Nutella Chocolate Cake

Once upon a time, I was born. Once upon a different time, many moons later, I spent a not insignificant amount of time watching cooking shows, baking shows, cooking competitions, baking competitions... don't even get me started on the documentaries. Suffice it to say I like to fiddle around in the kitchen. The union of these two events has resulted in the tradition of baking my own birthday cake every year. The rules are: no box mixes, no repeats, and it has to be level 110 fabulous. This year came down to Nutella or Oreo cake, but I finally landed on the Nutella. It didn't *quite* go off without a hitch, but man... it's good. Really good. It's also rich. Really rich. Even eating it solo, no one could stomach more than half a slice. But unanimously, that half was deemed to be delicious. It also looks very fancy. One must confess to feeling a bit like a Great British Baking Show contestant when adding the final touches. The frosting turned out a little patchy because I left it too thick, but overall, I'm going to call this year a success!

Ingredients:

Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup water

Nutella frosting

2 cups salted butter
1 cup shortening
2 cups Nutella
10 cups powdered sugar
5-6 TBSP milk or water

 Chocolate ganache

 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Ferrero Rocher candies

Directions:

1.  Prepare four 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides.
2. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add vanilla to boiling water and add to mixture. Mix well. 
3. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 300 F for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. I only had 2 pans, so I baked them in 2 batches with about 1 1/2 cups of batter per pan. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely. 
4. Make icing while the cakes cool. Beat together butter and shortening until smooth. Add Nutella and mix until incorporated, then slowly add half of the powdered sugar. Add 2-3 TBSP of milk or water and mix until smooth, then add remaining powdered sugar and continue beating. Add more water or milk until the frosting is the right consistency. 
5. Once cakes are cool, remove cake domes with a large serrated knife. Place first layer of cake on a plate or cardboard cake circle. Add about 3/4 cup of frosting and spread into an even layer. Repeat for the next two layers. Top with final layer of cake, then frost the top and outside. 
6. To make the chocolate ganache, place the chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Microwave the heavy whipping cream just until it starts to boil. Pour over the chocolate chips and let sit for 2-3 minutes, then whisk until smooth. 
7. Drizzle the chocolate ganache around the edge of the cake, then pour the remainder on top and spread evenly. It's easiest to do this with a squeeze bottle. Allow the ganache to solidify a bit, then pipe the remainder of the frosting around the top edge of the cake and top each swirl with a Ferrero Rocher candy.

Source: Life, Love and Sugar

Truly Devious - Maureen Johnson

Stevie Bell isn't your average teenager. For one thing, she's a lot smarter than your run-of-the-mill high school student. For another, she's into true-crime to an extent that her parents find extremely worrisome. Stevie doesn't want to commit crimes, though; more than anything, she wants to solve them. A serious study in the methods of classic detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, Stevie dreams of using her vast stores of knowledge to unravel mysteries for a living. During her research, one mystery in particular becomes her focus: the Truly Devious case. 

Albert Ellingham was a fabulously wealthy industrialist in the early 1900s, but he was most well-known for the school he established for exceptionally bright students in a remote area of Vermont. Believing learning should be treated like a game and accessible to all regardless of their class, Ellingham built a sprawling campus and handpicked students from around the country to attend for free and develop their skills at their own pace. No expense was spared and only the best were brought in to attend to the young minds. The heart of the campus was the mansion where Ellingham lived with his wife and young daughter, throwing lavish parties for the uppermost sect of society... until the letter came. In 1936, Ellingham received a sinister letter signed only "Truly, Devious". Although no stranger to threats due to his line of work, this one, written like a murderous nursery rhyme, was creepier than most. Days later, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. In spite of his desperate attempts to get them back, his wife's body washed up on shore weeks later and his daughter was never found, dead or alive. Decades later, the mystery has never been solved. 

Stevie has read every article, interview, and book on the Truly Devious case and knows she could crack it if given the opportunity. So when Ellingham Academy, still in operation, starts accepting applications for the next school year, Stevie decides to apply on the off-chance that she'll be granted such an opportunity. Much to her surprise, her application is accepted. Soon, she's on her way to woody Vermont, home of the wayward moose and one of the most famous cold cases of the century. Stevie is flooded with excitement when she arrives at the school and grounds she's studied for years. Although unsure what to expect, she finds that her housemates are mostly amiable, some enough to be counted as friends. Specialties in the house vary from YouTube star to engineering whiz and, for the first time, Stevie starts to feel like she's finally found a place where she can belong. The curriculum even sets her up to use the Truly Devious case as a project, with the warning that she not allow the victims to be dehumanized in the quest for answers. As the year progresses, Stevie teams up with some of her classmates to cover different aspects of their projects together with the Truly Devious case as the guide. But the closer they get to the heart of the mystery, the more it becomes apparent that the case isn't as cold as everyone thought. Strange occurrences, a suspicious accident, and a letter written in the style of the original Truly Devious note all convince Stevie that someone wants to make sure the case stays buried, and they'll do anything to keep it from coming to light. 

