Let’s welcome author Shirley Bourget to Writer Wednesday on the blog!! I haven’t had a chance to read any of Shirley’s books yet, but I LOVE – and have loved every time I’ve seen it – the book cover (below) for her novel, Awakened (Living Ink)! This regular Writer Wednesday spot is working against my productivity – too many books I want to read!!

Made by Shirley Bourget

There’s no memory altering magic in these mushrooms like the ones in Living Ink, but there is a magic ingredient that makes them delicious and oh so velvety smooth – Avocado!  – Shirley

1 medium ripe avocado (soft to the touch)
1 cup high quality cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark 100% Cacaco)
3 cups 10X confectioners’ sugar (have extra on hand) (aka icing sugar – Meg)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp. shortening for each batch of mushroom top coating
14 oz. vanilla (white) candy melts (or one 11 oz. bag white chocolate chips)
1 large chocolate bar for holding mushrooms in candy cups
shredded coconut (for grass)
decorator sugar sprinkles
decorator candies for “eggs” (I used Stix but jelly beans work well too)
red, yellow, and green food coloring

Step 1. Melt butter in microwave or pan, being careful not to burn.

Step 2. Peel and pit the avocado. Place the avocado, melted butter and vanilla in a blender and mix until smooth – you don’t want any lumps. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Step 3. Add the cocoa to the mixture and stir well. Add confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, making sure there are no lumps. (Mixture will resemble soft dough. If it is too sticky to handle, add more sugar ¼ cup at a time until dough reaches the right consistency and is pliable.) Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or until firm enough to shape.

Step 4. While mixture is firming, sprinkle some shredded coconut into a plastic baggie. Add 6-8 drops of green food coloring and squeeze bag to mix. Set aside. This will be your “grass” for the cups.

Step 5. Roll chilled dough in the palm of your hand to form a small ball. Pinch one side of the ball and pull out a stem shape. Place stem side up in an ice cube tray or candy cup and freeze for 10-15 minutes.

Step 6. Decorate truffles by melting ½ cup white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl (about 30 seconds). Remove truffles from freezer and dip stem sides into melted chocolate. Return to tray/cup, and return to freezer for a few minutes to harden. (Melt additional chocolate coating as needed.) Once stems are coated, melt 1 cup chips, and 1 tsp. shortening. Mix in a few drops of red and yellow food coloring for mushroom tops. Dip tops to coat and immediately sprinkle with decorator sugar (sugar won’t stick once coating starts to dry.) Set truffles aside.

Step 7. Melt the candy bar and spread a thin layer into the bottom of a candy cup. Push truffles into mixture and sprinkle with coconut “grass”. Add egg candies and enjoy your magic mushrooms!

Um, okay I know I said that Lee’s beer bread recipe sounded a little dangerous to me last week, but I may have to repeat myself, because I’m not entirely convinced by Shirley’s “no memory altering magic” statement above with these ones. I think Shirley might be priming us to read her book – LOL!!

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Awakened (Living Ink)

$0.99 on Amazon through Valentine’s Day!!

Synopsis: A tattoo is for life. But what if its ink marks you for death? Tattoo artist Ivy Gillis does killer tattoos-literally. They’re coming to life and to Ivy’s defense. Just as she’s beginning to understand the link with her artwork and her magical past, she finds herself falling in love with two different men. But as passion fuels magic she cannot control, things become deadly.

“I’ve always wondered about other people’s lives. Where they live? What they do? If they’re as nutty as I am? Growing up in a large family and being poor gave me a wild imagination. I had to make up stories about other people just to stay sane! I often got into trouble for “staring”, but that didn’t stop me. I used those stories to keep myself and my siblings entertained. They often eased some of the harder times and gave us the life we wished we had. When I learned to read, I knew that I wanted to be a writer someday – to become a life giver. Even at a young age I knew that words were powerful things, and could inspire and give hope where there was none, or take away the hard parts of living- even for a short time. I think I was destined to become a writer.”