Freshwater: Moonlight Madness Cupcakes ala Jenn McKinlay and Sprinkle With Murder!

Freshwater

Located in the wilds of Wyoming, the name Freshwater was chosen as a Western analogy to Christ. Just as He is the Living Water, and we must have Him to have eternal life, any desert dweller knows the importance of fresh water to life, both for self, and the nourishment of crops or livestock. By taking nourishment in God and His word, we strengthen our own relationship with Him, our faith, and the quality and abundance of our fruitfulness.

Our keystone verse is from Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 8: "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see whenSave heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

The fruit that we speak of is mentioned in Galatians 5:22
"²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

And the heat could be anything we experience that might test our faith in God; trials and tribulations, relationships, anything that focuses our love and attention anywhere but on Him...

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Moonlight Madness Cupcakes ala Jenn McKinlay and Sprinkle With Murder!

Last night I made Moonlight Madness Cupcakes from Sprinkle With Murder by Jenn McKinlay. You might remember Jenn McKinlay and the Cupcake Murders from a previous blog...

http://freshwateracademy.blogspot.com/2012/01/cupcake-mysteries-by-jenn-mckinlay.html

And, a recipe that I had previously tried, Cupid's Bliss Cupcakes, from Buttercream Bumpoff. http://freshwateracademy.blogspot.com/2012/01/cupcakes-from-mysteries-by-jenn.html

I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever make these cupcakes, as coconut is not a real favorite in our family. In fact, I thought about just buying coconut extract, making it coconut flavored frosting, and skipping the flaked coconut completely. I even made about half of the cupcakes without the coconut on top, but I think it was a mistake. I still have problems with the texture of coconut, but they are incomplete without it.

I fact, I don't believe I made any substitutions or changes with this recipe. I will tell you the only thing we did do, which may or may not be different. We did not buy a bag of flaked coconut at the store. We bought a whole coconut, which the girls have been wanting to do for days anyway! I think that added freshness and a lightness to the flavor that a bag of flaked coconut that has been sitting on the shelf for months wouldn't have.

I'll dedicate some time in my next blog to the coconut ;).

If you haven't had an opportunity to read her mysteries yet, jump on it, because they are amazing! I just put her Decoupage Mysteries, written as Lucy Lawrence on hold at my local library, and I requested that they purchase her up and coming )April 2012) 50% off Murder, the first in the Good Buy Girls Mysteries, written as Josie Belle!