This novel is set at a Minnesota County Fair. These sky-high no-fail popovers are easy and delicious. Excellent when served with a flavored butter. The recipes for Honey Butter, Date Butter, and Lemon Butter. Eat them piping hot out of the oven while they are still light and fluffy. Read this novel for a good mystery that is not too graphic.
This is book #9 in the Hannah Swensen Mysteries series. This book finds Hannah involved in a county fair judging baked goods. When Hannah finds yet another murder victim, the story revolves around solving that mystery and the mystery of whether a deep fried Milky Way bar from the fair’s midway is worth the calories.
Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Sky-High No-Fail Popovers and Flavored Butter Recipes
from a cozy mystery novel
Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Book Outline and Tone:
It’s county fair time in Lake Eden, MN. Hannah has been asked to judge the baked goods. This seems like an enviable position! However, even just taking small samples from each item would get old quickly. All of this judging does not deter Hannah’s sweet tooth. There is a stand that sells deep fried candy bars and she is dying to try one. She wants to try one, but she doesn’t want anyone else to know she’s trying one. This is an enjoyable running bit throughout the novel. Can Hannah obtain a deep fried candy bar without being caught?
The mystery comes in when one of the baked good judges is killed on the midway after the fair closes. Hannah just happened to be running late that night and is the first one to come across the victim. This novel focuses on Hannah’s investigating and does not rely as much on the other characters as many previous novels. Once again, Hannah is clever, independent, and crafty in her investigation. I enjoyed the cast of carnival characters that are brought up. They are kind and only slightly quirky with a minimum of stereotyping, which is always good.
Point of View:
Hannah Swenson books are told in 3rd person and the narrator only knows Hannah’s thoughts.
The Author: Joanne Fluke
Joanne Fluke published her first Hannah Swenson novel, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, in 2001. Since then she has been a New York Times bestselling author several times. She is a popular guest on her local television station and she always uploads her interview to her Youtube Channel. She even has many interviews organized by the book. Some of her books have been made into movies on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery can be found https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/. Joanne Fluke will interact with fans on her Twitter and her Facebook accounts.
What is not to like?:
Sometimes Hannah is a bit too insecure with her looks. In this novel she worries about the color of a dress in a picture for the local newspaper. Perhaps it is a sign of my growth over the years, but I really wanted to tell her “It’s not that big of a deal”.
The verdict:
While the notion of having 2 boyfriends for such an extended bit of time takes a considerable amount of willingness to suspend our disbelief, I would never miss a book in this series. They are light and enjoyable to read.
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Sky-High No-Fail Popover Recipe
with 3 Flavored Butters
Assemble the Ingredients
Flavored Butters
Honey Butter:
½ cup softened butter (1 stick, 1/4 pound)
1 Tablespoon honey
Soften the butter and place it in a small mixing bowl. Add the honey and stir until well blended.
Scrape the mixture into a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
[Author’s note] Hannah’s 2nd Note: I usually make a double batch of honey butter because everyone loves it so much.
Date Butter:
½ cup softened butter (1 stick, 1/4 pound)
8 pitted dates, finely chopped
1 teaspoon flour
Cut the dates into three pieces with a sharp knife and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Sprinkle them with flour and chop them with the steel blade until they’re as finely chopped as you can make them. (You can add a little more flour if they stick together too much.)
If you don’t have a food processor, you can try this with a blender, or chop them with a sharp knife by hand.
Mix the chopped dates with the butter, scrape the mixture into a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap.
Place one pitted date on top of the date butter so everyone will know what it is.
Lemon Butter:
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick, 1/4 pound)
1 Tablespoon frozen lemonade concentrate
1 teaspoon lemon zest*** (optional)
*** Lemon zest is finely grated lemon peel-only the yellow part, not the white part.
Measure out one Tablespoon of frozen lemonade concentrate and let it come up to room temperature.
Mix the lemonade concentrate with the softened butter. Add the lemon zest if you decide to use it. (It adds a lot!)
Scrape the mixture into a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
Popovers Ingredients
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray.
You can also grease them with clarified butter, or lard if you prefer.
[Author’s Note] Hannah’s 1st Note: Before I got this recipe, my popovers always looked as if they’d been run over by Earl Flensburg’s tow truck. Now they’re high, light, golden brown, and gorgeous.
