Friday, October 2, 2026

Cake Pops From Vicki Delany

I gave these a try when my grandchildren were visiting, and they were a big hit. My grandson said they were better than Starbuck’s. Take that, giant corporation!

I always enjoy using my own favourites in my books that contain recipes, and this one is found in ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, the latest Year Round Christmas mystery. In the book, bakery owner Vicky Casey caters the dessert portion of a Halloween-fund raising gala and her cake pops prove to be hugely popular.

Until someone dies after eating one.



But fear not, the recipe below contains no poisonous ingredients. Cake pops are fun and festive for any occasion, the perfect party treats for children and adults alike.

You can use any standard cake recipe but keep it plain – white or chocolate work best. This is my most basic go-to-cake recipe. Use a standard American icing, nothing fancy here. This recipe uses white chocolate, but you can use dark chocolate if you like, or a combination of both and any color of sprinkles.

The recipe seems long, and it can be complicated and time consuming, but if you take it slowly, you’ll end up with a fabulous treat.

Cake Pops

Makes 40 pops

White Cake

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter – room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 eggs – room temperature

¾ cup whole milk – room temperature

2 cups sifted pastry flour (or 1 ¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour)

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Directions:

1)      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare 8 inch square cake pan or two 8 inch round cake pans.

2)      In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt

3)      In an electric or stand mixer cream butter and vanilla thoroughly until light and fluffy; add sugar gradually, beating well

4)      Add eggs one at a time and beat after each egg is added

5)      Add milk and flour mixture alternately to the butter and sugar, ¼ each time, beginning and ending with the flour

6)      Bake until cake is lightly browned and springs back when lightly pressed.   Square cake – about 50 minutes, round cakes – about 30 minutes

7)      Cool and remove from pans.








Icing:

Ingredients:

7 tbsp (100 g) unsalted butter – room temperature

1 ¾ cup icing sugar

1 tbsp whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat butter on medium high until creamy, add icing sugar, milk, and vanilla and mix on low speed to combine, and then increase speed to medium high and beat for about 3 minutes




Prepare Cake Pops:

Crumble the cold cake into the icing mixture, ensuring there are no large lumps. With mixer on low, combine.

Take about 1 tbsp (weight about 20g) of the cake mixture and form into a ball. Place balls on baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper.  Refrigerate for 2 – 24 hours.




Chocolate Coating

Ingredients

24 oz white chocolate

Sprinkles

50 Lollipop sticks

Directions:

Melt chocolate in a 2-cup glass measuring cup in the microwave, stirring regularly, until melted and smooth



Assemble Cake Pops:



Remove three or four cake balls from the fridge at a time. Dip the tip of a lollypop stick into the chocolate and insert ½ way into the cake ball. Dip in melted chocolate until coated.  Decorate the cake pop with sprinkles and place upright in a holder to dry. A Styrofoam block works well for this step or even a colander if the holes are the right size.

Continue with the remainder of the cake pops, only removing a few at a time from the refrigerator to work with.

Allow chocolate about one hour to dry. Can be stored in the refrigerator for one week, or the freezer for up to two months.


 


Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social



Now available: ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, a Year Round Christmas Mystery from Crooked Lane Books.



January 5, 2027: A Murder Most Irregular, the twelfth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop novel

 

 

Thursday, October 1, 2026

Maple Tahini Rice Krispy Treats by Lucy Burdette






LUCY BURDETTE: I do not think I’ve ever in my life made a pan of rice crispy treats. However, when I saw a recipe in Real Simple written by Jenna Helwig from a cookbook by Leah Koenig (The Dessert Table), I was tempted. This recipe had tahini and maple syrup in it, in addition to the traditional marshmallows and rice krispies. That sounded good! Plus, I was due to bring some treats to our church’s post-service coffee hour. I thought these could be cut up into lots of little pieces and that they would be popular.



By the way, Jenna is not only the food director for Real Simple and a cookbook editor, she has her first suspense novel set in Paris coming out in October. It’s called The Foreign Correspondent’s Wife and I can’t wait to read it!  


