend reading this one until you have read the previous installments.
The verdict: Joanne Fluke has written another winner. The best part is she added a twist that has hooked me back into the series again. I highly recommend this novel and I am looking forward to how the story continues to play out in the next book.
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Assemble the ingredients
Prepare a Bundt pan by spraying it with nonstick spray and since this is a chocolate cake, instead of using flour, coat the pan with cocoa powder.
Put the eggs in the mixer and beat them just a bit. Add the oil and then the sour cream and mix to combine ingredients. When those ingredients are combined at the 1 cup of coffee. The coffee gives the cake a rich taste. If you don’t like coffee, add water instead
This is an easy recipe with ingredients that are not difficult to incorporate together; however, I never miss an opportunity to use my Kitchen Aid mixer. Yes I have the large mixer that lifts the bowl rather the top tilting up. This large mixer can handle the toughest, stiffest, driest dough!
It is worth it to get the larger stand mixer. This is big enough to handle any recipe and most recipes when doubled!
Now add the cake mix into the mixer with the wet ingredients and mix those together on low. Once the cake mix is mixed in, add the box of pudding mix. Remember to add the pudding mix, do not make the pudding first. Mix again on low speed.
Then add the chocolate chips. You can mix on low or as I do, stir them in by hand with a spatula to make sure all the ingredients (especially those on the bottom) get combined.
Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Then set the cake on a wire rack to cool for only 20 minutes before turning it out onto a plate where it should be allowed to cool completely before frosting it. I also recommend placing the cake in the refrigerator to chill before frosting it.
What would I do differently next time?
Ok, true confession time. I did not like the cool whip frosting. Next time I would either use a can of dark chocolate frosting or make some homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. However, I encourage you to try it the first time as it appears in the recipe below. Please leave a comment about what you think of the cool whip frosting.
Ultimate Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup cold coffee (or water, if you don't want to use coffee)
- 8 ounce (by weight) tub of sour cream (I used Knudsen)
- 1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake mix with or without pudding in the mix, the kind that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake or a 2-layer cake (I used Duncan Hines)
- 5.1 ounce package of instant chocolate pudding mix (I used Jell-O, the kind that makes 6 half-cup servings.)
- 12 ounce (by weight) bag of mini chocolate chips (11-ounce package will do, too-I used Nestle)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
- Prepare your cake pan. You'll need a Bundt pan that has been sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then floured. To flour a pan, put some flour in the bottom, hold it over your kitchen wastebasket, and tap the pan to move the flour all over the inside of the pan. Continue this until all the inside surfaces of the pan, including the sides of the crater in the center of the pan, have been covered with a light coating of flour. Shake out excess flour. Alternatively, you can coat the inside of the Bundt pan with Pam Baking Spray, which is a nonstick cooking spray with flour already in it.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix them up on LOW speed until they're a uniform color.
- Pour in the half-cup of vegetable oil and mix it in with the eggs on LOW speed.
- Add the half-cup of cold coffee and mix it in on LOW speed.
- Scoop out the container of sour cream, and add the sour cream to your bowl. Mix that in on LOW speed.
- When everything is well-combined, open the box of dry cake mix and sprinkle it on top of the liquid ingredients in the bowl of the mixer. Mix that in on LOW speed.
- Add the package of instant chocolate pudding and mix that in, again on LOW speed.
- Finally, sprinkle in the 12-ounce bag of mini chocolate chips and mix those in on LOW speed.
- Shut off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and give your batter a final stir by hand.
- Use a rubber spatula to transfer the cake batter to the prepared Bundt pan.
- Smooth the top of your cake with the spatula and put it into the oven.
- Bake your Ultimate Fudgy Chocolate Cake at 350 degrees F. for 55 minutes.
- Before you take your cake out of the oven, test it for doneness by inserting a cake tester, thin wooden skewer, or long toothpick midway between the sides of the circular ring. (You can't insert it in the center of the cake because that's where the crater is!)
- If the tester comes out clean, your cake is done. If there is still unbaked batter clinging to the tester, shut the oven door and bake your cake in 5-minute increments until it's done.
- Once your cake is done, take it out of the oven and set it on a cold stove burner or a wire rack.
- Let your cake cool for 20 minutes and then pull the sides away from the pan with impeccably clean fingers. Don't forget to do the same for the crater in the middle.
- Tip the Bundt pan upside down on a platter and drop it gently on a towel on the kitchen counter. Do this until the cake falls out of the pan and rests on the platter.
- Cover your Ultimate Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake loosely with foil and refrigerate it for at least one hour. Overnight is even better. Frost your cake with Cool Whip Fudge Frosting. (Recipe and instructions follow.)
- Yield: At least 10 pieces of decadent chocolate cake. Serve with tall glasses of ice-cold milk or cups of strong coffee.
Top with a runny ganache like frosting with the Cool Whip Frosting below or use a standard buttercream frosting.
COOL WHIP FUDGE FROSTING
Ingredients
- 8 ounce (by weight) tub of FROZEN Cool Whip (Do not thaw!)
- 6 ounce (by weight) bag of chocolate chips (I used Nestle semi-sweet chips)
Instructions
- Hannah's 1st Note: Make sure you use the original Cool Whip, not the sugar free or the real whipped cream.
- Place the Cool Whip in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Add the chocolate chips to the bowl.
- Microwave the bowl on HIGH for 1 minute and then let it sit in the microwave for an additional minute.
- Take the bowl out of the microwave, then stir to see if the chocolate chips are melted. If they're not, heat them in 30-second intervals with 30-second standing times in the microwave until you succeed in melting the chocolate chips.
- Let the bowl sit on the countertop or on a cold burner for 15 minutes to thicken the icing.
- When the time is up, give the bowl a stir and remove your cake from the refrigerator. Frost your Ultimate Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake with the frosting and don't forget the crater in the middle. You don't need to frost all the way down. That's almost impossible. Just frost an inch or so down the crater.
- Return your cake to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cutting it and serving it to your guests.
- Hannah's 2nd Note: You can also use this icing on cookies. Simply frost and let your cookies sit on wax paper on the kitchen counter until the frosting has set and is dry to the touch.
- Hannah's 3rd Note: I always keep a tub of original Cool Whip and a bag of chocolate chips on hand to make this easy and delicious chocolate frosting.
Ultimate Butterscotch Bundt Cake from Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
and
Dreamy Orange Dreamsicle Cake from Death of a Cupcake Queen by Lee Hollis