Full disclosure, this is not a "read at a leisurely pace" book. This is a "cram every possible second reading until it's over" type of book. I have read 52 books so far this year and this is definitely one of my favorites. It's got unsolved mysteries mixed with ongoing ones! It's got an old school with secret passages! It's got highly sarcastic main characters and eccentric quadrillionaires! I ask of you, what more could you possibly want from a YA novel? If YA lit isn't usually your cup of tea, I'd encourage you to give this one a go. Yes, it has characters in a younger age group and yes, it does have some of your typical high school drama, but the plot is intriguing and, truthfully, better written than some of the "adult" books I've read this year. It skips between the present day and the events of the Truly Devious case, but smoothly enough that you don't get whiplash from the constant back and forth. Also I know we're not supposed to judge books by their covers and all that jazz, but wow I love the covers in this series.

If I have one complaint (and really I wouldn't even use that strong of a word for it), it's where the book ends. This is the first book in a trilogy so I can understand having to cut it off somewhere, but the point at which the book ended felt a little off to me. To be fair, I haven't started the second one yet so maybe it makes total sense with where that picks up, but I definitely did think it was sort of abrupt with everything that was still going on. Actually, I have one other sort-of-but-not-actually complaint. Stevie *h a t e s* her parents' employer, some local politician dude, and often takes it out on her parents, who *l o v e* said local politician dude. I get where she's coming from, but also... people gotta eat, man. Maybe they only started working for the guy because they were desperate for a job and then they drank the proverbial Kool-aid after the fact, but I do think there's a line between disagreement and disrespect and Stevie joyously cavorts down this very thin line more than once.

Pros:

• Page turner from start to finish
• Speakeasies, tunnels, and games - oh, my!
• Often funny

Cons: 

• The point at which the book stops
• The fact that the book stops
•  Stevie + politicians = 😡

Final rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Edwina - Patricia Strefling

Edwina Blair is a small-town librarian whose greatest aspiration is to write the perfect romance novel. Painfully practical, plain, and a little overweight, Edwina's life is as routine as her father's yearly sock purchase during the January whites sale. Contrarily, Edwina's half-sister, Cecelia, is beautiful and business-minded, believing that her success has nothing to do with her good looks and movie-star mother. Despite their differences, the two get along well aside from the occasional spat. When Cecilia books a relaxing vacation to Scotland, she naturally tries to get Edwina to go with her. Sneakily anticipating a negative response, Cecilia took the liberty of including Edwina in her plans before letting her know about the trip. Once she finds out, it's too late for her to cancel without significant cost to Cecilia and Edwina, never one to throw away money, resigns herself to a tour through Scotland. The two are preparing to board the plane out of the states when Cecilia is called away by an emergency. Alone and inexperienced, Edwina flies to Scotland without her worldly sister's help. Once there, she realizes just how far in over her head she is: the ritzy hotel, booked by and held for Cecilia, refuses to accept Edwina in her place. The overwhelmed and exhausted Edwina faints dead away at the desk and comes to a few moments later in the arms of a very handsome Scot who was in line behind her. Aware of the ordeal facing the American and anxious to get home to his fiancee, he insists that Edwina come to stay at his home until she has recovered enough to get back on her feet. Edwina, too overwrought to protest, finds herself the guest of one Alex Dunnegin, a Scottish laird and owner of the beautiful castle to which she is taken.

Once situated in the Scot's home, Edwina realizes she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime; the romantic Scottish hills, handsome laird, and rich surroundings are the perfect fodder for her romance novel. Soon, however, she realizes that there's something more going on at the castle than what's on the surface. Laird Dunnegin is constantly being called away on mysterious legal matters and there are murmurs of a tragedy not long past. Edwina tries to take everything in during her short stay, but she feels oddly remorseful when she leaves for the rest of her trip. After some vigorous touring, Edwina is surprised to find Laird Dunnegin calling on her at the hotel. A dinner meeting reveals a job proposition, one made relevant by the departure of the now ex-fiancee, but it's cloaked in secrecy. True to her nature, Edwina ultimately declines, citing her job, family, and obligations at home as the reasons she can't possibly accept. Believing the matter to be closed, she returns to her tiny apartment and routine life in Michigan.

