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GOODBYE CRULLER WORLD, the second book in the Deputy Donut Mystery series by Ginger Bolton is a sweet read and will have you craving donuts throughout the entire book! I was captivated by the pun-y title and the inviting cover design pulled me into the story. An ex- 911 dispatcher, protagonist Emily Westhill owns the Deputy Donut Café with her father-in-law. This duo has a touching, heart-felt relationship that adds an emotional undercurrent to the story, especially since they lost a son and a husband to a tragic death. The charming donut shop setting provides the perfect gathering place for law enforcement and emergency response personnel and allows Emily access to information when she gets involved in murder investigations. The author’s strong descriptive voice makes you feel like you’re right there with Emily and I could almost smell and taste the donuts in the shop!
Deputy Donut is hired to cater donuts for the wedding of Jenn, owner of Dressed to Kill which is one of the neighboring shops to Emily’s. It doesn’t take long for conflict to erupt between the bride and her half-sister over the upcoming nuptials and once Emily meets the groom, she understands why. When the groom is poisoned and dies after eating some of the donuts she provides at the reception, Emily knows she must get involved and clear both her business’ reputation and prove the bride’s innocence. It doesn’t help that the bride invited an ex-boyfriend to the wedding and seemed to have had second thoughts about getting married. Since my own cousin is a wedding planner, I loved the details the author provides about the reception from the food, to the over-the-top décor, to the special touches the bride requests. Ms. Bolton provides plenty of suspects to keep the reader guessing and enough twists and turns until the threads of the plots are woven together into a satisfying conclusion.
Since you’ll be drooling over the yummy treats Deputy Donut serves to its customers, Ms. Bolton generously provides a couple recipes at the back of the book. She has allowed me to share her recipe for Black-and-Whites Donuts with a Crème filling. I loved that these donuts are baked, not fried, and are reminiscent of everyone’s favorite chocolate sandwich cookie. While there might be a lot of steps to the recipe, it’s not difficult and Ms. Bolton writes clear, concise directions. The resulting treat is decadently rich and while my husband isn’t a huge fan of chocolate, he gobbled these up in record time! I made a few in a mini-donut baker (that my granddaughter had talked me into purchasing years ago and I think I’ve used once, lol) and I thought they were even delicious with some confectioners’ sugar dusted on top instead of filling them. Either way, these Black-and-Whites Baked Donuts are sure to please everyone!
Amazon Synopsis
Named after her beloved tabby, Deputy Donut, Emily Westhill’s donut shop in small-town Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, is doing so well, she’s expanding into catering weddings. But a killer is about to crash the reception . . .
Normally, Emily’s eyes tend to glaze over when prospective brides go on about their wedding plans. But when the owner of the clothing shop, Dressed to Kill, asks Emily to design a donut wall for her reception, she’s immediately sweet on the idea. With the help of her father-in-law and business partner—the former police chief of Fallingbrook—she hangs the treats from dowels on the wall so guests can help themselves.
But that night, when the groom ends up on the floor with signs of poisoning, Emily suspects someone has tampered with her treats. When the groom dies, there’s no way to sugarcoat it: she’s got a murder on her hands. Despite a list of suspects as long as the guest list, Emily vows to find out who created the killer confection to save her shop’s reputation and keep the bride out of handcuffs. She’ll have to move fast . . . before the poisoner takes a powder.
A special thanks to Ginger Bolton for providing a winner with a print copy of GOODBYE CRULLER WORLD. Contest ends Sunday, September 9, 2018 at 11:59 pm PST and is limited to U.S. residents only. Please use the Rafflecopter box located below to enter. The winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!)
These little gems are baked, not fried, and they're very rich and sweet.
- Melted butter or unflavored coconut oil
- 1/3 cup black Dutch process (alkalized) cocoa powder, pressed through a sieve to break up clumps
- 7/8 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 5/8 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 3/8 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) melted butter or vegetable oil
- 1-1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons refined (non-virgin) coconut oil, softened*
- 2 teaspoons hot water (Try mixing the hot water with the coconut oil to soften it.)
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Lightly brush melted butter or unflavored coconut oil in the cups of a regular-sized donut pan.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
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In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla, vinegar, and melted butter or vegetable oil. Don't worry if the vinegar curdles the milk and melted butter.
