Monday 10 February 2014

If You Only Knew.... About Cakes




In my latest novel, If You Only Knew, one of the characters called Faith owns and runs a coffee shop in a village set in Derbyshire's Peak District. Cakes (understandably!) feature a lot on the menu in the coffee shop and muffins are a particular favourite, so I thought I'd share with you Faith's recipe for her ever-popular gluten/wheat free muffins:




Gluten Free Muffins 

Basic Ingredients
2 cups of medium oat bran
1 cup of milk (can be diary free milk alternative for a vegan version of the muffins)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 medium size bananas.

Optional Ingredients:

Blueberry Muffins:
A couple of handfuls of blueberries
Pinch of cinnamon or mixed spice

Chocolate Muffins:
A standard size bar of milk or dark chocolate broken into small pieces

Tropical Muffins
A can of drained pineapple chunks, chopped into small pieces


Method
1. Put the oat bran and baking powder into a bowl.
2. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl, then add the milk and oil.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the banana, milk and oil.
4. Add in your chosen optional ingredients (see above).
5. Spoon the combined mixture into paper cases or a muffin tin.
6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade.


Muffins-of-choice for the characters in If You Only Knew:


Faith - Vanilla & Blueberry
Zane- Triple Choc
Matt - Spicy Apple



I'd love to share with you some info about If You Only Knew, which is currently on offer at just 99p....


Is the past about to destroy the future for Faith when she discovers her new boyfriend and her first love are in business together?

Faith owns The Coffee Pot in the outdoor adventure sports mecca of Derbyshire's Peak District. She hasn't had a man in her life for a while, as she has been too busy serving cakes to weary rock climbers and mountain bikers to find time for the complications of a relationship with the male of the species.

Then Zane and Matt arrive on the scene as the new owners of the Carrdale Adventure Sports Centre.

Dating Zane, she soon discovers he’s not the Mr Perfect she thought he was; and why is he so reluctant to talk about his past?

As for Matt – well, to Faith he isn't Matt at all because he was a completely different person when he broke her heart all those years ago.

With her new boyfriend and her first love running Carrdale as business partners – Matt out to cause trouble and Zane keeping secrets – Faith struggles to keep the peace between them whilst trying to figure out how she feels about the two men in her life…

You can find If You Only Knew in paperback and ebook now on Amazon.


Read an extract from If You Only Knew:


This couldn't be happening.
Zane had said his business partner was called Matt. She was sure of it. Yes, he’d definitely just introduced him as Matt. But the man standing before her wasn't Matt.
It was Aaron.
Faith wiped her hands on a tea–towel. She wanted to speak, but couldn't get her brain into gear enough to make her mouth form the words.
She’d thought Aaron was gone from her life.
It looked as though she was wrong.
She took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself. Suddenly she felt cold and shaky. Aaron was back? This was impossible.
Yet here he was, standing in her kitchen. She felt dizzy and light-headed.
How should she react? Should she admit they knew each other? Why had Aaron changed his name to Matt anyway? Would he prefer it if the fact they knew each other was kept quiet?
But she knew she couldn’t keep something like that from Zane.
As she debated what to say and do next, the room remained awkwardly silent. Zane was looking at her questioningly.
What should she say?
Come on, think, woman. Think.
Too late. Aaron spoke first.
“Faith, it’s amazing to see you again after all these years.”
OK. So he didn't want to keep it a secret that they already knew each other.
“Aaron,” she managed to say. “This is a bit of a shock.”
“That’s an understatement,” Matt replied, stepping forward to pull her into a hug.
“Hang on a second,” Zane said, pushing into the room. “Aaron? That’s your proper name isn’t it?” He raised enquiring eyebrows at Matt. “What’s going on? You two already know each other?”


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About The Author 

Zanna Mackenzie lives on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.

Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!

If You Only Knew is Zanna’s third novel; her previous books The Love Programme, and How Do You Spell Love? were both published in 2013.

Find out more about Zanna on her blog www.zannamackenzie.blogspot.co.uk, on Twitter via @ZannaMacKenzie or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie



Find out more about Zanna at:
Twitter: @ZannaMacKenzie








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