This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. There are some significant differences with this new series and many other novel series that also have recipes. First, the protagonist, Maddy, starts this series with zero cooking skills. She has inherited a bakery from her great aunt, but Maddy knows nothing about baking. This is also the first series I’ve reviewed where the main characters are POC. I know there are other series with POC, but this is the first one I’ve come across since blogging. Maddy didn’t just inherit a bakery, she inherited her great aunt’s wonderful friends, an English Mastiff and a town that is plagued with mystery following a murder.
I am excited to review the first book in a new series. This book features a person of color as the protagonist. She loves social media and now she needs to learn to bake and solve murder mysteries.
Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns
Cozy Mystery Novel Series with Recipes
Book Review
Outline and Tone:
This first book in a series does a fantastic job of balancing introducing the characters and moving the plot along to keep the reader interested. Maddy is a young lady who is much more skilled at social media than baking, but she is determined to keep Baby Cakes, the bakery she inherited, going strong. She isn’t in her new town long before there is a murder that puts the bakery at risk of shutting down. Maddy has to learn who she can trust and who she should keep at arm’s length. I am delighted with a possible romance in the series and the recipes that were included in this novel were a huge hit with my family.
The author:
Valerie (V. M.) Burns is the author of 3 other mystery series as well as the author of the new Baker Street Mysteries. She is not only an acclaimed author but also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University as part of the Writing Popular Fiction Program. She is also a member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Color, and International Thriller Writers organizations, to name a few. Ms. Burns can be contacted on her website. As well as social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can find a more extensive biography on Goodreads.
What is not to like?:
A protagonist from a cozy mystery with recipes that doesn’t bake. It was at first a bit off putting for me since I love baking. I was concerned that I would not be able to relate to her. However, Maddy quickly won me over. I think it will be great see how she grows personally and as a baker in this new series.
The verdict:
Jump on this train, book #2 is set to be released June 27, 2023 and I hope there will be more novels after that one!
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).
Easy Apple Turnovers Made with Fresh Apples
Assemble the Ingredients
This recipe calls for two sheets of puff pastry. I thought the package I bought had 2 sheets, it only had one. This just meant I made some of the turnovers plus sized. No one complained.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and thaw.
Melt butter over medium heat in a medium pot. Add diced apples and cook, stirring occasionally until softened (5 minutes).
Reduce heat to low and stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Simmer until the apples are soft and caramelized.
Remove the apples from heat and cool. To help them cool faster, I poured the apples into a mixing bowl instead of staying in the pot that they simmered in.
Sprinkle the flour to prevent the dough from sticking and, using a rolling pin, roll the first sheet of thawed pastry to 11 inches square. This Large Silicone Pastry Mat helps to make clean up easy and also helps to see how much to roll out the dough with easy to read inches and centimeters.
In the second picture you can tell I cut the pastry dough into larger and smaller squares. Use a pizza cutter to cut into 4 equal squares.
Place cooled apple mixture in the center of each square, leaving at least a 1/2-inch border.
Beat egg and water. Brush egg wash over edges of the pastry. Bring the edges together and crimp tightly along the edges with a fork to seal and cut 3 slits into top to allow pastries to vent.
Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, keeping the pastries at least 1 inch apart. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Remove the pastries from the fridge and brush the tops with the remaining egg wash and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.
Combine the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream and stir.
If the glaze is too thick, add more heavy whipping cream until you get the desired consistency and drizzle glaze over the turnovers.
Some of my favorite kitchen tools that made this recipe even easier include:
OXO Good Grips Silicone Spatulas
Apple Turnovers from: A cozy mystery Two Parts Sugar One Part Murder
Ingredients
- 1 lb. puff pastry (2 sheets) thawed according to package instructions
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour (for dusting)
- 1¼ lb. Granny Smith apples (3 medium) peeled, cored, and diced inch thick
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water for egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and thaw.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a medium pot. Add diced apples and cook, stirring occasionally until softened (5 minutes).
- Reduce heat to low and stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Simmer until the apples are soft and caramelized, and then remove from heat and cool.
- Sprinkle the flour to prevent the dough from sticking and, using a rolling pin, roll the first sheet of thawed pastry to 11 inches square. Use a pizza cutter to cut into 4 equal squares.
- Place cooled apple mixture in the center of each square, leaving at least a 1/2-inch border.
- Beat egg and water. Brush egg wash over edges of the pastry. Bring the edges together and crimp tightly along the edges with a fork to seal and cut 3 slits into top to allow pastries to vent.
- Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, keeping the pastries at least 1 inch apart.
- Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pastries from the fridge and brush the tops with the remaining egg wash and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.
- Combine the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream and stir. If the glaze is too thick, add more heavy whipping cream until you get the desired consistency and drizzle glaze over the turnovers.
What would I do differently next time?
While my family loved the larger turnovers, next time I will divide the larger sections of puff pastry and make the smaller rectangle apple turnovers rather than the traditional triangle shape.
I have made another turnover for this blog, Cherry Flip Flops from Batter off Dead. My family is divided on which they like better. Let me know in the comments which turnover you like best.
