Gimme The Scoop Reviews: Book Tour/Giveaway - Trick or Thief by D.E. Haggerty

Trick or Thief: A Humorous Culinary Cozy Mystery Short Read (Death by Cupcake) by D.E. Haggerty

About Trick or Thief

Trick or Thief: A Humorous Culinary Cozy Mystery Short Read (Death by Cupcake) Cozy Mystery 6th in Series Independently Published Digital - 120 pages ASIN: B0878QF5V9

A little haunting sounds like innocent fun until a ghost plunders your stockroom.

Kristie is convinced ghosts don’t exist until food starts disappearing without a trace from the Youth Center storage. There are zero clues as to who’s been inside the building. The security guard hasn’t seen a thing, and the security tapes are mysteriously blank. When the ghost widens his hocus-pocus to include Kristie’s office, the gals of Callie’s Cakes jump in to find the culprit before Kristie can get in a whole mess of spooky trouble.

Will the gals of Callie’s Cakes expose the ghost before Kristie’s facility is destroyed?

Cupcakes not included, although recipes for all the delicious cupcakes Anna bakes are.

Ghost Cupcakes

These ghost cupcakes are super easy to put together. No decorating talent needed! Thank goodness. Although I wouldn’t recommend making these in a heatwave as the buttercream frosting will be too soft to pipe a good ghost (at least that’s the excuse I’m using for my flat ghost). Makes two dozen cupcakes.

Ingredients

· Chocolate cupcakes

· Vanilla buttercream (white and black)

· equal parts of red, blue, and green food coloring

Chocolate Cupcakes:

· ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

· 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

· 1 ½ cup sugar

· 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

· ¾ teaspoon baking powder

· ¾ teaspoon salt

· 2 large eggs

· 1 cup chocolate milk

· ½ cup buttermilk

· 3 tablespoons (60 grams) butter, melted

· 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Buttercream frosting:

· 3 cups powdered sugar

· 1/3 cup (75 grams) butter, softened

· 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

· 3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions

Make the chocolate cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) and line 2 cupcake pans with 18 cupcake liners.

2. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in together in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

3. Combine the eggs, chocolate milk, buttermilk, butter, and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.

4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

5. Pour batter into liners, filling about 2/3 full.

6. Bake 15 – 18 minutes.

7. Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Make the buttercream frosting

1. In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk.

2. Gradually beat in just enough of the remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable.

3. Set aside a small amount of frosting to make the black frosting.

4. Add equal parts of red, blue, and green food coloring to make the black frosting. Mix until the desired color is reached.

For the ghost (white buttercream frosting)

5. Fill a pastry bag with vanilla buttercream. Fit the bag with a no. 2A round tip.

6. Start with even pressure in the middle of the cupcake and pipe a swirl.

For the eyes and mouth

7. Fill a pastry bag with black vanilla buttercream. Fit the bag with a no. 3 round tip.

8. Pipe three black dots for eyes and mouth.

9. You can use icing dots instead.

About D.E. Haggerty

D.E. Haggerty is actually just plain old Dena, but she thinks using initials makes her sound sophisticated and maybe even grown up. She was born and raised in the U.S. but considers herself a Dutchie and not only because it sounds way cooler. After a stint in the U.S. Army, she escaped the US to join her husband in Holland. She fled Holland over ten years ago when she couldn’t stand the idea of being a lawyer for one single second more. Turns out Bed & Breakfast owner in Germany didn’t do it for her either. When the hubby got a job in Istanbul, she jumped ship and decided to give this whole writer thing a go. She’s now back in Holland, which she considers home. Sorry, Mom.

Author links

Website: http://dehaggerty.wordpress.com

Blog: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/category/mymusings/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dehaggerty

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dehaggerty/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/D.E.-Haggerty/e/B00ECQBURU/

Newsletter signup: https://mailchi.mp/027b2768aa1c/newsletter-sign-up-for-a-writers-life-by-de-haggerty

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/

Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-e-haggerty

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-e-haggerty-4b49a29/