Kernel of Doubt: A Neela Durante Mystery Page 18

  Remove from the heat and use tongs or a fork to take out the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Be careful—it’s hot!

  As Neela’s sister Orinda put it, now you can use the cajeta on anything you want to taste good! Store it in a glass jar. It’ll be good in the fridge for a couple weeks, but I can guarantee it won’t last that long!

  Tip: Warm your jar of cajeta in a bowl of hot water if it is too firm to use straight out of the fridge.

  Hot Tip: Cajeta is available at Latin markets, specialty stores, and online if you don’t have the time to make it yourself!

  Neela’s Grandmother’s Bread Pudding

  THERE ARE MORE RECIPES for bread pudding out there than you can imagine, probably because it’s a great way to use up bread that is a little past its prime. Traditional bread pudding features raisins, but Neela’s family farm is located among the fruit orchards of Northern California, so her grandmother used local dried apricots instead of raisins. You can use either (or both).

  Ingredients:

  4 CUPS CUBED BREAD

  3/4 cup chopped dried apricots

  2 cups milk

  1/4 cup butter

  1/2 cup sugar

  2–3 eggs, beaten

  1 Tb vanilla

  1/2 tsp ground nutmeg or cinnamon

  Instructions:

  HEAT THE OVEN TO 350°F. Grease a casserole dish.

  Mix cubed bread and chopped apricots in a heat-proof bowl.

  Over medium heat, combine milk and butter in a pot and heat until butter is melted. Pour the heated mixture over the bread and let the bread absorb the milk for 10 minutes.

  Stir in the sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla, and spices. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40–50 minutes until the eggs are set in the center.

  Serve in individual dishes, topped with cajeta. It’s also good for breakfast with just a little cream poured on top.

  Tip: You can use regular sliced sandwich bread, but this is better if it’s a crusty loaf of homemade bread or bakery bread.

  Hot tip: You can even used leftover corn bread mixed with cubed sourdough—there are no rules for this kind of homestyle dessert!

  THE END

  Thank you for reading!

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  About the Author

  Hillary Avis writes cozy mysteries about smart women who persist until they uncover the truth—about themselves, about their communities, and of course about any unsolved murders they encounter.

  She grew up in a small town on the west coast of the United States and went to college in a small town on the east coast, so she knows the best and worst of small-town living. She has two charming children, two naughty dogs, and two practically perfect felines named Mystery and Intrigue. She also has one very patient husband.

  Hillary is the author of the Neela Durante Mysteries and the upcoming Death du Jour series that features an aspiring chef who cooks up great soups—along with solutions to puzzling crimes in her small historic town. When she’s not reading and writing mysteries, Hillary bakes bread, makes pottery, drinks coffee, and streams British TV shows.

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