HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Confetti! Rose petals! Champagne! CUPCAKES!
Today we are celebrating like mad–our brilliant talented pioneer woman, Red Jenn McKinlay has expanded to yet ANOTHER facet of her already incredible career–writing a cookbook!
I will pause for her well-deserved standing ovation! YAAAY!
The first volume of the recipes from the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries will be available to ALL on September 6th, wherever books and ebooks are sold. But of course, Reds and readers, you are hearing about it here first!
And then..run run run and get a copy. Or three. What a great gift, for yourself or anyone you know or anyone you’d like to know. Jenn and Christe, we are SO happy and SO proud of you!
And here's the inside scoop-- It's cupcaketastic!
When You Need a Chief Baking Officer
JENN McKINLAY: I’ll bet you didn’t know that was a thing. Well, it is. And for me it became a quite necessary thing. Here’s the back story:
I started writing the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries a million years ago—okay, it was really thirteen years ago but it feels like a million. I’m currently writing the fifteenth volume in the series with the sixteenth on deck.
To be perfectly honest, I thought this series with cupcakes as a hook was going to be done in three books, maybe five if I got really lucky. It never occurred to me that I’d be penning them into the double digits.
Averaging four recipes per book, that’s a lot of cupcakes.
Unsurprisingly, readers started asking for a cookbook with just the recipes in it about seven years ago. Because copyright is complicated, I asked, and my publisher thought about it and thought about it. Finally, they said, “Yeah, sure go ahead.” It was my turn to think about it and think about it and drag my feet—as you do when you are out of your comfort zone and have back to back deadlines and no time to take on such a massive project.
Enter my Chief Baking Officer—Christie Conlee.
A few years ago, when I slid into women’s fiction as well as mysteries, keeping up with the promo part of the business just became too much. I was tired and just getting the books written was taking all I had.
Enter my Chief Baking Officer—Christie Conlee.
A few years ago, when I slid into women’s fiction as well as mysteries, keeping up with the promo part of the business just became too much. I was tired and just getting the books written was taking all I had.
At the encouragement of my friend, author Lori Wilde, I hired her personal assistant to help me out. Well, we got on like a house on fire, y’all! This is of course when a house on fire is a good thing! LOL.
As I got to know my new assistant, I discovered we spoke the same language, frequently having entire conversations using just gifs, and she was a home baker. Seriously, this woman was putting up pictures of cakes on her social media that she’d baked that made me swoon. We started talking about crafting a cookbook. She was all in. I was swamped in deadlines. Finally, I saw a very narrow window to get it done and she took a week to do nothing but bake thirty-two different kinds of cupcakes with the crazy ingredients required, because each recipe was crafted to match the stories, one of which has a zombie walk in it – I’m just sayin’.
To my surprise and delight, I started getting photos from her like this:
As I got to know my new assistant, I discovered we spoke the same language, frequently having entire conversations using just gifs, and she was a home baker. Seriously, this woman was putting up pictures of cakes on her social media that she’d baked that made me swoon. We started talking about crafting a cookbook. She was all in. I was swamped in deadlines. Finally, I saw a very narrow window to get it done and she took a week to do nothing but bake thirty-two different kinds of cupcakes with the crazy ingredients required, because each recipe was crafted to match the stories, one of which has a zombie walk in it – I’m just sayin’.
To my surprise and delight, I started getting photos from her like this:
And suddenly I was full of enthusiasm and excitement and that’s when I knew what I had been waiting for all along was a Chief Baking Officer!
And while it was an ENDEAVOR to put together the recipes from the first eight mysteries, I have the utmost confidence that when I finish book sixteen and we put together the recipes from the next eight books, that it will go much more smoothly.
Unless, of course, I forget everything I learned and have to relearn it all over again. Thank goodness, I have my CBO to get the recipes and the baking right, at least!
HANK: Oh, hurray hurray hurray! Reds and readers, what’s your favorite cupcake? Are you an icing person? Or is it frosting? And yay for Jenn and Christie!
HANK: Oh, hurray hurray hurray! Reds and readers, what’s your favorite cupcake? Are you an icing person? Or is it frosting? And yay for Jenn and Christie!
Buy Links:
Fairy Tale Cupcakes Cookbook (Kindle)
https://amzn.to/3POJU9U
Fairy Tale Cupcakes Cookbook (Amazon print)
https://bit.ly/3QtR4Rv
Fairy Tale Cupcakes Cookbook (Barnes and Noble - both)
https://bit.ly/3cyglLa
Fairy Tale Cupcakes Cookbook (Bookshop.Org)
https://bookshop.org/books/fairy-tale-cupcakes/9798986503400
Congratulations, Jenn and Christie! I am really looking forward to this book!
