Two friends open restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch. Which seems like a recipe for fun, but when a murdered body is discovered, these simple and tasty muffins may be the only good news in town.
Cackleberry Restaurant serves more than just breakfast. The three owners and friends of the restaurant solve crimes.
Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs
Outline and Tone:
This mystery starts in the Cackleberry restaurant/store owned and operated by 3 friends. The business used to be a gas station, but when Suzanne’s husband passed away, she decided to convert it to a restaurant that features breakfast items (hence Cackleberry, as in chickens that cackle). The three friends find themselves in their mid-lives and widowed or divorced. With Petra’s talent in the kitchen, Toni’s hospitality skills, and Suzanne’s prowess in organization and display, the restaurant/store becomes a big success in their rural southern Minnesota town. Their popularity increases when Suzanne’s lawyer is found shot and killed in his car after getting some take out. He is not the only death or only scandal that ensues while the ladies struggle with their reputation and managing the now very busy restaurant.
The author:
Laura Childs is a pseudonym for Gerry Schmitt. She is a New York Times bestselling author writing Cozy Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime. Eggs in Purgatory is part of her Cackleberry Club Mystery series. She also writes Tea Shop Mysteries and Scrapbook Mysteries. Her website boasts that Tea Time Magazine declared her one of the most influential people in the tea industry.
What is not to like?:
There are layers and layers of mysteries and problems that are played out in this novel. Sometimes it seemed as though a side plot took away too much attention the main murder mystery. On the other hand, these side plots are where the characters show their quirks and personalities, so the side plots are needed.
The Verdict:
What I liked about this book is the mix of personalities among the lead women. Suzanne, Petra, and Toni are very different from each other, but they are loyal, supportive, and bring out the best in each other. I am looking forward to seeing how their friendship grows in this series. The mystery has a satisfying ending and the recipes are simple and tasty so I definitely recommend this book. The Cherry Pie muffins are easy and delicious. I also recommend trying the novel’s name sake recipe, Eggs in Purgatory, a spice baked egg dish.
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).
Assemble the ingredients
I love these OXO Mixing Bowls
Good Grips, no slip when mixing. Each bowl has a spout for easy pouring. Dishwasher safe.
After assembling my ingredients, I got out my new OXO Mixing Bowls to mix the ingredients. This recipe is done with just hand mixing so these bowls were perfect. The bottom has a grip coating that keeps it from slipping on the counter. I used the large bowl for this recipe.
Put all the dry ingredients in the bowl and give the ingredients a quick stir to distribute the baking powder and baking soda. Then make a well [years ago a friend thought “make a well” in dry ingredients had to be a mistake in the directions and thought it should read “mix well.” A well just means an indentation in the middle of the dry ingredients to add the wet ingredients.] and add the wet ingredients except the cherry pie filling.
Once you have just incorporated the wet and dry ingredients together (in other words, don’t over stir them), add the cherry pie filling and mix that all together.
Here is another fun gadget. Use these silicone muffin cups to bake your muffins in. I tried spraying some with nonstick spray and leaving others as is, the muffins did not stick to the unsprayed or the sprayed cups. My recommendation is to not spray the cups. I love these silicone cupcake cups not only because they are naturally nonstick, but they are reusable and best yet, dishwasher safe! I use them for all my muffins and cupcakes. I feel good about eliminating the paper cups too.
Reusable, oven and dishwasher safe comes in many colors.
I used an ice cream scoop to fill the silicone muffin cups and then as the recipe called for, added the sliced almonds to the top. In my family, some don’t like nuts in their baked goods [ie me!] so I left some of the muffins nut-free. I tried them both and while I personally like the ones without the almonds, the almonds were a nice touch.
What would I do differently next time?
Next time I might try blueberry pie filling because blueberries are my favorite fruit. I would also add some coarse sugar granules to the top of the muffins before baking to give them a bakery feel. Other than that, these muffins are perfect and perfectly simple!.
Cherry Pie Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tst salt
- ¼ pound butter, melted (one stick)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 can cherry pie filling (21 oz.)
- 1 cup sliverd almonds, toasted [optional]
Instructions
- Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Make a well in the middle and add butter, sour cream, egg, and vanilla.
- Mix together well.
- Add cherry pie filling and slivered almonds and mix again.
- Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Check with toothpick for doneness, then remove tin from oven and cool on rack about 10 minutes before removing muffins.
- (Note: muffins can be frosted.)
I love fruit, especially baking with it. If you do too, try these:
Lemon Tart from Death of a Cupcake Queen by Lee Hollis
Cherry Cola Sheet Cake from The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee
