Cooking With Author Lisa Lickel!

Today I welcome author Lisa Lickel to The Patchwork Quilt. Let's see which recipe she has in store for us as well as some information about one of her novels, The Map Quilt. Here's Lisa . . .

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Wow, I know—it may seem like two different worlds in this luscious cake, but that’s the gist of being part of a patchwork, isn’t it? My Buried Treasure Mystery series takes people from different backgrounds and brings them together in love and faith, and in Ardyth’s case, good food! She’s the main supporting cast member, an adopted aunt/grandmother to Judy and Hart Wingate, who meet in the first book, The Last Bequest. But along with Judy and Hart’s budding romance, Ardyth returns to her first love as well, Bryce, in this ageless tale. In the second book, The Map Quilt, Hart and Judy meet some very interesting characters as they discover the identity of the body buried on the farm, and in the third book, The Newspaper Code, Judy learns how to balance life and friendship as she decides what to do about her career while helping new sort of friend Olivia figure out who killed town gardener Esme.

I especially love to make this cake because I use ingredients from our garden – pumpkin, and the berries. It serves a lot of people!


Pumpkin Raspberry Bundt Cake

Sift and set aside:
3 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. sour cream
1 18-oz can of canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 c. chopped nuts
1 cup raspberries, keep a handful to decorate finished cake (if large, slice some of them - I use black raspberries too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 12 by 18-inch bundt pan.
In a large bowl (very large!) combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla, sour cream and pumpkin. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Fold in raspberries. Spread batter in prepared bundt pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until toothpick test comes out clean. Allow to cool, then frost* and decorate with remaining raspberries.

* Frosting: (this cake is so moist you don’t really need to frost it)
Beat together 4 oz cream cheese and 1 3/4 c. confectioner’s sugar
Fold in 8 oz tub of whipped topping mix
May use food coloring to make it orange if desired.

The Map Quilt
By Lisa J Lickel

Just how high a price does a family secret command?

Death in rural Wisconsin is only the beginning to new chaos in Robertsville. What do a stolen piece of revolutionary agricultural equipment, a long-buried skeleton in the yard, and an old quilt with secrets have in common? Hart and Judy Wingate, who met in The Gold Standard, are back to solve the mystery of The Map Quilt. Hart’s new battery design could forever change the farm implement industry. But after the death of Hart’s most confrontational colleague in a fire that destroys Hart’s workshop, the battery is missing.

Throw in a guest speaker invited to Judy’s elementary classroom who insists she owns the land under Hart’s chief competitor’s corporate headquarters, and a police chief who’s making eyes at Hart’s widowed mother, it’s no wonder Hart is under a ton of pressure to make sure his adventurous pregnant wife stays safe while trying to preserve his company and his reputation.

Purchase links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

A bit about Lisa . . .

Multi-published author novelist Lisa J. Lickel also enjoys writing and performing radio theater, short story-writing, is an avid book reviewer and blogger. She enjoys teaching writing workshops and working with new writers and freelance editing. She is the editor of Wisconsin Writers Association’s Creative Wisconsin magazine. She lives in a hundred and sixty-year-old house in Wisconsin filled with books and dragons. Married to a high school biology teacher, she enjoys travel and quilting. Visit her at her website.