Vicki Hinze’s Just Desserts” Contest

This week we’re switching the post topics around (Tuesdays are normally a family or parenting post) so that I can tell you about a great new book and a chance to win a 100 smackers to a high-end cooking supply store! Enjoy.

To celebrate the release of her latest release on February 8th, Vicki is having a some fun.

Vicki Hinze, under the sponsorship of The Book Club Network, is seeking the best dessert recipe to celebrate her latest release Deadly Ties (Multnomah, Feb. 8). The winner will receive a free copy of the book along with a $100 gift certificate to a high-end cooking supply store.

The “Just Desserts” contest is free and open to anyone. Dessert recipes, sweet or sugar-free, should be sent to Fred@thebookclubnetwork.com by Feb. 11. A reading group in the TBC network will have a cook off of the top three recipes to pick the winner.

Hinze takes on the global issue of human trafficking in Deadly Ties. Main character Lisa Harper is looking for her mother with security expert Mark Taylor, who’s loved her from afar, when Lisa is abducted and becomes one of several young women being trafficked to Mexico. This is the second in a series about the Crossroads Crisis Center, featured in Hinze’s Forget Me Not.  Fans of Terri Blackstock, Dee Henderson and Iris Johansen will enjoy this gripping romantic thriller where both characters and readers learn that when everything else fails, faith stands fast.

And to start the fun off here is a GREAT recipe courtesy of my good friend and bestest assistant Amy.

 I adapted this from the Barefoot Contessa recipe for a Crostata, known also as a Gallette.

This is my fallback dessert. Everyone who has eaten at my house has had this yummy comforty delish dessert!

Crostata

For Pastry:
2 cups flour
¼ sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound butter (2 sticks)

For Filling:

You may use this or substitute any fruit.
1 ½ pounds apples
or any fruit (berries, plums, mango)
2 TBS. flour
¼ cup sugar or more to taste
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Make pastry. Combine flour, butter, sugar, salt and cut together with pastry cutter. Mix with ¼ cup ice-cold water until dough just holds together. Turn dough out onto well floured surface. Form into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 450.

Make filling. Mix all filling ingredients and set aside. Roll out dough into circle. Place filling on dough center. Fold edges of dough up over filling, leaving the center open. Pleat edges to make circle. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more. This is especially important for berries.

Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar and/or cinn/sugar mixture.

Cook on parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes before moving. Makes 2.

For more of Amy’s yummy recipes, please visit her blog, Sprightly-AmyAnne.