Cooking up a book trailer and some Moonlight Madness!

Okay, so I caught the book trailer bug.
Mostly, because my friend Cathy posted a picture
on facebook of her stint as the white witch from the
play version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
and every time I saw it, it made me laugh -- out
loud! She must have done a good job, because a
little girl saw her after the play and came up
and kicked her. Okay, I'm laughing again!


Anyhoo, when I was kicking around the idea of a book trailer
for SPRINKLE WITH MURDER, I knew I had to use that
photo of Cathy as my bridezilla. For those of you who
have already read SPRINKLE, you know who I'm talking
about. For those of you who haven't, check out the
trailer, if Cathy doesn't sell you on this character,
nothing will!


So without further ado, sit back and enjoy the first You Tube posting
by cpcksrmrdr (cupcakes are murder). That's my You Tube handle, dig it?





Is she perfect or what? Now you probably noticed the opening shot of the cupcake
in the video. This is one of my favorites. It is Mel's Moonlight Madness Cupcake
and it's mentioned in SPRINKLE WITH MURDER, but I didn't include
a recipe in that book. It will be in the upcoming BUTTERCREAM BUMP OFF
(January 2011), but for those of you who can't wait, I'm giving a sneak preview here.

Moonlight Madness Cupcakes:

A chocolate cupcake with vanilla

buttercream frosting rolled in shredded

coconut and topped with an unwrapped

Hersey’s Kiss.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, room temperature

¾ cup milk

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup water, warm

1 bag shredded coconut, sweetened

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar,

baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, extract and water.

Beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth, scraping the sides of

the bowl as needed. Scoop into paper lined cupcake pans and bake for 20 minutes,

until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 18.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 tspn vanilla extract

4 cups confectioner's sugar

2-3 tbspns milk, or whipping cream

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides of bowl often. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. For best results, keep icing in refrigerator when not in use. This icing can be stored up to 2 weeks. Rewhip before using. Makes 3 cups of icing.

To finish the Moonlight Madness Cupcakes, spread a generous amount of the vanilla

buttercream frosting on top of the cupcake with a rubber spatula, then roll the top of

the cupcake in a bowl of shredded coconut before the frosting dries so the coconut

will adhere to the frosting. Top with an unwrapped Hersey’s Kiss.

www.jennmckinlay.com

Jenn McKinlay ~
Sprinkle With Murder ~ Buttercream Bump Off

also writing as:

Lucy Lawrence ~ Stuck on Murder ~ Cut to the Corpse