Rafa and ladies' kisses
You’ve possibly noticed my books tend to make regular mention of food – in particular, tasty cuisine from different parts of the world.
In Haze, there’s a scene in which Rafa is telling Gaby a story about their childhood and it involves sneaking into the kitchen at the Sanctuary to steal Italian biscuits known as baci di dama (ladies’ kisses).
So, as an excuse to write a post with ‘Rafa’ and ‘ladies’ kisses’ in the search terms, here’s the recipe (from Gourmet Traveller) and photos of my first attempt over the weekend to make them (great suggestion Heather Scott).
I took a slight cheat’s option and used Italian-made hazelnut spread rather than the chocolate filling in this recipe – partly because it was quicker, and partly because I wanted more hazel flavour.
• 105 gm (¾ cup) hazelnuts, roasted and peeled
• 160 gm (1 cup) pure icing sugar
• 125 gm softened butter
• 1 orange, finely grated rind only
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped seeds only
• 150 gm(1 cup) plain flour
Chocolate filling (or use hazelnut spread)
• 150 gm dark chocolate (60% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
• 25 gm butter
• 25 ml pouring cream
Method
• Preheat oven to 180C. Using a food processor, process hazelnuts and icing sugar until nuts are finely ground.
• Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter, rind, vanilla seeds, hazelnut mixture and a large pinch of salt until creamy, then add flour, stirring until just combined (do not overmix).
• Roll half-teaspoon of dough into balls and arrange about 6cm apart on baking paper-lined oven trays. Bake one tray at a time in centre of oven until golden (12-15 minutes), then cool on trays over a wire rack. Repeat with remaining biscuits.
• For chocolate filling, combine chocolate, butter and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until melted. Stir until glossy and smooth, then cool to room temperature.
• Spread half-teaspoon of chocolate filling onto the flat side of half the biscuits (you may have a little filling left over), then sandwich with remaining biscuits, pressing lightly together to seal. Biscuits will keep in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before serving.
And yes, I realise mine look more like ladies poking out their tongues than puckering for a kiss (probably appropriate, given my approach to romance). Here’s what they’re supposed to look like (from Gourmet Traveller):
Have you heard the one about the half-angel at the library?
Here are some fab photos from our Haze promotion outside the State Library of Victoria today, where ‘Rafa’ was handing out copies of Shadows.
Huge thanks to Rachel and Shalini at Text Publishing for this fun promo. And to Harry, our ‘Rafa’ for being such a good sport – and bringing smiles to a few faces. 🙂
Oh, and did you know Haze is out tomorrow!!!! (Note rare use of exclamation points.)
The Text Publishing trailer for Haze is now up!
Thanks to all you wonderful people who shared thoughts on Rafa for this awesome Haze trailer.
Made me grin and laugh out loud (in a good way!).
Character profiles, mythology…the extras!
I’ve created a new page on the website as a place to keep all the ‘extras’ relating to the series.
Current content includes a quick refresher on Fallen/Rephaim mythology, plus fun profiles of key characters from Shadows and Haze – in their own words.
You’ll find the new page in the menu above, or you can click here. Enjoy. 🙂
There's still time be part of the Haze trailer
If you’re looking forward to Haze and you want to be part of Text Publishing’s upcoming trailer, there’s still time!
You can find details on how to be involved here: http://textpublishing.com.au/number-3-chiller/post/want-to-be-in-a-text-book-trailer/
Registrations close 24 April. Should be a lot of fun. (And there’s more cool stuff to come between now and Haze’s release on 22 May. Stay tuned.)