ReplyDeleteFavorite cupcake? Dark Chocolate with Dark Chocolate Frosting . . . .
Thank you! And, oh, that sounds delish, Joan.
DeleteYum! Cannot go wrong with that!
DeleteJoan, that’s the only cake OR cupcake that exists for me!
DeleteJenn, I had no idea there were so many cupcakes, and there are cupcake bakeries in my town! I’m sure the book will be a success!
DebRo
I am incredibly excited about this. Of course I preordered the first day it was available. Jenn’s Cupcake Bakery mysteries are my absolute favorite cozy series and I want to jump in there and work at Fairy Tale Cupcakes.
ReplyDeleteI make a lot of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes ( and they’re excellent, if I do say so myself). My favorite from the Cupcake series will be in Volume 2 since it’s from For Batter Or Worse and it’s the Dark Chocolate Orange Cupcakes that Oz ❤️ Makes for Mel and Joe’s wedding. They are stupendous.
You are definitely chief baking officer material, Jennifer. I've seen your work - YUM!!!
DeleteOhhhhhhh that sounds fabulous!
DeleteAww, thanks, Jenn!
DeleteCongrats! Let me know if you need a chief tasting officer. I'm all in for that.
ReplyDeleteFavorite cupcake? Yes. While I haven't had any from Jenn's series, they sound so good they often make me drool.
Ha! A CTO - Brilliant!
DeleteMark, I wish I'd thought of that, chief tasting officer. Hahaha! Of course, they might need more than one. This is Kathy Reel. It wouldn't let me change from Anonymous.
Delete1. Congrats (even though cupcakes are not MY thing).
ReplyDelete2. "Because copyright is complicated." Um, probably not as complicated as you think, at least to those of us who do it for a living.
Thank you, Ellen.
DeleteSo many congratulations to both of you, and special nod to Jenn for figuring out you needed a CBO!
ReplyDeleteI like mine light on the frosting and frosting that's light on sweetness. That said, an airy creamy mocha frosting on a dark chocolate cupcake sounds dreamy.
Ooooh, that does sound dreamy. I have a feeling it's cupcakes for breakfast today. LOL.
DeleteChocolate topped with fudge frosting are my favs. Or carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
ReplyDeleteMy son ordered (long distance) gender reveal cupcakes with a big dollop of blue icing injected in the middle. A boy!
(gasp) I don't think I have a carrot cake cupcake in any of the books! There's a parsnip one (long story) but that's as close as I've come...must rectify. I love carrot cake. Thanks, Margaret.
DeleteI almost answered carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting!
DeleteCongratulations to you both. Favorite cupcake is vanilla w/chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles on top.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is the number one most popular flavor! And sprinkles always make everything better :)
DeleteI have pre-ordered my paper copy. I have all of the Cupcake Bakery mysteries in my Kindle, but this will make them so much easier to find a recipe!
ReplyDeleteHurray for your CBO! My favorite will have chocolate chips in it because yum. Congratulations, Jenn!
Thank you, Judy! You're a gem.
DeleteCongratulations! I can’t wait!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Christi! Me, too!
DeleteCongratulations Jenn and Christie! I am very excited about this cookbook and I cannot wait to have it in my hands. The pictures are gorgeous and look good enough to eat. But about the book - I'm hoping it will be spiral-bound or at least somehow engineered to lie flat because I won't want to start with one recipe, lose my page and then continue with another. That has happened before, on a very windy day!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what my favorite cupcake is. Hmm. Send them all to me and let me choose. I don't need a lot of frosting. For years I have been kind of breaking cupcakes in half, through the equator if you know what I mean, and then flipping so the frosting is inside. A cupcake sandwich! Then I read recently that this was an amazing thing someone had just figure out.
My mom taught me the cupcake sandwich technique. Very smart! Sadly, the book is not spiral bound as the publisher did not offer that option. Maybe when we put the two volumes into one someday...
DeleteThe cupcakes in the photo look fantastic! Congrats Jenn and Christie! I want to ask an off topic question - is there going to be another Library Cozy Mystery in the upcoming future. I've read all the books and miss Lindsay and Sully.
ReplyDeleteYES! The Plot and the Pendulum drops on Oct 11th. Thanks so much for asking!
DeleteStanding and applauding! It all looks so delicious!
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are AMAZING!
DeleteCongratulations, Jenn & Christie!
ReplyDeleteI am a light frosting type. Any chocolate cupcake will do for me.
Grace, I used to be a frosting with a side of cake kid (yes, the frosting flowers were the best part) but now I'm more of a cake with a side of frosting gal.
DeleteMaybe I should have mentioned that I have preordered the book and can't wait for it to come!
