It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

Today's recipe comes from the first book in 

Jenn McKinlay's Cupcake Bakery Mystery series 

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER. 

This series is my all time favorite cozy mystery series! It also happens to be the first cozy series I read.

With Jenn's writing style and my love of all things cupcakes, it's a match made in Heaven!

On to the recipe!

TINKERBELL CUPCAKES

Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting rolled in Pink Sugar

Lemon Cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar, divided

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

   Preheat over to 350 degrees

   Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes

   With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon  zest

   Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl

   In another bowl, combine lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla

   Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour

   Use an ice cream scoop to fill a paper-lined cupcake pan

   Bake 20 minutes

   Makes 24

Photo courtesy Jenn McKinlay

Raspberry Buttercream

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup raspberries (wash and dry thoroughly)

   In large bowl, cream shortening and butter

   Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed

   Scrape sides of bowl often

   Add raspberries, and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy

   Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use

   Make 3 cups if frosting (icing)

To add a sparkle, roll sides of frosting in pink sugar (or sprinkle)

I can't wait to make these myself! 

Want to appear on my blog?

Take photos making a recipe 
featured on my blog

 and email them to me at

 lisaksbookreview@aol.com 

I will post them on an upcoming 

 Cozy Food Friday!

You can find SPRINKLED WITH MURDER and the rest of the Cupcake Bakery series by Jenn McKinlay, and at your local bookstore or online at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Learn even more of SPRINKLED WITH MURDER below!

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader

Keeping my theme going my... 

Book Beginnings this week is also from

SPRINKLED WITH MURDER by Jenn McKinlay

"Does she really think we don't see her?" Angie DeLaura asked her best friend and business partner Melanie Cooper.

Mel blew her blonde bangs off her forehead and came around the counter of the cupcake display case to glance out the front window with Angie.

"How many times has she driven by today?" she asked.

"Seven times since we opened this morning, and twelve yesterday."

"You'd think if she was so worried about our shop stealing her customers, she'd be slaving away in her kitchen baking something."

"You'd think," Angie agreed.

Just then the icing pink, refrigerated van did another slow drive by their window. Angie and Mel smiled and waved. Olivia Puckett, the driver of the van and owner of a nearby bakery called Confections, gave them a wide-eyed stare and stomped on the gas, bumping the curb with one of the van's tires in her haste to get away.

"Maybe she'll get a flat ," Angie said.

"We can always hope," Mel agreed. 

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice

Continuing with the SPRINKLE WITH MURDER theme

My Friday 56

Mel felt the same helplessness she'd felt when her father died. She'd watch her own mother suffer and grieve, and had not known what to say or how to help. Now she was watching one of her closest friends go through the same thing, and again she didn't know what to do. Granted, she was not paralyzed by her own sense of loss this time, but still, she felt woefully inadequate to help ___.

Lisa's Note: Sorry, didn't want to spoil anything by giving a name. ;-)

Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She's a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding.

When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead-by-cupcake, she becomes the prime suspect. To save themselves and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer, before the cupcake killer ices someone else.

Jenn is the New York Times

bestselling author of

several mystery series.

She lives in sunny AZ in a

house overrun with kids,

pets and her husband's

guitars.

Visit her website at:

www.jennmckinlay.com

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Also, become a Follower of my blog by 

clicking on the link in the 

upper right hand corner of this page.