My thanks to author Andrea Lochen for providing me with the following post:

As an avid reader with a major sweet tooth, I love when authors include the recipes for the yummy desserts they’ve made me drool over throughout their book.  It’s a marriage of two of my favorite activities—reading and baking!  And if you’re a book club member, what better treat to bring to your meeting than a dessert straight out of the novel?  Here are ten of my favorite book-inspired desserts!

1) Southern Caramel Cake from The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Who hasn’t wanted to try a bite of the scrumptious-sounding caramel cake that Minny makes in The Help?  (Maybe not so much her chocolate pie, however!)  Though Stockett didn’t include the recipe in the back of her book, this food blog has the The Junior League of Memphis Cookbook recipe that supposedly inspired her.

http://scrumpdillyicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/minnies-caramel-cake-from-help.html

2) Coconut Cake from Amy E. Reichert’s The Coincidence of Coconut Cake

The titular coconut cake in Reichert’s The Coincidence of Coconut Cake earned its place on the cover of this heartwarming book. To the main character, Lou, baking her grandmother’s cake is the ultimate expression of love. In the book, those who get to eat it earned their slice, which certainly made me crave a piece all the more!

http://www.tipsonlifeandlove.com/recipes-2/grandma-luellas-coconut-cake-recipe

3) Crème Caramel Flan from Anita Hughes’ Island in the Sea: A Majorca Love Story

 In Hughes’ newest novel set in Spain, she describes how Majorca’s restaurants serve a mouthwatering variety of delicious fresh fish and locally grown vegetables and how many diners like to end the meal with a dessert that satisfies any sweet tooth while not being heavy or cloying.  This creme caramel flan recipe certainly does the trick!

http://www.a2zmallorca.com/food_drink/915.htm

4) Lemon Cream Cake from Juliette Fay’s Shelter Me

Fay introduces the concept of “pology cake” in her first novel, Shelter Me, as something you bake for someone you’ve wronged in the hopes of that person forgiving you.  Though according to Fay, it doesn’t need to be a particular kind of cake, her recipe for lemon cream cake in the back of the book and on her author website sounds fabulous!

http://juliettefay.com/pology-cake-bake-as-you-see-fit/

5) Peanut butter bars from Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Though there are several delicious dishes described in Stradal’s debut novel about Midwestern foodie culture, it was the blue-prize winning peanut butter bars recipe from Lutheran church lady, Pat, that caught my eye.  I made this for my book club and these chocolate-frosted bars are just as decadent as they sound!

http://www.readthespirit.com/feed-the-spirit/peanut-butter-bars/

6) Thumbprint Cookies with Jam from Kelly Simmons’ One More Day

Baking figures prominently in Kelly Simmons’ book because in One More Day, the main character, Carrie Morgan, bakes with her grandmother, as she did when she was a little girl. However, it’s not clear whether her grandmother is dead or alive!  These thumbprint jam cookies look like just the thing to bake when you’re in a nostalgic mood (or simply in the mood for something buttery and sweet)!

http://kellyasimmons.blogspot.com/2016/02/baking-reading-remembering.html

7) Mantecadas from Tina Ann Forkner’s Ruby Among Us

In Ruby Among Us by Tina Ann Forkner, Kitty and her granddaughter Lucy spend a lot of time together talking over cookies and tea. Lucy even has a special tea cup that she drinks out of with her grandmother Kitty who is keeping a lot of secrets about Lucy’s past.  Below is a link to Kitty’s secret recipe for Lucy’s favorite cookie, Mantecadas.  Yum!

https://tinaannforkner.wordpress.com/novel-recipes/

8) Nanaimo Bars from Miracle Beach by Erin Celello

Nanaimo Bars are served in the cafeterias of the ferry boats between Vancouver Island and mainland Canada.  In Miracle Beach, when main characters Magda and Jack come to the Island, they fall in love with the sinfully sweet bars.  Author Erin Celello testifies that they’re amazing!

http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/visitors/NanaimoBars.html

9) Damascus’ Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake from The River Witch by Kimberly Brock

In The River Witch, a family feast brings an estranged southern family together. When ten-year-old Damascus Trezevant’s summer ends with a bounty of pumpkins, she sets out to heal deep wounds with a sweet, old recipe for Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake and faith in the magic of a mother’s love.  You won’t be sorry you tried this recipe!

http://kimberlybrockbooks.com/damascus-pumpkin-spice-pound-cake/

10) The Best Chocolate Cake Ever from The Repeat Year by Andrea Lochen

What dessert list is complete without a delectable chocolate cake?  In The Repeat Year, main character Olive is named after her maternal grandmother who passed away the week before she was born.  In addition to her grandma’s name, Olive also inherited her recipe for the “best chocolate cake ever” which her mom bakes as a peace offering for their family in a time of major transition.

http://addapinch.com/cooking/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/

What are your favorite recipes inspired by novels?  Comment below! 

Andrea Lochen is the author of two novels, Imaginary Things and The Repeat Year.  She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan and her BA in English at the University of Wisconsin.  Since 2008, she has taught undergraduate writing at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha.  When she isn’t teaching, reading, or baking, she is hard at work on her third novel.  To learn more about her, visit her website: www.andrealochen.com.

To connect with Andrea Lochen:

Goodreads profile: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519007.Andrea_Lochen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrea-Lochen-Author/496313260386959

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndreaLochen