Starting a ‘It’s Your Money, Honey’ book club?

Here are the signature recipes as mentioned in the book...

Money Honey Cocktail

This recipe was adapted from a Honey Ginger Champagne recipe from Martha Stewart Weddings – Martha always knows how to do it up right!

Money Honey Cocktail

• Crystallized ginger (we like Purdy’s brand)
• Honey ginger syrup (see below)
• Prosecco (or sparkling water such as San Pellegrino)

Note: For an extra sweet touch, start by moistening the rims of the glasses with prosecco, then lightly dip them into a dish of super-fine sugar.

How-to: Drop one piece of crystallized ginger (looks like a gold nugget, no?) into each empty champagne flute. Alternatively, you could use small cocktail glasses filled with ice. Add two tablespoons of honey ginger syrup to each glass. Top with chilled prosecco. For a non-alcoholic version, use sparkling water.

Make-ahead honey ginger syrup

• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup water
• 4 ounces fresh ginger, peeled & grated

How-to: Stir honey and water together in a medium saucepan. Whisk until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in fresh ginger. Let this mixture cool for one hour. Strain syrup into a glass jar, removing the ginger pulp. Refrigerate for at least an hour before using. The honey ginger syrup will keep in your refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Makes enough for 10 Money Honey Cocktails.

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Champagne Truffle Pie

This recipe is absolutely the best thing you will ever taste. Seriously. What’s even better is that it’s from ANNA Magazine (Issue 18 – Classics), a stunningly beautiful quarterly publication created by Mari Loewen, an absolute golden girl and ‘money honey’ herself. I mean, c’mon, what kind of woman dreams to start a magazine in her kitchen (with her dining room as the photography studio) - and one that competes on newsstands with the likes of Ms. Stewart – and then actually DOES it???

Or, in Mari’s own words: “I had a dream to create a beautiful magazine with a unique concept that would inspire readers to make everyday special and bring my love of food and entertaining to life with simple recipes, inspiring quotes and stories, extraordinary photography and exceptional design. A magazine that would be named rather than dated – timeless and collectible.”

The truffle pie did it for us.

Champagne Truffle Pie

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1-1/2 cups chocolate cookie wafers, crushed
• 1-1/2 cups good-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup 35% cream
• 2 tablespoons champagne (Money Honey tip: save money with the leftover Prosecco!)
• Cocoa powder, good quality olive oil, and coarse salt to finish

How-to: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine melted butter with crushed wafers and press into an 8-inch tart pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Place chopped chocolate in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl. In a small saucepan, heat cream to the just boiling point, stirring constantly. Pour hot cream into bowl of chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add champagne and stir until smooth. Pour onto crust and cool. Place in freezer for up to 2 hours. To serve, dust with cocoa, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Serves 6 to 8 very lucky people! (Or twice that if just taking a sliver – it’s very rich!)