MADDIE DAY here, so happy to bring you the cake I baked to celebrate my first decade of being a published author!
(Dear readers: Blogger is NOT cooperating today. Apologies for the tiny
font in places - otherwise it was cutting off the ends of lines. Grrr.)
I went from book #1 to book #28 in ten years Because of course I wanted a cake with ten candles on it, one for each year. Recently I joined with a group of cozy authors to help Jenn McKinlay launch Fairy Tale Cupcakes. It's the new cupcake cookbook Jenn - formerly a blogger right here at the Kitchen - wrote with Christie Conlee featuring recipes from Jenn's long-running Cupcake Bakery Mysteries series. Hmm, I thought. I know I can modify a recipe for cupcakes into a cake. But which flavor, which frosting? Being me, I adapted the recipes a bit in terms of ingredients and process, but the essence is all Jenn. Thank you, my friend. Chocolate
Chili Anniversary Cake with Espresso Frosting The basic recipes are from Fairy Tale Cupcakes by Jenn McKinlay and Christie Conlee. I doubled the cupcake recipe amounts to make one Bundt cake. Amounts that follow for the cake are already doubled. Cut them in half for one pan of cupcakes. Better yet, buy the book and use Jenn’s amounts. Ingredients (Alert readers will note I forgot to include the espresso powder in the ingredients shot.) Cake: 2 ½
cups King Arthur unbleached white flour 1
cup dark cocoa powder 1
cup hot water 2
teaspoons baking powder 2
teaspoons cinnamon 1
teaspoon cardamom 1
teaspoon nutmeg 2
teaspoons chili powder ½ teaspoon
salt 10
tablespoons softened butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) 1
cup sugar 4
eggs ½ c
vegetable oil 1
teaspoon vanilla
Frosting (I didn’t double Jenn’s recipe for this): 1
cup (2 sticks) butter 1
teaspoon vanilla 2
teaspoons espresso powder 4
cups powdered sugar, sifted 2-3
tablespoons whole milk
Directions Cake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a standard Bundt pan. Mix
flour, baking powder, spices, and salt and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa and hot water until mixed. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until it is fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add oil and vanilla and beat until blended. Add the dry mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture until thoroughly blended. Fill the Bundt pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool
on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto the rack and let cool completely
before frosting.
Frosting: Beat butter, vanilla, and espresso powder until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating at medium speed. Add milk and beat until light and
fluffy. Transfer cake onto a pretty plate. Spread frosting onto cake, smoothing into cavity and down sides. (Adding candles is optional.) Store covered. Enjoy with coffee or champagne! Readers: What's your favorite cake? I'm excited to announce I just got in a box of Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of Four Leaf Cleaver, and I'd love to send a commenter one of them. Isn't the cover cool? My very next release is Murder in a Cape Cottage, the fourth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, out September 27. "Scarfed Down," my Country Store novella in the collection Christmas Scarf Murder releases the same day. My next release is Four Leaf Cleaver, out in late January. We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories. Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen. |
My favorite cake is red velvet.
ReplyDeleteKitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net
Yummy!
DeleteCongratulations on 10 years and 28 wonderful books. Here's to the next decade with most fabulous books to come!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cake is my Mom's Hungarian Coffee Cake which I always requested for my birthday. Think an ooey gooey monkey bread all homemade with lots of cinnamon, pecan goodies around each little yeasty ball of lightness. It was pure heavenly, but also very time consuming to make. Mine never taste quite like Mom's. Think they miss her special love ingredient. Now my favorite cake is the Three Day Coconut Cake which only gets better with time and yes you have to bake it and let it sit for three days. It's also an adaptation of my Mom's recipe for Fresh Grated Coconut Cake where all the hard work has been done for you by using frozen fresh grated coconut.
Thank you for the chance to win an ARC of "Four Leaf Cleaver". Most definitely on my TBR list and I can't wait for the opportunity to read and review another of your fabulous books.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Delicious!
DeleteThat cake sounds delicious. Thanks for the awesome opportunity
DeleteKay, I wonder if your Hungarian coffeecake is the same as mine. It was served in my grade school cafeteria and the lunch ladies added the recipe to an oilcloth covered cookbook fundraiser in about 1963. I used to make it every Christmas morning while the kids were unwrapping gifts.
DeleteAwesome cover! That green really pops. I've been looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cake is a black forest cake.
kozo8989(at)hotmail(dot)com
I love the cover, too.
DeleteMy boyfriend’s apple cake. sgiden at verizon(.)net
ReplyDeleteSounds yummy.
ReplyDeleteCarrot cake with Cream cheese frosting deborahortega229@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteA favorite!
DeleteMy favorite cake is chocolate sheet cake with buttercream frosting. When I make it for the office, I usually flavor the buttercream with mint extract. Congratulations on the upcoming release! aut1063(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteSounds great!
