Did you go to your high school reunion? In Death of a Cupcake Queen, by Lee Hollis, not only does Hayley get wrangled into planning for the reunion, she encounters a dead body! Not to worry though, the recipes in the novel are still as sweet as ever!
This is book #6 in the Hayley Powell food and cocktails mystery series. However, I read this out of order and it can stand alone or as it did for me, make me want to start the series from the beginning. Set in Main by Acadia National Park, I now have a new bucket list destination too! You will enjoy this mystery’
Death of a Cupcake Queen by Lee Hollis
Cozy Mystery Novel with Recipes
Book Review
Outline and Tone:
The protagonist is about to have her 20th high school reunion. She and her two friends are from the same graduating class. To plan for the event Hayley has to meet with some of the mean girls from her class. One of them, Sabrina, still resides in their hometown. While Hayley and Sabrina have matured to a friendly tolerance of each other, the incoming mean girls, Ivy and Nykki seem to have the same mentality that they did in high school. It all goes awry at the reunion party when one of these mean girls is murdered at the event. Now Hayley, who in addition to writing her column, enjoys solving mysteries. The story continues with another classmate who is now homeless and threatens to tell a big secret, a super sexy boy toy of one of the mean girls, 2 more deaths and another mystery that is from 20 years ago.
The Author:
This book was written by Lee Hollis. Well sort of… Lee Hollis is the pseudonym for the real authors, a brother and sister team, Rick Copp and Holly Simason. There is more information on Goodreads. Like their protagonist Hayley Powell, Copp and Simason are from Maine. Copp moved to Hollywood and wrote for The Golden Girls, Wings, Teen Titans and a long list of impressive television and movies. Simason is a columnist in Maine and writes a cooking column. Fortunately for us readers, they decided to combine their talents and write the Lee Hollis series, currently being published by Kensington House Publishing Corporation. The Hayley Powell series has a Facebook page. The authors are active on both Twitter and Instagram.
The Verdict:
While there are several cozy mysteries out there, this one is easily like the cream that rises to the surface. I was more than pleasantly surprised with the upbeat tone and page turning tempo. This one is on my highly recommended list.
What is not to like?:
There is some swearing in the novel. Of course since it is a murder mystery, there is also some violence. Neither is graphically over the top. As far as sex, there are but a few kisses.
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Lemon Tart
Assemble the ingredients
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Roll out puff pastry, fold in the edges and prick the pastry with a fork all over. I recommend placing parchment paper over the pastry and using pie beads to keep the center down when baking. I di d not do this the first time and it baked up like a pillow.
Ceramic Pie Weights like this can be used to help keep bakery products such as pie crust and puff pastry in place. Just remember to line the crust with parchment paper first.
In a food processor pulse the sugar and lemon zest until finely mixed.
In a mixer, cream butter and the sugar then add one egg at a time. Add the lemon juice and salt.
Pour the mix into a saucepan and stir on low heat until it thickens. Stir and stir and stir. Don’t give up! It will start to thicken.
This is when a good silicone spatula is needed so the utensil does not start to melt as you stir and stir.
I like these OXO Good Grips Silicone Spatulas.
After the mixture thickens, pour it into a bowl and chill in fridge for at least an hour.
After it is chilled spread it on top of the cooled puff pastry and decorate with some sliced strawberries.
Lemon Tart from: Death of a Cupcake Queen
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 2 lemons
- zest of 2 lemons
- ¾ cup sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup lemon juice (from the 2 lemons)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
- Place your rolled out puff pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Fold all sides of pastry in one inch and prick all over with a fork.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- In a food processor add your sugar and the zest of two lemons and pulse until finely minced.
- In a bowl cream your butter then add the lemon and sugar mixture
- add eggs one at a time mixing in each one,
- add lemon juice and salt and mix well.
- Pour into a 2 quart sauce pan and heat on low until thickened, stirring constantly
- When thickened place into the refrigerator for 1 hour to cool.
- Spread cooled mixture on top of the cooked puff pastry slice and serve for a delicious summer treat.
What would I do differently next time?
The recipe is simple and straight forward; however, I did learn the hard way that I needed to use pie weights. My first puff pastry baked up like a pillow even though I added fork holes. It was a tasty pillow, but not what I wanted.
If you like this lemon tart, try Dreamy Orange Dreamsicle Cake which is also from Death of a Cupcake Queen.
1 Comment
Comments are closed.