Viva Las Vegas! Fairy Tale Cupcake is expanding to Las Vegas. Seems the perfect time to introduce The Elvis, a peanut butter and banana cupcake. Finding a location for the bakery turns out to be harder than expected with one shop exploding and a car crashes into the next. Mel, Angie, and Tate need to solve this mystery for their franchise to get started.
This is Jenn McKinlay’s 8th book in her A Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. Jenn McKinlay does a fantastic job of developing her characters in each book. Readers are easily hooked into caring about what happens to the main characters. This book is set in Las Vegas and that adds a new twist to the possibility of problems.
Vanilla Beaned by Jenn McKinlay
Cozy Mystery Novel with Recipes
Book Review
Murder Mystery Books🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Book Review Outline and Tone:
Melanie is still not convinced that franchising Fairy Tale Cupcakes is the right move for them, but like that good friend that is constantly pushing you to be better, Angie and Tate insist that Melanie go to Las Vegas to see the new franchisee. Melanie is once again faced with her insecurities when the new franchisee turns out to be a gorgeous show girl.
Entanglements in this novel include an explosion, a car crash, and physical attacks. Melanie and Angie’s friendship continues to be the strong suit needed to get them to the end. The cast of characters they meet in Las Vegas are interesting and of course there has to be one that gets murdered. As I read, one line jumped out at me and I thought I had figured out the mystery early on. This only served to make me proud of myself for catching that line when I was proved to be correct, and it did not spoil the fun of the novel.
I love the idea of creating franchises for Fairy Tale Cupcakes because that will allow for the series to be more mobile, meaning the story can have a variety of settings.
The author:
Jenn McKinlay is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her website not only lists all of her books but has a pretty fascinating bio page. She is a skateboarder, has been in a glider plane, and has lived both on the east coast and in the west. I would tell you more, but I would rather encourage you to check out her website. Jenn McKinlay has an active presence on Facebook, Instagram, and her website. Give her a shout out on social media and let her know what you think of her books and desserts.
What is not to like?:
I didn’t mind that I figured out the mystery early in the novel, but what I did mind is how quickly things ended. There is a cliffhanger again when what I wanted was a good solid ending. Guess I’ll have to go get the next book in the series.
The verdict:
I have enjoyed each book in this series. Truth be told, I have listened to the audiobooks on my commutes to work. The narrator, Susan Boyce, is believable as each character. Send her a shout out on X if you enjoy her narration too @boycevoice
Book Club Recommendation: 5/5 Books 📚📚📚📚📚
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).
Elvis Cupcakes: Banana and Peanut Butter
Assemble the Ingredients
Easy to make dessert: 4/5 on the Easy as Pie scale 🥧🥧🥧🥧
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Line muffin tin with 12 paper liners or and I recommend, use . These are fantastic. They are used over and over, come in a wide variety of colors, and are dishwasher safe.
Reusable, oven and dishwasher safe comes in many colors.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and set aside. This is the bowl you will be pouring the wet ingredients into, so be sure it is big enough. The comes in 3 sizes and has a pouring spout to make adding the wet ingredients easier.
In a bowl that is large enough to smash the bananas, use a potato masher to break down 3 bananas.
In another bowl, combine egg, bananas, sugar, oil, and vanilla.
I love using to measure all of my liquids. With 7 different sizes, you always have enough for your baking.
One of the reasons that I am an OXO fan is how clearly their sizes are displayed.
Add wet mixture into dry mixture all at once and stir until just moistened. Do not overmix.
Do not use an electric mixer or a stand mixer. You could run the risk of over mixing the batter. Just use a study silicone spatula like .
Spoon batter evenly into the silicone liners. To help bake even cupcakes and reduce drips, use a cookie scoop like to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners.
This set has small, medium, and large scoops. Perfect for even cookies or filling cupcake liners.
Bake at 350 and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Makes 12.
To make frosting: Assemble the Ingredients
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter. Right away you will notice OXO Good Grips 2 Cup Adjustable Measuring Cup, Clear/Black. Use this anytime you need to measure something sticky like peanut butter, shortening, honey or molasses. You twist the cup to push out the ingredient and it scrapes the sides of the cup making cleaning the sticky ingredient easier.
Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
Alternate with milk and vanilla. Oh look! There are some more . for the vanilla and milk.
Stir until smooth. Frost cupcakes.
Taste: 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So delicious 😋😋😋😋😋
Elvis Cupcakes: Banana and Peanut Butter
Ingredients
- 1½ cups flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 4 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium)
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cooking oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
Frosting
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Line muffin tin with 12 paper liners, and set aside. OR use silicone baking cups.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and set aside.
- In another bowl, combine egg, bananas, sugar, oil, and vanilla.
- Add wet mixture into dry mixture all at once and stir until just moistened. Do not overmix.
- Spoon batter evenly into prepared liners and bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
Frosting
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter.
- Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and alternate with milk and vanilla.
- Stir until smooth.
- Frost cupcakes when cooled.
What would I do differently next time?
The only addition to make these even more irresistible would be to add mini chocolate chips to the batter.
Will I make it again?: Absolutely Yes! 😋😋😋😋😋
Dessert Recipe 📖📖📖📖📖
I love cupcakes! Try these delicious cupcakes from Fairy Tale Cupcake Bakery Series.
Salted Caramel Cupcakes from Sugar and Iced by Jenn McKinlay
Pistachio Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Fig Frosting from Going Going Ganache by Jenn McKinlay
Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes from Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay
French Toast Cupcakes from Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay
Orange Dreamsicle Cupcakes from Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes from Pumpkin Spice Peril by Jenn McKinlay