Upon her return to her hometown, Edwina is struck by how average and purposeless her life now seems. Her apartment is cheap, but tiny and unfulfilling. She follows the same routine day in and day out and gets no real joy out of life. Even the career she was so proud of turns sour when a vindictive coworker gets her fired on false charges and steals her position. Faced with the harsh reality of her new situation, Edwina goes to Chicago to spend time with Cecelia and help her out with her successful new line of bed and breakfasts, especially as she's preparing for guests Edwina invited from Scotland. The guests arrive as planned, but the accompaniment of Laird Dunnegin comes as a shock. Once again, he has a job proposition for her, but now he reveals some of the details that were kept in the dark at their last encounter. Should she choose to accept the position, Edwina would act as a teacher for Laird Dunnegin's daughter, who is currently the focus of a legal dispute meant to take her away from him. His wife, who died when the child was very young, was the daughter of a rich American, groomed to take up the family business. With her dead, Paige is next in line for the business, and her grandfather intends to get her however he can. Once again, Edwina's instinct is to turn him down, but further thought leads to the realization that she no longer has any commitments tying her down in Michigan and this could be the adventure of a lifetime. With that in mind, she accepts. Uprooting her whole life to move to Scotland, Edwina can't help but feel that she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. As she becomes more familiar with both her new charge and new life, she finds herself stepping up to the challenge of handling the young girl and keeping her away from prying eyes as the legal storm rages on. But will she be able to meet Laird Dunnegin's high expectations, both in the classroom and out?

Logic dictates that I should hate this book. 1) It's definitely a romance novel, the genre at which I scoff, deride, and pointedly avoid at bookstores. 2) The cover is... well, to be brutally honest, it's one of the most blah covers I've ever seen. 3) I have a strong aversion to the name Edwina. What are we, Victorian spinsters? 4) The editing is also some of the worst I've ever seen. Misplaced or completely missing punctuation, poorly assembled paragraphs, even the wrong name used at one point. Objectively, I can recognize that this book has a LOT of issues... but I adore it. I adore it to the extent that I'm literally looking at taking a tour over to Scotland at some point in the next year or so. I adore it so much that I screeched like a pterodactyl when it slipped out of my hand and hit the unforgiving pavement on the way into my apartment the other day. I adore it so completely that I'm forced to conclude my brain is intentionally filtering out all of those things and I cannot, for the love of pickled herring, figure out why. It's definitely not because I identify with Edwina, who lets her belief that she is plain and chubby dictate her course in life and, quite truthfully, thinks about it more frequently than she should. Nor is it because I have a thing for handsome men with Scottish accents who own fabulously beautiful castles and have large libraries. Most assuredly, it is not - nay, COULD not - be because the main character (who is possibly named after a Victorian spinster) manages to break out of her box, go on an adventure, and maybe have the "happily ever after" we all secretly crave, in spite of being a Plain Jane in possession of a few extra pounds. Since it's not any of those things, why do I continually give this book 5 stars? Why???

Pros:

• Ye Olde Scotland
• Ye Olde Romance Storye
• Edwina likes Goodwill. I also like Goodwill.

Cons (in case your brain lacks the filter mine seems to have put in place specifically for this book):

• Truly hideous editing (or lack thereof)
  
• Occasionally whiny characters
• The extreme guilt I feel over giving this 5 stars in spite of all its clearly stated flaws. I'm beginning to truly understand the meaning of the phrase "guilty pleasure".
  

 Final rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

On a semi-related note, I feel the world deserves to know that there's such a thing as a Scottish subscription box and it is life itself. I mean look at this veritable treasure trove of goodies! Specifically, please direct your attention to Douglas, the incredibly handsome Highland cow. Honestly, I mainly got the box for him, but it also came with a box of tea, a Scottish puzzle book, and the tartan shawl that's being used as a background, plus some handy little pamphlets. What a time to be alive!

