Ten Most Delicious Desserts Inspired by Novels
by Andrea Lochen
As
an avid reader with a major sweet tooth, I love when authors include the recipes
for the yummy desserts they’ve made me drool over throughout their book. It’s a marriage of two of my favorite activities—reading
and baking! And if you’re a book club
member, what better treat to bring to your meeting than a dessert straight out
of the novel? Here are ten of my
favorite book-inspired desserts!
1) Southern Caramel Cake from
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Who
hasn’t wanted to try a bite of the scrumptious-sounding caramel cake that Minny
makes in The Help? (Maybe not so much her chocolate pie,
however!) Though Stockett didn’t include
the recipe in the back of her book, this food blog has the The Junior League of
Memphis Cookbook recipe that supposedly inspired her.
2) Coconut Cake from Amy
E. Reichert’s The Coincidence of Coconut
Cake
The
titular coconut cake in Reichert’s The
Coincidence of Coconut Cake earned its place on the cover of this
heartwarming book. To the main character, Lou, baking her grandmother’s cake is
the ultimate expression of love. In the book, those who get to eat it earned
their slice, which certainly made me crave a piece all the more!
3) Crème Caramel Flan
from Anita Hughes’ Island in the Sea: A
Majorca Love Story
In
Hughes’ newest novel set in Spain, she describes how Majorca's restaurants
serve a mouthwatering variety of delicious fresh fish and locally grown
vegetables and how many diners like to end the meal with a dessert that
satisfies any sweet tooth while not being heavy or cloying. This creme caramel flan recipe certainly does
the trick!
4) Lemon Cream Cake from
Juliette Fay’s Shelter Me
Fay
introduces the concept of “pology cake” in her first novel, Shelter Me, as something you bake for
someone you’ve wronged in the hopes of that person forgiving you. Though according to Fay, it doesn’t need to
be a particular kind of cake, her recipe for lemon cream cake in the back of
the book and on her author website sounds fabulous!
5) Peanut butter bars
from Kitchens of the Great Midwest by
J. Ryan Stradal
Though
there are several delicious dishes described in Stradal’s debut novel about
Midwestern foodie culture, it was the blue-prize winning peanut butter bars
recipe from Lutheran church lady, Pat, that caught my eye. I made this for my book club and these
chocolate-frosted bars are just as decadent as they sound!
6) Thumbprint Cookies
with Jam from Kelly Simmons’ One More Day
Baking
figures prominently in Kelly Simmons’ book because in One More Day, the main character, Carrie Morgan, bakes with her
grandmother, as she did when she was a little girl. However, it's not clear
whether her grandmother is dead or alive!
These thumbprint jam cookies look like just the thing to bake when
you’re in a nostalgic mood (or simply in the mood for something buttery and
sweet)!
7) Mantecadas from Tina
Ann Forkner’s Ruby Among Us
In
Ruby Among Us by Tina Ann Forkner,
Kitty and her granddaughter Lucy spend a lot of time together talking over
cookies and tea. Lucy even has a special tea cup that she drinks out of with
her grandmother Kitty who is keeping a lot of secrets about Lucy’s past. Below is a link to Kitty’s secret recipe for
Lucy’s favorite cookie, Mantecadas. Yum!
8) Nanaimo Bars from Miracle Beach by Erin Celello
Nanaimo
Bars are served in the cafeterias of the ferry boats between Vancouver Island
and mainland Canada. In Miracle Beach, when main characters
Magda and Jack come to the Island, they fall in love with the sinfully sweet
bars. Author Erin Celello testifies that
they’re amazing!
9)
Damascus' Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake from The
River Witch by Kimberly Brock
In
The River Witch, a family feast
brings an estranged southern family together. When ten-year-old Damascus
Trezevant’s summer ends with a bounty of pumpkins, she sets out to heal deep
wounds with a sweet, old recipe for Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake and faith in the
magic of a mother’s love. You won’t be
sorry you tried this recipe!
10) The Best Chocolate
Cake Ever from The Repeat Year by
Andrea Lochen
What
dessert list is complete without a delectable chocolate cake? In The
Repeat Year, main character Olive is named after her maternal grandmother
who passed away the week before she was born.
In addition to her grandma’s name, Olive also inherited her recipe for
the “best chocolate cake ever” which her mom bakes as a peace offering for
their family in a time of major transition.
What are your favorite
recipes inspired by novels? Comment
below!
Andrea Lochen is the author of two
novels, Imaginary Things and The Repeat Year. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from
the University of Michigan and her BA in English at the University of
Wisconsin. Since 2008, she has taught
undergraduate writing at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. When she isn’t teaching, reading, or baking,
she is hard at work on her third novel. To
learn more about her, visit her website: www.andrealochen.com.
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