It’s happy release day for the
Cupcake Catering Mysteries Boxed Set!

I’m celebrating my new release with a giveaway — two winners will each win a $5 Amazon gift card — and extending the sale price through May! Now is the perfect time to stock up for summer reading. I’m also sharing the recipe for Lemon Drop Martini Cupcakes, featured in FRAMED AND FROSTED. Refreshing citrus with a bit of a kick, these are a delicious and tempting dessert for summer gatherings — for adults only, of course.

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Included in the boxed set:

From award-winning author Kim Davis comes a boxed set of three full-length mysteries featuring cupcake caterer Emory, and her octogenarian sidekick, Tillie, that include:

Sprinkles of Suspicion

Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Winner!

Distraught after discovering the betrayal by her husband and best friend, Tori, cupcake caterer Emory Martinez allows her temper to flare. Several people witness her very public altercation with her ex-friend. When Tori is found murdered, all signs point to Emory being the prime suspect. With the police investigation focused on gathering evidence to convict her, Emory must prove her innocence while whipping up batches of cupcakes and buttercream.

Cake Popped Off!

Cupcake caterer Emory Martinez is hosting a Halloween bash alongside her octogenarian employer, Tillie. With guests dressed in elaborate costumes, the band is rocking, the cocktails are flowing, and tempers are flaring when the hired Bavarian Barmaid tries to hook a rich, hapless husband. When Emory tracks down the distraught barmaid, instead of finding the young woman in tears, she finds her dead. With a family member implicated, Emory must track down the killer. Her search leads her to a web of blackmail and betrayal amongst the posh setting of the local country club crowd. Can Emory sift through the lies she’s being told and find the killer? She’ll need to step up her investigation before another victim is sent to the great pumpkin patch in the sky.

Framed and Frosted

Cupcake caterer, Emory Martinez, is working at Laguna Beach society Fourth of July soiree, with her sister and their new employee, Sal. As the crescendo of exploding fireworks overhead becomes the backdrop for cupcakes and champagne, a deadly murder occurs. Can Sal and Emory explain why the cupcake the host ate, after shoving a trayful of buttercream-frosted cupcakes onto Sal, resulted in his death? Emory and her octogenarian employer, Tillie, whip into action to find out who framed Sal after he was frosted by the victim.

Each book features several recipes! 

Print

Lemon Drop Martini Cupcakes

Makes 15 - 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1-1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
• 1-1/4 cups (9 ounces) granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup limoncello
• 2 tablespoons triple sec
• 1/2 cup prepared lemon curd, your favorite recipe or store-bought

Frosting:

• 4 cups (18 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon limoncello
• 1 tablespoon triple sec
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil, optional

Optional Garnish:

• Fresh lemon slices, lemon zest, or lemon fruit gel candies

Instructions

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, limoncello, and triple sec. Set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated.
5. Alternating, add 1/3 of the flour mixture with 1/3 of the limoncello mixture, beating after each addition just until mixed.
6. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full.
7. Bake 15-18 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. A few moist crumbs clinging to the skewer is fine.
8. Remove the cupcake tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes and cool completely on a wire rack.
9. When completely cool, using a 1/2-teaspoon measuring spoon, scoop out the middle of the cupcakes, about the size of an olive. Fill the hole with the prepared lemon curd.

Frosting:

1. Whisk together in a small bowl the lemon juice, limoncello, triple sec, and lemon oil, if using. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter until light and smooth. On low speed, mix in half the confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, until incorporated into the butter. Beat in half the limoncello mixture and alternate with the remaining confectioners’ sugar and limoncello mixture.
3. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

4. Using a large star tip, generously pipe the frosting in swooping swirls over the tops of the cupcakes to cover the lemon curd. If not serving immediately, refrigerate. Allow to come to room temperature for an hour before serving.

5. If using a garnish, top the cupcakes just before serving.

Enter for a chance to win one of two $5 Amazon gift cards! Contest ends May 11, 2025 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!)

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