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.
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Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, filling them about 3/4 full.
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Bake the donuts for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Do not overbake.
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Remove the donuts from the oven, allow to cool a few minutes, invert cooling rack over pan, and turn pan and cooling rack together right side up. If the donuts do not fall out of the pan, loosen the edges carefully with a narrow silicone spatula and try again.
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Let donuts cool. Using a serrated knife, carefully slice donuts in half horizontally so that you have two circles from each donut.
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Place ingredients in a bowl and beat until combined. Filling will be stiff, but it rolls out well at room temperature.
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Recipe can be doubled. Excess can be stored in refrigerator.
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Form vanilla filling into a ball.
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Using a rolling pin, roll filling between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch.
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Using a donut cutter, cut out rings of filling.
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Slide a thin spatula underneath rings and gently place them on the flat side of the donut half that was on top in the oven.
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Make a "sandwich" by gently pressing the other slice on top. Serve rounded side up.
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This makes six regular-sized donuts. These are so rich that you might prefer to make them as mini-donuts. If using a mini-donut pan, bake for about 7 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake.
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Recipe can be doubled.
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*The coconut oil should be warmed until workable, about 80 - 100 degrees (F). If you substitute virgin coconut oil, your filling will have a coconut flavor. Do not substitute liquid coconut oil.
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I was provided an advance copy with the hopes I would review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Yum!
All donut shops are my friends; -)
Old Fashioned donuts are my favorite.
Krispy Kreme is my favorite.
My favorite donut shop is Krispy Kreme. These black & white donuts look wonderful!
These look so good!!! 8 like that they are baked! Fall treat right here! Thank you!
Not a favorite donut shop but my fave donuts are the apple cider donuts from Edwards Apple Orchard in Illinois. SO good.
Bosa Please!!!!!!!
My favorite donut shop is Heavenly Donuts, about a mile down the street from my house. We have lots of great donut shops here in Portland, OR. Thanks for the giveaway!
There are 2 locally owned donut shops in my town. Both are great. My favorite is the maple iced with chopped nuts. They also have the best honey buns.
I have been waiting for this book to be out! I really enjoyed the first one. I don’t have a favorite donut shop. I do love donuts though! Thank you for the recipe share and the contest.
We have some good donut places in town, but Spaldings is best. It is listed as a “must try” in travel guides. Krispy Kreme is good too, especially when served hot.
Looks like it would be easier to pipe the dough into the pan using a pastry bag.
I continue to search for what my mouth considers a “proper” donut–crunchy on the outside and cakey on the inside.
I found them year ago at a farm stand in Armonk, NY.
Never since.
We have 2 local places in town that we love for different reasons. Day-Night Donuts and King Donuts – drooling now! Gee thanks. 😉
George’s Donuts, little shop in town.
I love Red’s Donut Shop their donuts are good
No special donut shops close to where I live.
No. We do not have only Dunkin Donuts locations in central Wisconsin. Only one bakery shop is located outside of a supermarket. Only one. Used to be several. But the supermarket donuts made on site are really good.
Yup one half a block from where I live. It’s a family run business.
Don’t have a favorite, love them all
No I don’t have a favorite donut shop. Thank you for the chance to win a print copy of Goodbye Cruller World.
These look so yummy!
The book sounds like it will be great, the donuts sound yummy, what’s not to like.
Yes, it’s a donut/ice cream shop that opened about 6 months ago.
I love creme filling this recipe sounds so delicious! Thank you for the chance to own it!
There’s a bakery shop I’m the grocery store that’s awesome.
Country Donuts is my favorite. They have a great selection and they make donuts the old fashioned way.
We have a locally owned donut shop a few miles from our house. My favorites are maple glazed.
I would love to win this book.
A local store that makes wonderful lemon filled donuts!
I like the Krispy Kreme donot shop.
I like Dunkin Donuts (chocolate frosted donuts).
My favorite donut shop is Krispie Kreme. Fortunately, they aren’t nearby or it would be too tempting to make frequent donut runs.
