It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

This week's recipe is from

SPRINKLES OF SUSPICION

Book 1 in the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries

by Kim Davis

One glass of cheap California chardonnay cost Emory Gosser Martinez her husband, her job, and her best friend. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of her troubles.

Distraught after discovering the betrayal by her husband and best friend, Tori, cupcake caterer Emory Martinez allows her temper to flare. Several people witness her very public altercation with her ex-friend. To make matters worse, Tori exacts her revenge by posting a fake photo of Emory in a compromising situation, which goes viral on social media. When Tori is found murdered, all signs point to Emory being the prime suspect.

With the police investigation focused on gathering evidence to convict her, Emory must prove her innocence while whipping up batches of cupcakes and buttercream. Delving into the past of her murdered ex-friend, she finds other people had reasons to want Tori dead, including Emory’s own husband. Can she find the killer, or will the clues sprinkled around the investigation point the police back to her?

Includes recipes!

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GIMLET CUPCAKES

photos property of www.cinnamonsugarandalittlebitofmurder.com

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1-1/4 cups (161g) cake flour

1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, room temperature

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup gin

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Zest from 1 lime

1/8 teaspoon pure lime oil (optional)

Glaze:

1/2 cup (64g) confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons gin

2 tablespoons lime juice

Zest from 1 lime

Frosting:

4 cups (506g) confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

3 tablespoons gin

1/8 teaspoon pure lime oil, optional

1 drop mint green and 2 drops yellow gel food coloring (optional)

Garnish Suggestions:

Fresh lime wedges

Candied lime peel

Lime fruit gel candies

Sprinkles

Instructions

Cupcakes:

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

   Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

   Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl.         Set aside.

   Whisk the gin, lime juice, and pure lime oil (if using) together. Set aside.

   In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the eggs on medium speed for 30 seconds.

   Add the sugar and the lime zest and continue to whisk an additional minute.

   With the mixer running on low, slowly add the vegetable oil. Increase mixer to medium and whisk an additional minute.

   Reduce mixer speed back to low and add half the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Beat on low until mostly incorporated.

   Add half the gin mixture and stir to combine.

   Repeat with remaining flour and gin mixture and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

   Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 full and bake 12 - 14 minutes. Batter is quite thin and I like to use 1/4 cup measuring cup for filling liners.

   Remove from oven and allow to cool in the cupcake tin for 5 minutes.

   Move the cupcakes to a wire rack and immediately proceed with glaze.

Glaze:

   Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, gin, lime juice and lime zest.

   Pierce each warm cupcake 4 times with the tines of a fork.

   Brush the glaze over the cupcakes, allowing the liquid to soak in before applying more. Be sure to use all the glaze.

   Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before proceeding with the frosting.

Frosting:

   Place butter and salt into the bowl of a standing mixer and whip until the butter is creamy, approximately 2 – 3 minutes on medium-high speed.

   With the mixer running on low speed, add confectioners’ sugar a little at a time, mixing until sugar is coated with the butter.

   Whisk the gin and lime juice together along with the pure lime oil and gel food coloring if using.

   Once the butter and sugar mixture is creamy slowly add the gin mixture.

   Increase the speed to medium-high and whip for approximately 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.

   Frost the cupcakes and garnish if desired. 

Having been able to taste Kim's other creations, these cupcakes will be amazingly delicious!

I couldn’t wait to read this first cozy by author Kim Davis.  I have to say, it was worth the wait.

In SPRINKLES OF SUSPICION, the introduction to the series’ protagonist was a little different from most books in the cozy genre. She didn’t start off reading like a cozy lead. The first couple of chapters read more like chick lit, and indeed had me forgetting I was reading a mystery at all. But once the author delved into the story, it was back on track with a mystery that kept me guessing.

There was so much going on in this book. Every new chapter had my head spinning, and my fingers turning the pages faster and faster. And through it all I was rooting on series lead, Emory Martinez, and watching her morph into a more confident woman.

As for the murder, I had no idea who the killer was. There were plenty of suspects to choose from. The victim, Emory’s ex-best friend, really had a lot of people out to get her. Every time I was set on who the killer was, author Davis threw in another twist and led me in an entirely different direction.

A good first in a series, SPRINKLES OF SUSPICION was a story that had me so absorbed that I didn’t even realize the sun had gone down until I could no longer see the words. With a lamp flipped on, I finished this mystery to its satisfying conclusion, and am already anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

     I glanced back at the cake and yelped. “Pull over, Carrie. It’s going to fall!”

   “What?” Despite not knowing what could be wrong, Carrie slowed the vehicle and steered the vehicle toward the right shoulder.

   “The cake. It’s leaning over!” I whimpered when I envisioned all my hard work collapsing into one sticky, crumbly mess.

   As soon as the van came to a complete stop, I jumped out, ran to the back, threw open the doors, and surveyed my cake. I apparently missed the mark on my first attempt at a topsy-turvy design. Even though I had studied several YouTube Videos on how to do it, I hadn’t figured out how to keep the cake stable. Now it tilted at a decidedly unplanned angle, ready to topple over. 

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!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a print copy of 

SPRINKLES OF SUSPICION

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

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Coming September 22

CAKE POPPED OFF!

Book 2 in the Cupcake Catering Mysteries

Pre-order today!

Cupcake caterer Emory Martinez is hosting a Halloween bash alongside her octogenarian employer, Tillie. With guests dressed in elaborate costumes, the band is rocking, the cocktails are flowing, and tempers are flaring when the hired Bavarian Barmaid tries to hook a rich, hapless husband. Except one of her targets happens to be Emory’s brother-in-law, which bodes ill for his pregnant wife. When Emory tracks down the distraught barmaid, instead of finding the young woman in tears, she finds her dead. Can she explain to the new detective on the scene why the Bavarian Barmaid was murdered in Emory’s bathtub with Emory’s Poison Apple Cake Pops stuffed into her mouth?

With an angry pregnant sister to contend with, she promises to clear her brother-in-law’s name. As Emory starts asking questions and tracking down the identity of the costumed guests, she finds reasons to suspect her brother-in-law has been hiding a guilty secret. Her search leads her to a web of blackmail and betrayal amongst the posh setting of the local country club crowd. Can Emory sift through the lies she’s being told and find the killer? She’ll need to step up her investigation before another victim is sent to the great pumpkin patch in the sky.

Includes spooky Halloween recipes!

About K. A. Davis
Kim Davis lives in Southern California with her husband. When she's not spending time with her granddaughters she can be found either writing on her next book, or working on her blog, Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

She has published a cozy mystery, SPRINKLES OF SUSPICION, a suspense novel, A GAME OF DECEIT, and has had several children's articles published in Cricket, Nature Friend, Skipping Stones, and the Seed of Truth magazines. Kim Davis is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

Kim's Website

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