I was making a quick addition to the Adept Universe Cookbook today – apparently, I forgot to mention WHEN to add the chocolate chips in the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie recipe (thank you to Bronwyn’s hubby for letting me know) – and I stumbled upon this excerpt from Dowser 5 that made me smile.

I do adore Drake.

“Tell me the tale of this cupcake,” Drake demanded as he dramatically held a newer creation of mine aloft.

I glanced up from the last handwritten page of the journal. “That’s a Vixen in a Cup. Chocolate gingerbread cake with a salted caramel icing.”

“Vixen in a Cup,” Drake whispered as he carefully peeled the paper off the cupcake. Earlier this year, I’d tried to do away with cupcake holders by using silicone cups to bake. But they were fiddly — the moist, delicate cake broke more often than not — and my customers had rebelled at the breaking of tradition. At least the paper cups I used were compostable.

The final line of the journal read: Shailaja has broken with the guardians. She has broken with me.

“Who is Shay-la-ja?” I asked Drake, attempting to sound out the foreign name.

The fledgling, who’d stuffed the entire cupcake in his mouth, could only shrug in response.

“Way to savor.”

 – excerpt from Maps, Artifacts, and Other Arcane Magic (Dowser 5)