Ingredients



5 cups Rice Krispies cereal 


6 tbsp. unsalted butter (3/4 stick)


10 oz marshmallows (not mini)


1/3 cup well-stirred tahini 


2 tbsp pure maple syrup


1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract


1/2 tsp kosher salt


Toasted sesame seeds for topping (white, black, or a mix)



Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook on medium low until beginning to brown. Turn the heat down, add the marshmallows and stir until those are melted too. Take the pan off the heat and add the tahini, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. In a large bowl, stir the butter mixture into the cereal until everything is coated.







Scrape this into an 8 by 8 inch pan, which you will have lined with parchment paper in the bottom and lapping over the sides. Press the cereal mixture in lightly and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Let this cool for at least half an hour before you move the whole batch to a cutting board.



Cut into squares and serve immediately, or else store in an airtight container until the time is right. Beware that if you’re anything like me, the marshmallow ingredient will possibly send you into a sugar coma.


A DELICIOUS DECEPTION can be found at a bookstore near you!


A Delicious Deception has a slightly different tone than some of the earlier books, with more emphasis on family, but I loved it just as much as the rest of the series. Ms. Burdette has created characters who have grown in such natural, believable ways. She delivers an excellent mystery while also weaving in a major, emotional turning point in their lives. There is drama, murder, secrets, late-pregnancy feelings and hormones, a sick father-in-law, home renovations, a fun baby shower, and friends and family ready to tackle whatever comes their way. And in the end, a beautiful baby! Escape with Dollycas

This cozy mystery expertly balances personal stakes with a fast-paced plot in a consistent Burdette fashion. It’s a suspenseful, heart-filled addition to the series that proves Hayley is just as effective at solving crimes as she is at critiquing menus. Netgalley reviewer

Book 15 in the Key West series, paperback edition of THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores now!



USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

@AUTHOR DARCI HANNAH, TUSCAN GARLIC CHICKEN, RECIPE

 



DARCI HANNAH: It’s fall y’all, and now that the days are getting shorter and the evenings are getting cooler, my dinner menus are shifting from salads and lighter meals to those heartier dinners that warm the belly. We love our comfort food in this family, particularly a good pasta dish. While spaghetti with a thick Bolognese meat sauce and plenty of garlic bread always goes over well with my hubby and sons, my favorite is a lighter sauce (not sure with all the cream in this sauce that it’s lighter!) with hints of garlic, fresh veggies, and chicken as the main protein. When I stumbled across this recipe for Tuscan Garlic Chicken and made it for my family, it was a hit! I think you’ll like it too. You can serve it over penne pasta, cavatappi pasta, or your favorite tortellini!


Delicious Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Prep time: 30 minutes. Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded to even thickness

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups fresh baby spinach

1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained (reserve 3 tablespoon for cooking)

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated.

Salt and pepper to taste.

16 oz box of penne pasta, or your favorite tortellini (prepared according to package)

Directions: 


Cook your tortellini or penne pasta according to package and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet and cook chicken over medium heat until done, about 5 minutes a side. Transfer to a plate to let cool. 


In the same skillet add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the sliced mushrooms until golden brown. Add the minced garlic and the sun-dried tomatoes to the pan. Sauté for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the tomatoes have softened. Add the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. 

Add the chicken broth and cook for 3 minutes to reduce the liquid. Reduce heat and add the heavy cream. 


While the sauce is thickening, cube the cooked chicken. Once the cream sauce has thickened, add the chicken back to the skillet. Next, add the grated Parmesan cheese. Let simmer while stirring occasionally until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened. 



The dish is ready to serve. At this point you can either pour it over your cooked pasta, or you can add your cooked pasta to the pan and heat it through for a few minutes. Garnish with extra grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

You can print a copy of the recipe here!

What is your favorite pasta dish?


Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you. 

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com

Instagram: @authordarcihannah

Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah



Murder at the Campfire Cookout

By Darci Hannah

Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series


ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .

Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.

Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.

But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .

Because no one is out of the woods yet.


A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE

By Darci Hannah

Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

 

When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .

Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well. 

After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .


COMING FEBRUARY 23, 2027

A TOAST TO AGATHA CHRISTIE’S GHOST

By Darci Hannah

Book #3 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series


ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

Chef Bunny MacBride has gotten roped into a ghost-hunting reality show called Food & Spirits, creating dishes to whet the appetites of apparitions. Along the way, she’s discovered she has some supernatural gifts of her own—and an eerie knack for solving murders…

The cast and crew are on Burgh Island, at a restored Art Deco hotel that boasts Agatha Christie as its most famous guest—and now its most famous ghost. They’re filming at a murder-mystery weekend, and Bunny expects it to be more kooky than spooky. But she’s excited to meet the renowned resident chef and delighted to run into her Granny Mac playing the role of Miss Marple. As a bonus, her romance with costar Brett continues to simmer.

The downside is dealing with arrogant guests like Buckley Thorne, who sends back her beetroot salad and demands whipped cream for her peach Melba. Then the show’s phony psychic, Giff, insists on playing Poirot, complete with an absurdly bad accent. When it turns out the victim role is assigned to Buckley Thorne, she feels a touch of satisfaction—until she realizes he’s doing too good a job of playing dead . . .

Shocked to learn Buckley’s true identity, Bunny has to change course once again from cook to crime-solver. She’d sensed an undercurrent of drama at the dead man’s table—and with help from the spirit of the world’s greatest mystery writer, she’s looking closely at the victim’s handsome son, much-younger wife, and elegant circle of friends to conjure up a solution . . .




Tuesday, September 29, 2026

New Release: THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN by Cleo Coyle + #Giveaway News



Congratulations to our own... 



On the release of her New 

Haunted Bookshop Mystery 

THE GHOST AND THE DEAD LIBRARIAN 



A Library Journal 

"Mystery Pick of the Month"  

& 

Brodart Top Adult Title 



In an utterly charming new mystery from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle, a small-town Rhode Island bookshop owner investigates the death of an eccentric librarian with the help of a wisecracking, 1940s gumshoe ghost.

As a young widow, Penelope moved back to her quaint Rhode Island town to give her young son a safer home and her aunt's dying bookshop new life. Using her late husband's insurance money, Pen polished the store into a local treasure. But her updates did more than attract new customers. They roused a dead private eye from his big sleep.

With Pen's affection for hardboiled detective stories, it's no surprise she's developed a fondness for the wisecracking yet oddly likeable spirit. Sure, Jack's cold spots are exasperating, along with his proclivity for putting noir fiction in the cozy section. But murder was Jack's business in life, and his PI skills come in awfully handy when the body of an eccentric librarian is found amid the bookshop's aisles.

For years, Dory jokingly called herself "The Dead Librarian" because of her hobby of collecting and writing local obituaries. Now, in death, she's discovered with her own eerily pre-written obit. Was it a suicide note? Jack and Pen say no and their certainty takes them from a ghost town's ancient cemetery to a posh Newport mansion. When another body drops, a mysterious stranger makes Pen a shocking offer, one that may change her life—and Jack's afterlife. But unless Jack can help Pen prove who "checked out" the librarian, a ruthless killer may close the book on her.






"This spin-off of Coyle's 'Haunted Bookshop' series blends cozy mystery, supernatural intrigue, and classic noir influences into a suspenseful small-town murder mystery....Combining humor, literary references, ghostly interventions, and layered community drama, the novel explores how hidden truths from the past continue to haunt the present." 

—Library Journal (*Starred Review)


"INGENIOUS...EXCEPTIONALLY VIVID.... Jack and Pen, along with a host of colorful characters, solve an assortment of crimes in a variety of places across nearly a century."  

—Kirkus Reviews 


book news, bonus recipes, 
and fun giveaways for 
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CLICK HERE to sign up for 
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GIVEAWAY NEWS!

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