DeleteMy favorite cake is carrot cake but right now I am in the mood for almost any kind of cake at all! Your cake looks fabulous and good enough to eat! I really can't imagine what it tastes like so I'm just going to have to bake one for myself. Congratulations on 10 years published! Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteFavorite type of cake is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting
ReplyDeleteA classic.
DeleteI love Chocolate Cake with chocolate frosting.
ReplyDeleteBecky Prazak
rjprazak6@gmail.com
Yummy.
DeleteA local bakery makes a lemon delight cake. White cake with lemon filling. The lemon filling is also used to cover the cake instead of the usual frosting.
ReplyDeleteWskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com
I love that idea.
DeleteHummingbird Cake is my favorite cake. Thank you for ten years of wonderful reading! lnchudej@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome!
DeleteThe picture of the slice of cake is wonderful. What a rich dark chocolate cake contrasting the frosting.
ReplyDeleteFor years I tried to find a bakery that could make a cake version of a Reese's cup-chocolate cake with peanut frosting. No one knew how to handle it. Now, years later, I see peanut frosting versions all over. I was ahead of the times.
libbydodd at comcast dot net
Of course you are!
DeleteHappy 10th anniversary, dear Edith! You're an inspiration - and a great cook and writer. Wishing my many more cakes and books.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Molly!
DeleteHappy Anniversary, my dear friend! What a delicious way to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Leslie!
DeleteThrilled for your ten years of published success, Edith! And the cake sounds fantastic. I might leave out the chili, though.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cake of all time is Sacher Torte. A local bakery used to make one that was spectacular, but now their made-to-order version is a pale imitation.
Thanks, Karen. It's really not spicy at all.
DeleteMy favorite cake is buttery yellow cake with chocolate icing. I know simple but my grandmother always made me this cake for my birthday 🎂. I will always love this the best.
ReplyDeleteI’m Lea from North Carolina.
DeleteMy mom made that a lot, too. SImple and delicious.
DeleteThat cover is lovely. Punny titles are the best. Looking forward to reading another one of your books. Always worth another read. Love fudgy chocolate cakes with fudgy frosting. But all time favorite is my grandmothers Applesauce Spice cake made with bourbon. The frosting is a nice light as air buttercream with cream cheese and bourbon in it. deepotter at centurylink dot net
ReplyDeleteOoh, I would love that recipe! Would you share it with me at edith@edithmaxwell.com? I might use it in a book!
DeleteMy favorite cake is a white cake with whipped creme and fresh fruits and melons that was so good and made from a bakery everytime it was someones birthday at work they requested that cake. ptclayton2@aol.com peggy clayton from Iowa
ReplyDeleteSounds great.
DeleteItalian rum cake from a local bakery
ReplyDeletejtcgc at yahoo dot com
Yummy!
DeleteMy favorite cake is chocolate with strawberry icing. (From Melissa Wilson startrek1976(at)yahoo(dot)com ))
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on 10 years! My favorite cake would be a chocolate cake with buttercream icing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!!
jarjm1980(@)hotmail(dot)com
Congratulations on ten years! Love the covers on your books. My favorite is called the White House cake.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
My favorite cake is cookies and cream with cookies and cream frosting. I love the cover for Four Leaf Cleaver. Thanks for the chance to win a copy! cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteCongrats!! I like yellow cake with chocolate frosting!
ReplyDeleteI like chocolate cake with chocolate ganache truffle icing. I have enjoyed so many of the books in this series. I would love to have an ARC of Four Leaf Cleaver!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
Love the cover of Four Leaf Cleaver! Favorite cake: Tiramisu.
ReplyDeleteeveryartbeat@gmail.com
Looks delish!! My favorite is carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting but I really like any kind of frosting!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Murder in a Cape Cottage!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cake is either lemon or orange, but I think I’m going to have to try that espresso frosting on something. Thank you for the chance to win an ARC of Four Leaf Cleaver—the cover is adorable and I love holiday-themed cozies!
ReplyDeletesmurphy (at) macados (dot) net
Deletewelcome and thanks for visiting today. oh but thanks so much for this delicious looking recipe. My favorite cake is: Cherry Carnival. Mom would make it every year for my birthday. When I got married my husband picked it up. When the kids came along they picked it up with dad and then made it themselves. Thanks for the chance to read one of your books. This sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLove the cover. And the punny title. My favorite cake is red velvet and just plain ol yellow with chocolate frosting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win.
That's a great book cover! My favorite cake to eat is chocolate with chocolate frosting and nuts on top!! lindaherold999@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteLinda, you are our lucky winner! Congratulations, and please check your email.
DeleteMine is German chocolate cake, my Mom many years ago made them by scrach they were so good I miss her cakes. thanks for the recipe. Penney
ReplyDeleteI love the cover too.
DeleteMy favorite cake is carrot! tWarner419@aol.com
ReplyDeleteLinda Herold is our lucky winner! Congratulations, Linda, and please check your email.
ReplyDelete