IF I had a favorite donut (I just can’t justify those calories when I’m trying to lose weight), it would probably be a chocolate-frosted Long John. LOVE the title of this book – AND I’m crazy about mysteries based on food anyway! Thanks for the giveaway!
No favorite. We’ve started making or own.
There aren’t too many donut shops around here. There is one I go to more often but I have no idea the name of it. I just know where it is.
My favorite (cake) donuts was from the Windmill Bakery, but the bakery is no longer there.
Unfortunately we donut ( hehe) have a local mom & pop donut shop. We don’t even have Krispy Kreme. We are very deprived. So, I have to say Dunkin Donuts, even though they really aren’t my favorite. They’re all we have.
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Unfortunately, no. We have to rely on the grocery store bakery.
We have a few donut shops here in San Angelo, Texas. However, I do not know if they are franchises or Mom & Pop shops.
Congratulations on the release, Ginger.
And thank you for the recipe Kim. We only have chain donut shops right in our area and most are nothing to brag about. We don’t have a local bakery that makes from scratch baked items either so I don’t often crave donuts. When we went from MA to Colonial Williamsburg and found DUCK donutsc. Now those are donuts. But we don’t have one near us unfortunately. On the UP side to this, I sure don’t need donuts but I certainly do like them. Thank you for the giveaway.
I don’t have one since I moved here about a year ago. My first real job other than babysitting was working in a donut shop when I was 14 and 15–it was pretty fun.
We just go to Dunkin Donuts here. But when my husband goes on business trips to Los Angeles I always ask him to bring back donuts from Randy’s Donuts!
The only donut stores around here are chains, but I do love a hot Krispy Kreme glazed donut! So yummy. I am actually reading the first in this series right now and would love to win the second.
I adore Krispy Kreme, but only when the Hot Now sign is lit. We have a Dunkin Donuts here in town, so I guess that’s my ‘favorite’ by default. It’s a very small town. ?
I love Dunkin Donuts!
Love the book cover – Thank for the chance to win.
We have a couple of the big chain donut shops nearby, but I’ve found over the last year that the donuts I buy at the grocery store are both fresher and less expensive! I used to like both Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts…now I rarely stop at either of them. Who wants stale tasting treats at twice the price?
Love King Donuts Louisville KY are my favorite!! Love the cover, also love finding a “new” author to follow!! Thank you for the opportunity!!
I enjoy the donuts from Fractured Prunes when I visit my mom’s house. Amazing flavors.
I’d love to try Krispy Kreme’s donuts but we don’t have one in our cow-town. Usually we pick up a donut or two
from the bakery at our nearby grocery store. I am hooked on the Bavarian creme but it’s only good on the day they
are made.
I don’t have a favorite donut shop. Occasionally Dunkin Donuts or what our grocery bakeries sell. Some of those look do good! Would love to read this book. Thank you for the chance to win!
There was a local shop called Shuler’s here near Columbus Ohio but I also like Krispy Kreme when they have their hot light on!
My favorite is a local shop near me, but really, I can’t say no to any donut shops.
I wish I’d thought of a donut wall for our reception! It’s also a cute idea for my granddaughter’s birthday coming up September 21st. Of course I’m all for donuts anytime! This looks like a good cozy mystery!
Dunkin Donuts is one of my favorites. I also like the donuts from my local grocery store.
Unfortunately we don’t have a donut shop in our small town. I wish we did. We I have to go to the doctor in Little Rock, I often go by Krispy Kreme if the hot light is on. 🙂
The recipe for Black-and-Whites Baked Donuts sounds yummy!
I’d love the opportunity to read “GOODBYE CRULLER WORLD”. I really enjoy reading Ginger Bolton’s books.
I really don’t have a favorite donut shop, but there is a place called “Christine’s Bakery” that has the most amazing cupcakes.. they are like a big chocolate dingdong and the cream is sooo amazing. If they made those into mini donuts.. I would probably weigh 500lbs ? Thanks for the chance.
I look forward to local Apple Hut’s donuts this time of year! Love Krispy Kreme too.
Our favorite donut places are Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme, depending on where we’re living at the time.
Hubby & I really don’t have a donut place. He is diabetic so we try to stay away from too many donuts. But usually any we do have comes from WalMart.
Reds Donut Shop
Dunkin Donuts.
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