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! Thank you.
DeleteThis is such a triumph! Hurray! I think my favorite might be yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting. But this decision came after much contemplation, and I might have to do more research…..
ReplyDeleteResearch is key. It'a real hardship with these books, let me tell you ;-)
DeleteI know a little boy who loves cupcakes--he's going to be thrilled when he sees this book on my shelf. For dinner on first day back to school, I made him sour cream cupcakes with strawberry icing. He's a eat-the-frosting-part first kind of kid. My favorite cupcake ever was from a small Dallas bakery--dark chocolate with dark chocolate icing. It was so big, I savored it over two days. What restraint!
ReplyDeleteBlogger--my name is Flora, not Anonymous, please.
DeleteFlora, do you remember the name of the bakery? Just curious.
DeleteDeborah, sorry, no. It was very small, part of an open air gallery of small shops. The proprietress was from my neck of the woods--Cleveland!
DeleteThat sounds amazing, Flora! Yum!
DeleteBIG, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS JENN & CHRISTIE - what an undertaking, and what a delicious cover, who could resist? I am in awe of the talent from the two of you. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t bake in the traditional sense but I think I need this book just in case as there are the two grandsons though #2 (17), gave up sugar during COVID - his body is a temple - have either of your boys gone to extremes over clean eating for sports? But #1 loves receiving treats so perhaps it’s time I started again - Celia
ReplyDeleteH2 is definitely the body is a temple sort but his sweet tooth gets him every time.
DeleteJENN and CHRISTIE: Big Congratulations on your cookbook! I am drooling over the delicious photos of the cupcakes. I am definitely ordering a copy! Hope there will be gluten free recipes. If not, then I can modify the recipes for myself.
ReplyDeleteDiana
There is a gluten free chocolate in this one and a gluten citrus inthe upcoming volume 2.
DeleteYum! Love that there is gluten free chocolate in this one. I forgot to mention my favorite cupcake. I love the mini size cupcakes (easier to eat and less messy) with lots of mocha frosting. I'm a big fan of sweet frosting.
DeleteDiana
Oh so good. Oh must have. Oh boy it is here. Doing snoopy dance to pre-burn calories for Carrot cupcakes.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! Yum.
DeleteRhys: I am so impressed, Jenn. The book looks professional and amazing. It will be a huge hit! And my favorite? Strawberry, I think
ReplyDeleteRhys, I remember eating yummy strawberries when I lived in England. Diana
DeleteThank you, Rhys! Oh, I love strawberry cupcakes or strawberry anything, really.
DeleteGonna start checking the old post box daily! I pre-ordered on Amazon when pre-orders first became a thing. Now, I'm warming up my pastry bag because, well, frosting.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Jenn! And may the series continue into three cookbooks and beyond :)
Frosting - definitely one of life's highlights, at least for me.
DeleteYum. This post has made me hungry! x
ReplyDeleteGillian, this post made me hungry too! Diana
DeleteLOL, Gillian. This is why I eat dessert for breakfast so frequently.
DeleteWay to go, Jenn and Christie!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
DeleteCongratulations, Jenn and Christie! What an endeavor, indeed! I've preordered the pb, one for me and one for my daughter and granddaughter. (Hoping to benefit from that one!) Favorite cupcake? I used to have recipe for dark chocolate with a cream cheese swirl that was fabulous. But overall, I think I'd have to go with strawberry.
ReplyDeleteExcellent strategy, Debs.
DeleteYay, Jenn! I just got my copy and it's gorgeous!! The book also makes a wonderful holiday gift. Start shopping now!
ReplyDeleteLOL! You're going to be our promoter!
DeleteChocolate with coconut is calling my name . . . though Black Forest would also be lovely. <3
ReplyDeleteIt always calls mine...sigh ;)
DeleteHi Jenn and Christie. I can't wait to see the cupcake cookbook. I pre ordered the book. Love all kinds of cupcakes. (Lois Rotella)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lois! I love all kinds, too...clearly :)
DeleteJenn and Christie, how can anyone resist this book with that cover! I know I couldn't, and I've pre-ordered it. I bake cakes and pies, but I haven't done cupcakes. I think that's about to change. I amazed with both of you for getting this done. It was definitely a project that demanded more than one person. I think my favorite flavor cupcake is chocolate (but I can be persuaded otherwise) with either vanilla or strawberry icing. But, I know I can expand that rather ordinary choice when I read this cupcake cookbook. Congratulations to you both for an amazing accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy. It truly would not exist without Christie - everyone should have a CBO! LOL.
DeleteToss-up for me, lemon with lemon frosting or traditional carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Excited to see this!! Thanks to Jenn and her CBO! Yum!!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I love lemon everything!
Delete