Carrot Cake Murder Part 34

cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli) *I used dried Bing cherries in one batch, and chopped maraschino cherries in a second batch. People loved both batches, but all agreed that the ones with the dried cherries were chewier.

Prepare a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan by lining it with a piece of foil large enough to flap over the sides. Spray the foil-lined pan with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray.

Microwave the chocolate squares and b.u.t.ter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl for one minute. Stir. (Since chocolate frequently maintains its shape even when melted, you have to stir to make sure.) If it's not melted, microwave for an additional 20 seconds and stir again. Repeat if necessary.

Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Feel the bowl. If it's not so hot it'll cook the eggs, add them now, stirring thoroughly. Mix in the flavor extract (vanilla or cherry.) Mix in the flour and stir just until it's moistened.

Put the pecans and dried cherries in the bowl of a food processor and chop them together with the steel blade. If the dried cherries stick to the blades too much, add a Tablespoon of flour to your bowl and try it again. (If you don't have a food processor, you don't have to buy one for this recipe-just chop everything up as well as you can with a sharp knife.) Mix in the chopped nuts and cherries, add the chocolate chips, give a final stir by hand, and spread the batter out in your prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Cool the Black Forest Brownies in the pan on a metal rack. When they're thoroughly cool, grasp the edges of the foil and lift the brownies out of the pan. Put them facedown on a cutting board, peel the foil off the back, and cut them into brownie-sized pieces.

Place the squares on a plate and dust lightly with powdered sugar if you wish.

Jo Fluke's Note: The ladies at Delta Kappa Gamma deserve credit for this recipe. After I spoke to them in Camarillo, CA, they gave me a huge box of dried fruit that included the dried Bing cherries that I used in these brownies.

Hannah's Note: If you really want to be decadent, frost these with Neverfail Fudge!

Index of Recipes.

Viking Cookies.

Salmon Cakes Dill Sauce Edna's Easy Celery Sauce.

Hannah's Special Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Frosting Raisin Drops Cocoa Fudge Cake Chocolate Frosting.

Neverfail Fudge Frosting Funeral Hotdish Sally's Sunny Vegetable Salad Red Velvet Cookies.

Rocky Road Bar Cookies (S'Mores).

Party Cookies Lemon Fluff Jell-O Wanmansita Ca.s.serole.

Clara & Marguerite Hollenbeck's Mexican Hotdish.

Chocolate Peanut b.u.t.ter Cake Scandinavian Almond CakeBlack Forest Brownies.

Baking Conversion Chart.

These conversions are approximate, but they'll work just fine for Hannah Swensen's recipes.

VOLUME:.

U.S.

Metric teaspoon 2 milliliters 1 teaspoon 5 milliliters 1 tablespoon 15 milliliters cup 50 milliliters 1/3 cup 75 milliliters cup 125 milliliters cup 175 milliliters 1 cup liter WEIGHT:.

U.S.

Metric 1 ounce 28 grams 1 pound 454 grams OVEN TEMPERATURE:.

Degrees Fahrenheit Degrees Centigrade British (Regulo) Gas Mark 325 degrees F.

165 degrees C.

3.

350 degrees F.

175 degrees C.

4.

375 degrees F.

190 degrees C.

5.

Note: Hannah's rectangular sheet cake pan, 9 inches by 13 inches, is approximately 23 centimeters by 32.5 centimeters.

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