Welcome guest author Jenn McKinlay + book #giveaway

How wonderful to be visiting the yummiest blog on the Interwebs. Thanks so much for inviting me, Daryl! It’s great to be cooking in the kitchen again.

In honor of my latest release WEDDING CAKE CRUMBLE, the tenth cupcake bakery mystery, I am sharing the recipe for lemon-lavender cupcakes, which is in the book with the recipe included in the back.

Frequently, people ask me where I get the ideas for the cupcakes that I write into the books. It works pretty much like this, I am deep into writing the book and then I come upon a scene where cupcakes are baked, decorated, delivered, or otherwise mentioned and I think to myself ‘What cupcake would make me happy right now?’ On the day I was writing this book, I was freezing my butt off in New England and thinking about spring flowers and warmer weather. Lavender-lemon cupcakes popped into my head as just the thing to chase away the last of the winter blues so I wrote them into the book.

Little did I know, this was going to turn into an epic quest when it came time to develop the recipe. Hunting down culinary lavender became the equivalent of searching for the last dragon. Honestly, I tried my local grocery store. No luck. I went to my other grocery store. Nope. I checked out a fine foods shop, they were out. I then went to my favorite spice shop, but they had moved across town! It was beginning to look like the lemon-lavender cupcakes were going to remain fiction. And then, finally, while I was complaining to a friend from Oregon about my plight, she said, “Oh, I have some.” Seriously.

Have any of you kitchen mavens had the search for ingredients go wacky on you?

Thankfully, she had no use for the lavender, because as we know all know, there is some trial and error in getting the taste just right, and I had to use a good amount until I was happy with the result. And so, I share with you, my recipe for lemon-lavender cupcakes.

Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes: A tart lemon cupcake with sweet lavender frosting.

Ingredients:

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

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners. 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 the lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Fill paper liners until two-thirds full. Bake 20 minutes. Makes 24.

Lavender Frosting:

Ingredients:

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 Tablespoons milk

1 drop purple food coloring

Fresh lavender

Directions:

Directions: In large bowl, cream butter. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Add dried lavender and vanilla, mixing well. Add milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Spread lavender frosting on cooled cupcakes and garnish with a fresh lavender sprig.

Now, you may have guessed from the title WEDDING CAKE CRUMBLE, that there is a wedding taking place in the latest cupcake bakery mystery. It’s true. Tate Harper and Angie DeLaura are scheduled to tie the knot. But…do they? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Here’s a synopsis of the plot for those who need to know more:

With Angie and Tate's wedding just around the corner, it's a happy time for Melanie Cooper and the bakery crew. Not only are they finessing the last minute details of the big day, but their bakery, Fairy Tale Cupcakes, has just been hired to bake cupcakes for the blockbuster book signing of a controversial author who wrote a steamy bestseller filled with juicy local gossip.

But one by one, the people Angie has hired to work at the wedding begin turning up dead. As the body count rises, the bestselling author is the next to bite the dust. Mel quickly realizes she needs to figure out how the murders are connected and why--before the killer brings the entire cupcake crew crumbling down. After all, Angie and Tate deserve their sweet happily ever after.

Thanks so much for letting me visit today! 

GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment and be entered in the drawing to win a signed copy of the book and a sweet set of measuring spoons!

Happy reading (and eating)! XOXO Jenn

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You can find Jenn here on the "interweb":

Website: www.jennmckinlay.com

Twitter: @JennMcKinlay 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennmckinlayauthor

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/jennmckinlay
Instagram @mckinlayjenn

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