So, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. Haley goes home. Leaving two very attractive, talented teens to sing their way into our hearts on American Idol finale night. Well, your hearts. I won’t be watching. I can’t think of a more anticlimactic conclusion to this season. Yes, they will sing cheerfully and well….and there won’t be a single surprise, or anything we haven’t already heard from these two. And since either of them winning is fine with me, I’ll just skip on over to the last five minutes of Result Night for the confetti shower and call it a day. I couldn’t be less excited. Ah well! I hope a bunch of the contenders this year end up with lives altered and careers launched from there time spent on the Idol stage. I suspect it will be one of the better graduating classes.

Okay, so now on to important things. Like mud. In this case? MIssissippi Mud. Cupcakes. Oh yeah. Now, if you haven’t heard the news, I’m launching the Sugarberry Island Cupcake Club book series later this year, and to help celebrate the fun, my publisher, Kensington Books, is running a CONTEST! The winner will get his or her original cupcake recipe published in the back of my second Cupcake Club book, SWEET STUFF, available January 27. I know! It’s very exciting and instead of reading this, you should be emailing me your recipe rightthisverysecond!

To get all the details, click on the CONTEST! link in the blogroll up there under my smiling picture, and then strap on that apron and get baking!

To get you in the mood, I’m going to share here the cupcake recipe that is posted in this week’s Cakes by the Cup Blog. (That’s my alternate universe blog where you get to share with me my journey to becoming a cupcake baker as I research and write my cupcake book series…)

This week? I was motivated by all this lovely rain Mother Nature keeps dumping on us. (Btw…Mama N? We had April showers. We have May flowers. I think your work here is done. Seriously.) But there are some kinds of mud that we never get tired of…..

Southern Living Mississippi Mud Cupcakes!

Ingredients
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (10.5-oz.) bag miniature marshmallows

Preparation
1. Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet.
2. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted.
3. Microwave 1 cup butter and semisweet chocolate in a large microwave-safe glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
4. Whisk sugar and next 5 ingredients into chocolate mixture. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.
5. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until puffed. Sprinkle evenly with 2 cups miniature marshmallows, and bake 5 more minutes or until golden. Remove from oven, and cool cupcakes in muffin pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans, and place on wire rack. Drizzle warm cakes evenly with Chocolate Frosting, and sprinkle with toasted pecans.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Stir together first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until slightly thickened; remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Now, was I right, or was I right? These are crunchy, gooey, chocolatey goodness in a paper cup.

Okay, time to announce this week’s Free Stuff Friday contest winner! Thank you to all who entered. The winner this week of a free book from my website bookshelf is? Steph Ella! Wahoo, Steph! Just email me a few title ideas (in case I’m out of your first choice) and an address and I’ll get your prize in the mail to you!

Check in on Monday for the next Free Stuff Friday contest announcement! (And check out Cakes by the Cup Blog right now and enter to win a Southern Living cookbook!) Then start going through that recipe box and send me your cupcake recipe and get in on the CONTEST! fun!

DISH!!

Tags: Writing //