by Emily James
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Love,
Emily
Maple Syrup Mysteries
Looking for something to read until the next Cupcake Truck Mystery comes out? Try Emily James’ Maple Syrup Mysteries. This thirteen book series is complete and available in both print and ebook formats. The first four books are also available as audiobooks.
Criminal defense attorney Nicole Fitzhenry-Dawes thought that moving to the small Michigan tourist town of Fair Haven and taking over her uncle’s maple syrup farm would keep her far away from murderers, liars, and criminals. She couldn’t have been more wrong…
If you love small-town settings, quirky characters, and a dollop of romance, then you’ll enjoy this amateur sleuth mystery series.
Pick up the whole series at https://smarturl.it/maplesyrupmysteries.
Recipe: Mango-Coconut Cupcake
Don’t worry — there’s no lime in Isabel’s tropical cupcakes, so you can eat this even if you’re on a cold medicine! These cupcakes do have a lot of steps, but they’re well worth the time.
INGREDIENTS:
CAKE
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature
3/4 cup coconut milk, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
MANGO CURD
2/3 cup mango pulp (from 1 medium mango)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
ICING
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
TOPPING
2/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
INSTRUCTIONS:
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2.In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. These are your dry ingredients.
3.In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light in color and smooth. This will take about 3-4 minutes.
4.Add in the egg, coconut milk, yogurt, vanilla extract, coconut extract, and almond extract and mix until smooth. These are your wet ingredients.
5.Add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, and whisk together until combined.
6.Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full with the batter.
7.Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
TO MAKE THE CURD
1.In a blender or food processors, puree the mango until smooth. You should have 1 cup mango puree at the end. If not, puree a bit more until you get the right amount.
2.In a medium sauce pan, whisk together mango puree, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt.
10.In a separate small bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then whisk the yolks into the mango mixture.
3.Whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens to a pudding consistency. This should take about 5-7 minutes.
4.Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, a few chunks at a time, until dissolved.
5.Use a fine-mesh sieve to strain the mixture. (A rubber spatula works well to push the mixture through the sieve.)
6.Place plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd to stop a skin from forming.
7.Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
TO MAKE THE ICING
1.Using the whisk attachment for your mixer on medium-high speed, whip the butter for 5 minutes.
2.Reduce the speed to low (unless you like breathing in a powdered sugar cloud). Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3.Add in the vanilla extract and coconut extract. Beat on medium-high until incorporated.
4.Whip at the same speed for about 2 minutes, until the icing is fluffy.
TO TOAST THE COCONUT
1.Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
2.Place the coconut on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3.Bake coconut until lightly browned. Stir partway through. How long this takes depends on your oven, but the average is 5-10 minutes.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CUPCAKES
1.Cut a hole in the center of the cupcakes, and reserve the piece you cut out.
2.Fill the hole with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of mango curd.
3.Top with icing.
4.Add 1-2 teaspoons of toasted coconut to the top of each.
Makes 12-16 cupcakes.
About the Author
Emily James grew up watching TV shows like Matlock, Monk, and Murder She Wrote. (It’s pure coincidence that they all begin with an M.) It was no surprise to anyone when she turned into a mystery writer.
Alongside being a writer, she’s also a wife, an animal lover, and a new artist. She likes coffee and painting and drinking coffee while painting. She also enjoys cooking. She tries not to do that while painting because, well, you shouldn’t eat paint.
Emily and her husband share their home with a blue Great Dane, six cats (all rescues), and a budgie (who is both the littlest and the loudest).
If you’d like to know as soon as Emily’s next mystery releases, please join her newsletter list at www.subscribepage.com/cupcakes.
She also loves hearing from readers.
www.authoremilyjames.com
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