Place the butter, brown sugar, and cream in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Continue to boil and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the toasted pecans; stir gently for 5 minutes, or until the frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly. Spread immediately over the cooled cake.

Submitted by Lara Nocerino

CAROLINE HOLLIDAY BELLEFLEUR’S CHOCOLATE CAKE

TIME: 2 HOURS • SERVES 12

INGREDIENTS:

1 package Swansdown Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (or Duncan Hines, if you
can’t find Swansdown anymore)
1 package (8 oz.) seedless dates
1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. shortening
½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. brewed coffee
1 cup chopped pecans

I know you’ll be surprised, people of Bon Temps, that my recipe contains a mix! This has been my dark secret for many years. I’ve always driven to Clarice to make the purchase, so no one would see me. So now you know! If you’re a purist, please use your favorite chocolate cake recipe, providing it’s very moist.

Mix the cake mix and bake in a greased 9 × 13” glass pan, following the box directions.

Cook the dates, water, and sugar in a double boiler for 30–40 minutes. Spread on top of the cooled cake.

While the date mixture is cooling on the cake, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, salt, shortening, vanilla, coffee, and pecans. Spread on top of the cake. Sometimes I use pecan halves to create a pattern to make it look prettier.

From Caroline Bellefleur, as told to Charlaine Harris

DINER KEY LIME PIE

TIME: PREP TIME 30–40 MINUTES, REFRIGERATION TIME 4 HOURS • SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbsp. butter
25–30 chocolate wafers
1 package lime Jell-O
½ cup hot water
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup sugar
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk, refrigerated until very cold
Green food coloring
1 tsp. lemon zest

Melt the butter. Crush the wafers and mix with the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture into a 9” pie pan to form a crust. Save crumbs not used for crust to sprinkle on top. Dissolve the Jell-O in hot water, then add the lemon juice and sugar. Whip the evaporated milk until it thickens.

Add the Jell-O mixture to the milk and whip until stiff. Add four drops of green food coloring and lemon zest. Spoon the mixture into the crust. Sprinkle remaining chocolate crumbs on top and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.

Submitted by Treva Jackson

LOUISIANA PRALINES

TIME: 30–45 MINUTES • SERVES 5–10

INGREDIENTS:

Butter for greasing the saucepan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¾ cup half-and-half
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
24 whole pecans (optional)

Note: Like any candy, this recipe needs a dry day (below 50 percent humidity) to set up perfectly. Higher humidity results in sticky candy. If it’s pouring rain, you may end up eating it spooned over ice cream—which is fabulous, too.