Friday, September 23, 2022

Anniversary Cake from @MaddieDayAuthor plus #giveaway


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. 
I love cake, and I love baking, and I was casting around for a recipe I'd never made. 
And then I had a light bulb moment!


Recently I joined with a group of cozy authors to help Jenn McKinlay launch Fairy Tale Cupcakes.
When I spied Chocolate Chili Cupcakes (page 34), I knew that was it. 
I wasn't drawn to the Chocolate Candy Coating for the top, though. 
I kept hunting until I found Espresso Buttercream Frosting (page 62). Perfect!

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.


Check out all my writing!




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.




60 comments:

  1. My favorite cake is red velvet.
    Kitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on 10 years and 28 wonderful books. Here's to the next decade with most fabulous books to come!

    My 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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That cake sounds delicious. Thanks for the awesome opportunity

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    2. Kay, 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.

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  3. Awesome cover! That green really pops. I've been looking forward to reading it.
    My favorite cake is a black forest cake.
    kozo8989(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  4. My boyfriend’s apple cake. sgiden at verizon(.)net

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  5. Carrot cake with Cream cheese frosting deborahortega229@yahoo.com

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  6. My 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

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  7. My 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.

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  8. Favorite type of cake is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

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  9. I love Chocolate Cake with chocolate frosting.
    Becky Prazak

    rjprazak6@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. A 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.
    Wskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  11. Hummingbird Cake is my favorite cake. Thank you for ten years of wonderful reading! lnchudej@yahoo.com

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  12. The picture of the slice of cake is wonderful. What a rich dark chocolate cake contrasting the frosting.
    For 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

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  13. Happy 10th anniversary, dear Edith! You're an inspiration - and a great cook and writer. Wishing my many more cakes and books.

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  14. Happy Anniversary, my dear friend! What a delicious way to celebrate!

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  15. Thrilled for your ten years of published success, Edith! And the cake sounds fantastic. I might leave out the chili, though.

    My 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.

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  16. My 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m Lea from North Carolina.

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    2. My mom made that a lot, too. SImple and delicious.

      Delete
  17. That 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

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    Replies
    1. Ooh, I would love that recipe! Would you share it with me at edith@edithmaxwell.com? I might use it in a book!

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  18. My 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

    ReplyDelete
  19. Italian rum cake from a local bakery
    jtcgc at yahoo dot com

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  20. My favorite cake is chocolate with strawberry icing. (From Melissa Wilson startrek1976(at)yahoo(dot)com ))

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  21. Congratulations on 10 years! My favorite cake would be a chocolate cake with buttercream icing.

    Thanks for the chance!!

    jarjm1980(@)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congratulations on ten years! Love the covers on your books. My favorite is called the White House cake.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. 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

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  24. Congrats!! I like yellow cake with chocolate frosting!

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  25. I 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!

    Nancy
    allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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  26. Love the cover of Four Leaf Cleaver! Favorite cake: Tiramisu.
    everyartbeat@gmail.com

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  27. Looks delish!! My favorite is carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting but I really like any kind of frosting!

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  28. Looking forward to Murder in a Cape Cottage!

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  29. My 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!

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  30. welcome 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.

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  31. Love the cover. And the punny title. My favorite cake is red velvet and just plain ol yellow with chocolate frosting.
    Thanks for the chance to win.

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  32. That's a great book cover! My favorite cake to eat is chocolate with chocolate frosting and nuts on top!! lindaherold999@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Linda, you are our lucky winner! Congratulations, and please check your email.

      Delete
  33. Mine 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

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  34. My favorite cake is carrot! tWarner419@aol.com

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  35. Linda Herold is our lucky winner! Congratulations, Linda, and please check your email.

    ReplyDelete