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Brownies To Die For! by Bev Shaffer

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Concept: Brownies, brownies, and more brownies. Mint infused, fruit topped, nut filled, white chocolate, peanut butter, in a square, in a circle, mixed with cookies...you get the idea. 

 Author: Bev Shafer is an award-winning chef, culinary instructor, food columnist, and bakery director. I had no previous experience with this author.

Food type: Desserts - Brownies, frosting, sauces and toppings. 

Monologue score (1-10) (how entertaining, not the recipes): 4 - there's not really much there except a history of brownies in the beginning. She adds a few tips every now and then, but there really wasn't much "life" and personality to the book. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate. Most aren't hard, but her basic brownie base starts with you melting your own chocolate in a double boiler and then adding the other ingredients. Not to mention making your own frosting or gathering specialty ingredients. This is much more work and has more possibilities for things to go wrong than just dumping a mix into a bowl and adding eggs and oil. I'll let you know if the end result is worth it once I've tried some.  

 Approximate percentage of recipes I would be willing to try: 90% (The only brownies I'm not interested in are those with nuts (there is always the option to take them out) and those with coffee in them. 

 Sample recipes I'm interested in trying:
  • Truffle Brownies - brownies + chocolate truffles (think Lindt or Lindor)
  • Poke 'n' Pour Fudge - Topped Brownies - Like a poke cake or "Better than" cake. I'd never thought of doing this to brownies before and I'm excited to try it. 
  • Brownie Maple Cupcakes with Chocolate Maple Fluff Frosting
  • "Honey of a Brownie" - cuts down on sugar and adds honey

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