It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

This week's recipe is from

IT CANNOLI BE MURDER

Book 2 in the Italian Chef Mysteries

by Catherine Bruns

A delicious new title in a new series from USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns! Tessa's biscotti have always been killer, but never as deadly as in this addition to the Italian Chef mystery books!

It's time to serve some just desserts...

For fans of Joanne Fluke and Susan Furlong

For readers of cozy mysteries and food mysteries

Includes delicious recipes!

Six months after her husband's death, Tessa Esposito is hoping to drum up reservations for her restaurant's grand opening. And since a signing with bestselling author, Preston Rigotta, is sure to draw a crowd, Tessa agrees to cater her cousin's bookstore event—whipping up some of her famous Italian desserts. But the event soon takes a sour turn when Preston's publicist, an old high school rival, arrives and begins to whisk up their old grudges.

That night, a fight breaks out in front of the crowd, and it becomes clear there's bad blood in Harvest Park. And when the publicist is found dead on the bookstore floor the next morning, a stray cannolo at her side, Tessa knows who will be framed as the prime suspect.

To clear both her cousin's and her own name, Tessa must investigate the murder. But Preston's publicist has many secrets to hide, and in the end, the truth is bittersweet...

The second book in the Italian Chef Cozy Mystery series! As Italian Chef Tessa plays the role of a female detective in this murder mystery, she'll have to follow a string of clues before the case boils over.

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CANNOLI CAKE

All food photos property of Catherine Bruns

INGREDIENTS:  

1 box white cake mix  

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk  

1 2/3 cup ricotta cheese (I used the whole milk kind)  

1 cup cream cheese  

¼ cup sour cream  

2 cups powdered sugar  

¼ to ½ cup mini chocolate chips  

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:  

   Spray bottom of pan with Pam or grease with butter. Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box for a 9 by 13 inch pan. 

   Remove cake from the oven and poke holes all over the top of the cake with a straw. Pour about 2/3 cup of the sweetened condensed milk over the cake. Place cake in the refrigerator for about an hour. 

   In the meantime, combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk to mixture until combined. If the icing seems runny, you can add up to another cup of powdered sugar. 

Spread mixture over the cake. Top with chocolate chips and refrigerate for at least two hours.  

Note: 1 ½ cup of mascarpone cheese can be substituted for the cream cheese and sour cream if preferred)  

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Please keep reading to check out my 

installments of 

Book Beginnings on Fridays

and

The Friday 56

Both the BB and 56 are from

IT CANNOLI BE MURDER

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader

Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading.

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's okay.) *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you. *Post it.

My Book Beginnings 

Rain drummed pleasantly on the roof while I diced and sliced tomatoes with my serrated knife on the cutting board before me.  

My 56 (From page 6)

She shot me a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding me? . . ."

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