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder - Wendy Webb

Brynn Wilder has had a rough couple of years. When her mother was diagnosed with cancer, she put everything on hold - relationships, career, aspirations - to take care of her in the stead of her grief-stricken father. Now that the battle is over, Brynn is left desperately trying to put the pieces of her old life together without the support of her mother. When her friend Kate suggests a getaway to beautiful tourist-town Wharton on Lake Superior, Brynn decides it's just what the doctor ordered. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, she packs up and heads off for the summer to recharge and rediscover her direction in life. Upon arrival, Brynn is struck by the majesty and contentment of life in Wharton; cozy lodgings in a boarding house with a fun-loving, eccentric owner, stunning scenery, friendly neighbors, and enough time to do whatever she wants whenever she wants. Throw in a handsome fellow lodger with a seemingly endless array of mysterious tattoos and things seem like they could finally be looking up... until the voices start.

From the night she arrived, strange dreams and eerie voices plague Brynn in the otherwise idyllic setting. Believing it to be stress, she brushes off the whispers outside her door and nightmares of a strange woman in one of the other rooms. After all, it could just be other lodgers in the hallway and she can't really be dreaming of a room that's been locked and unopened since she arrived, especially not when the dream also comes with a woman she's never seen before. As time goes on, Brynn discovers there might be more to her experience than meets the eye. The boarding house has a reputation for being haunted, even more so after an unknown woman was found dead in the now-locked room when the lodgings reopened for the tourist season. Although perturbed, Brynn finds herself spending more and more time with the magnetically handsome Dominic and soon starts to feel he's the cure to one of the wounds she came to heal, in spite of the rumors circulating that he's not what he seems. She also finds herself frequently in company with Alice, a woman with Alzheimer's who is being cared for by one of the other lodgers. Despite her confusion, Alice seems to be almost clairvoyant and it quickly becomes apparent that her statements are more than just the ramblings of someone living with the disease. As Brynn's nightmares begin to blur the line between waking and sleeping, she starts to suspect that one of the house's more otherworldly inhabitants is trying to tell her something about her past, something that both Alice and Dominic seem to be involved in. Together, they must reveal the secrets the visions hold and uncover Brynn's true past.

Okay, so imagine you have a craving for chocolate chip cookies, except you can't bake so you have to run to the store to get them. You grab a package off the shelf, get home, open those bad boys up, bite into one.... and discover it's oatmeal raisin. You HATE oatmeal raisin (because you are a decent human being). That's about how this book was for me. In fact, this was my actual face when I finished it:

I loved Webb's Daughters of the Lake, so I naturally assumed that something by the same author with an equally lovely cover would be just as fabulous. This has taught me a valuable lesson about assumptions. It started out really strong and I was doing whatever the bookish equivalent of chugging is to find out what happened, but I started to get this sinking feeling in my stomach the closer I got to the end. When there were, I kid you not, 10 PAGES LEFT and literally nothing had been resolved, I knew this whole thing was about to go down the drain like last month's expired milk. And it did, in an extremely bizarre fashion. Although there admittedly was a hint or two that something of this nature was going to occur, the ending was so rushed that it felt like when TV shows find out they're not getting another season so they have to make up some quick resolution and it ends up feeling like the whole show went to the Twilight Zone. In addition to that, the cover and summary lead you to believe it's going to be spooky and it is to a small degree, but definitely not what I was expecting on the spook factor.

The ending on its own would've been hard for me to get over, but I also found the characters to be a little cheesy. They all seem like copy and paste versions of the same character, even Dominic, who's supposed to stand out from the rest of them. They were all "la la everything is so happy all the time and we laugh about everything and life is so wonderful here in this paradise". I almost feel bad saying this but Brynn was one of the worst to me. Not quite the same, she was more "la la I wish I could be happy and laugh all the time and have a wonderful life like everyone else". I was really rooting for her at the start because she does have a tragic backstory, but if I had a dollar for every time "her eyes filled with tears" over EVERY. SINGLE. THING, I could retire and move to Scotland to spend the rest of my days eating haggis and wearing outfits composed of nothing but tartan patterns. Everyone seemed almost cartoon-like; there in a basic outline, but lacking the detail needed to really flesh them out. And I just realized Daughters of the Lake was also set at Lake Superior?? Overall, it was a pretty good read up until the end and I didn't hate it, but I'm iffy on whether or not I'd want to read it again.

Pros: 

•  A real page-turner... until the last 10 pages
• Pretty cover
• Ummmm did I mention the pretty cover?
  

Cons:

• The last 10 pages 😒
• No well-fleshed out characters
• A lot of loose ends

Final rating: ⭐⭐⭐