[Molly’s Note] These are fantastic, but will collapse the longer they sit. They are great day one and a bit shorter and denser day 2. Eat them up right away!
Whisk the eggs until they’re a light, uniform color, but not yet fluffy. It should take no more than a minute or so.
*** If you think your eggs might be too small or too large, you can easily check them by mixing them up in a measuring cup. Four eggs should measure approximately one cup. If yours don’t, adjust by adding more egg or pouring some out.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You should mix this recipe by hand with a whisk. If you use an electric mixer, it will add too much air to the eggs.
Add the milk and whisk it in until it’s incorporated.
Measure out the flour and dump it in the bowl all at once. Dump in the salt on top of it.
Then stir for a moment or two with a silicone spatula or the whisk until all the flour has been moistened and incorporated. You will still have lumps (like brownie batter) but that’s fine.
In this recipe, you actually want lumps!
Easy to read measure marks on inside of cup. Dishwasher safe.
Shown in the picture is one whisk from OXO Good Grips 2-Piece Silicone Whisk Set. Also in picture is OXO Flexible Turner.
Transfer the batter to a container with a spout (I used a measuring cup). Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them almost to the top.
Good Grips, no slip when mixing. Each bowl has a spout for easy pouring. Dishwasher safe.
Bake at 450 degrees F. for exactly 30 minutes. (Don’t peek while they’re baking or they’ll fall!)
When 30 minutes have passed, remove the pan to a cold burner or a wire rack and pierce the top of the popover with a sharp knife to release the steam.
Let the popovers stand in the pan for a minute or two, and then tip them out into a napkin-lined basket.
Serve with sweet butter, salted butter, fruit butters, jams, jellies, or cream cheese.
[Author’s Note] Hannah’s 3rd Note: These popovers are also good at room temperature. I haven’t done this yet, but I’m going to try filling them with egg salad, tuna salad, or salmon salad. If it works, it’ll be a great dish for brunch.
Sky-High No-Fail Popover Recipe from a cozy mystery novel by Joanne Fluke
Ingredients
Popovers
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups mild
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
Honey Butter
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1 Tbsp honey
Date Butter
- ½ cup softened butter
- 8 pitted dates, finely chopped
- 1 tsp flour
Lemon Butter
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1 Tbsp frozen lemonade concentrate
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
Popovers
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
- Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray. You can also grease them with clarified butter, or lard if you prefer.
- Whisk the eggs until they're a light, uniform color, but not yet fluffy. It should take no more than a minute or so.
- Add the milk and whisk it in until it's incorporated.
- Measure out the flour and dump it in the bowl all at once. Dump in the salt on top of it.
- Then stir for a moment or two with a wooden spoon until all the flour has been moistened and incorporated. You will still have lumps (like brownie batter) but that's fine. In this recipe, you actually want lumps!
- Transfer the batter to a container with a spout (I used a measuring cup). Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them almost to the top.
- Bake at 450 degrees F. for exactly 30 minutes. (Don't peek while they're baking or they'll fall!)
- When 30 minutes have passed, remove the pan to a cold burner or a wire rack and pierce the top of the popover with a sharp knife to release the steam.
- Let the popovers stand in the pan for a minute or two, and then tip them out into a napkin-lined basket.
- Serve with sweet butter, salted butter, fruit butters, jams, jellies, or cream cheese.
Honey Butter
- Soften the butter and place it in a small mixing bowl. Add the honey and stir until well blended. Scrape the mixture into a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
Date Butter
- Cut the dates into three pieces with a sharp knife and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Sprinkle them with flour and chop them with the steel blade until they're as finely chopped as you can make them. (You can add a little more flour if they stick together too much.) If you don't have a food processor, you can try this with a blender, or chop them with a sharp knife by hand.
- Mix the chopped dates with the butter, scrape the mixture into a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place one pitted date on top of the date butter so everyone will know what it is.
Lemon Butter
- Measure out one Tablespoon of frozen lemonade concentrate and let it come up to room temperature.
- Mix the lemonade concentrate with the softened butter. Add the lemon zest if you decide to use it. (It adds a lot!)
- Scrape the mixture into a small serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
What would I do differently next time?
I loved these and I made more the week after this test batch. They are great!
Maple Curry Biscuits from Biscuits and Slashed Browns by Maddie Day
Cheesy Biscuits from Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day
