When I read Lesley A. Diehl’s recipe, Butternut Valley Ginger Stout Cake or Muffin, in the Bake, Love, Write Dessert Cookbook, I couldn’t believe my luck. I’ve always been a proponent of beer and chocolate as a perfect culinary combo. I discovered the treat in college. I do not remember the circumstances. It probably had something to do with being able to afford a nice treat on a student budget. Back then I could get a beer and a Snicker for just over a dollar.
            But here’s the real reason Lesley’s dessert grabbed my attention. Last January I gave up dark beer and cut down on my pastry consumption in an effort to lose a pound a month. Much to my surprise, it worked and I can now get into my skinny pants. How nice is that? But being a lover of stout beer and muffins, it was a big sacrifice.
Lesley A. Diehl
            Lesley is a contributor to Bake, Love, Write: 105 Autors Share Desserts Recipes and Advice on Relationships and Writing, edited by Lois Winston. The book features mystery and romance writers sharing not only their favorite recipes for fabulous cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and more, they also share the best advice they’ve ever received on love and writing.
            Even though the recipe doesn’t actually contain chocolate, Lesley explains why stout beer pairs well with it, as it does with ice cream and sweet and spicy foods. The recipe contains cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar and molasses, which all complement the stout.
            With this dessert I can have my beer and eat my muffin too.
            Check out Bake, Love, Write and also discover Lesley’s recipe for a lasting, loving relationship and her practical advice on writing.
            Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work. She is author of numerous short stories and several mystery series including the microbrewing series (A Deadly Draught; Poisoned Pairings), two rural Florida mystery series (Dumpster Dying; Grilled, Chilled and Killed), and the Eve Appel mystery series—A Secondhand Murder; Dead in the Water. Other mysteries include Angel Sleuth, and Murder is Academic.
Visit Lesley at http://lesleyadiehl.com/

Cookbook authors include: Brenda Novak, Lois Winston, Debra Holland, Dale Mayer, Shelley Noble, Caridad Pineiro, Diana Orgain, Lisa Verge Higgins, Lynn Cahoon, Jasmine Haynes, Jan Carol, Meg Bellamy, Bobbi Chukran, Melissa Keir, Amy Gamet, Kristy Tate, Terry Shames, Barbara Phinney, Kitsy Clare, Raine English, Cathryn Cade, Haley Whitehall, Shilpa Mudiganti, Melinda Curtis, Jessa Slade, Jill Blake, Daryl Devore, Molly MacRae, Elizabeth Rose, Helena Fairfax, Lourdes Venard, Jessica Aspen, Maegan Beaumont, Kay Kendall, Elizabeth John, Victoria Adams, Cyndi Pauwels, Alice Loweecey, June Shaw, Donnell Ann Bell, T. Michelle Nelson, Nina Milton, Pam DeVoe, Skye Taylor, Conda V. Douglas, Pepper Phillips, Judy Alter, Cadence Denton, Lesley Diehl, Erin Farwell, Regan Walker, Kaye Spencer, Barbara Monajem, Kathleen Kaska, Catherine Kean, Rose Anderson, Suzie Tullett, Deborah Hughes, Cynthia Luhrs, Judy Baker, Alicia Dean, Leslie Langtry, Janis Susan May, Mitzi Flyte, Ruby Merritt, Renee D. Field, Kathryn Quick, Susan Cory, Judy Penz Sheluk, Kay Manis, Kathryn Jane, Debra Goldstein, E. Ayers, Chantilly White, Sloan McBride, Triss Stein, Ana Morgan, Adele Downs, L.C. Giroux, Pamela Aares, Nancy Warren, Barbara Lohr, J.J. Cook, Lynn Reynolds, Cori Arnold, B.V. Lawson, Lynn Franklin, M.L. Guida, Irene Peterson, Sue Viders, Liese Sherwood-Fabre, Susan Santangelo, Sheila Seabrook, Elaine Charton, Sharleen Scott, Kathy Bennett, Jody Payne, Reggi Allder, Ashlyn Chase, Beverley Bateman, Susan Lohrer, Donis Casey, Barbara Leavy, Stacy Juba, Karen Rose Smith.
Now an Amazon bestselling cookbook!