Wedding Cake Murder Read online

  “Just wait until you see this shower!” Hannah called out to her sister, rushing out the door, through the living room, and onto the cold balcony. But the balcony wasn’t cold. The tile was warm on her feet, and Hannah’s mouth opened in surprise a second time.

  “It’s heated,” Michelle said, stating the obvious. “And it’s covered, too, so the snow can’t come in unless it’s a blizzard. I can hardly wait to come out here at night! We could be perfectly comfortable, even on a cold night, sitting in those chairs and looking out at the city lights. This is the biggest and fanciest suite I’ve ever seen, even in the movies. It’s like our very own luxury apartment. I can’t believe that the Food Channel gave us a suite like this!”

  Hannah sighed and then she smiled. “I don’t think that the Food Channel gave us this suite.”

  “What do you mean? You said they told you that they would provide our accommodations.”

  “And they probably did pay for a perfectly nice room. But I think Ross got an upgrade for us. That’s what he did on the plane.”

  “The Food Channel didn’t fly us here in first class?”

  “No, they paid for two round-trip tickets in coach. Ross used his frequent flyer points to upgrade all of us to first class.”

  “Tell him thank you for me. The plane food was even good. One of my roommates told me that all I should eat on the plane was cheese and crackers because the food was so awful, but I had the tuna wrap and it was really great. What did you have? I was so busy talking to P.K., I didn’t even notice.”

  “I didn’t have anything. I slept all the way here. Ross had to wake me up when we got ready to land.”

  “You must have been tired.”

  “I was, but I’m not now. I am a little hungry, though. I brought some Soft Chewy Milk Chocolate Cookies with me. Would you like one?”

  “I’d like one and then I’d like more. I love those cookies. They smell like summer afternoons on the front porch.”

  “You’re right. They do. The only thing we’re missing is the mosquitoes.”

  “I could live without those.” Michelle followed Hannah back inside and waited until she found the cookies in her suitcase. “Shall we unpack and then take a walk to get a feel for the city?”

  “Sounds good to me. Ross and P.K. are going to be busy all afternoon, getting their equipment in order. And the Food Channel car doesn’t pick us up until six.”

  “That’s for orientation, right?”

  “That’s what they told me. We have to sign a bunch of papers and then we get to walk around our cooking stage and examine the contents of the pantry. Tomorrow morning’s our time to practice. The sheet the Food Channel representative gave me at the airport says our time slot is from ten to one.”

  “And the competition is at seven that night?”

  “Yes, but we have to be there at six. And then we fly out the next afternoon to the hometown of whoever wins the hometown challenge.”

  “That’ll be Lake Eden,” Michelle said confidently. “Everybody said your Magic White Chocolate Soufflé is the best thing they’ve ever tasted.”

  “I just hope the judges agree.”

  “They will,” Michelle said with a smile. “You’d better bring the recipe with us so we can check to see if they gave us everything we need to bake it.”

  “I’ve got it all ready to go.” Hannah patted the file she’d placed on the desk. “Let’s eat while we walk, Michelle. This suite is a little bit too fancy for me. I might get to expect luxury like this and that means I’ll be really disillusioned when we get home and go back to living an ordinary life.”

  SOFT CHEWY MILK

  CHOCOLATE COOKIES

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

  1 and ¼ cups white (granulated) sugar

  1 cup salted butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)

  2 large eggs

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon cinnamon

  ¼ teaspoon cardamom

  ½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  2 Tablespoons coffee (you can use coffee left over from breakfast)

  ½ cup molasses

  ½ cup light Karo syrup

  ½ cup golden raisins

  4 cups quick cooking oats (I used Quaker 1-minute)

  3 and ½ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  1 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Nestle)

  Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. (You can also mix up these cookies by hand, but it’s easier and quicker with an electric mixer.)

  Pour the softened butter on top of the sugar.

  Mix the sugar and the butter until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

  Mix in the eggs and beat until it is well incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.

  Sprinkle in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix them in until they’re incorporated.

  Add the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and coffee. Mix well.

  Add the golden raisins. Mix them in thoroughly.

  Mix in the molasses and the light Karo syrup. Beat until everything is combined.

  Add the oats. Mix thoroughly.

  Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

  Take the bowl out of the mixer, give it a final stir by hand, scrape down the sides to make sure that none of the yummy cookie batter sticks to the sides, and stir in the milk chocolate chips by hand.

  Set the bowl aside on the counter while you prepare your cookie sheets.

  Spray your cookie sheets with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper.

  Hannah’s 1st Note: I prefer to use parchment paper when I’m baking at home. The paper makes it much easier to remove the baked cookies from the baking sheet. All you have to do is leave an “ear” of paper at the top and the bottom so that you can pull the parchment paper, baked cookies and all, over to the wire racks to cool.

  Drop your cookies by heaping large spoonfuls onto your prepared cookie sheets, no more than 9 large cookies to a standard-size sheet. Think double-sized cookies and you won’t go wrong. (Lisa and I use a 2-Tablespoon scoop, rounded with dough on top, to do this down at The Cookie Jar.)

  Bake your cookies at 350 degrees F., for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are springy on top when touched lightly and quickly with a fingertip.

  Let your Soft Chewy Milk Chocolate Cookies sit on the cookie sheets for at least 2 minutes.

  Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets with a metal spatula (or, if you used parchment paper, simply pull the whole sheet off) to a wire rack to finish cooling.

  Yield: 2 to 3 dozen large soft cookies that everyone will enjoy.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: This recipe can be doubled, if you wish. You will probably wish, because otherwise there won’t be enough cookies for the kids and their friends after you get through tasting them.

  Chapter Ten

  “Everything checks out, Hannah. We’re ready.”

  Hannah adjusted her apron and turned to look at Michelle. Perhaps her sister was ready, but Hannah felt as if she were facing a final exam without ever going to any classes or reading the textbook.

  “Relax. You’ll be fine as soon as you begin baking,” Michelle told her, slipping their recipes in the Plexiglas holders on the counter in front of each of them.

  “But what if my soufflé doesn’t rise? Then I won’t win and I’ll disappoint everyone in Lake Eden.”

  “It’ll rise,” Michelle reassured her. “Has Anne Elizabeth’s recipe ever failed to rise?”

  “No.”

  “Then there’s no reason to think it might fail to rise tonight. How many times have you made it?”

  “Over a dozen.”

  “Exactly my point. And it worked perfectly when you baked it at The Cookie Jar and perfectly during rehearsal this m
orning.”

  “You’re right. I guess it’s just stage fright. I’m really nervous, Michelle.”

  “So is everyone else. Just look at Brooke Jackman. She must have checked her ingredients twenty times.”

  “But she’s an important dessert chef!”

  “That’s true, but she’s still nervous. I talked to Loren Berringer this morning and he said that this was completely different from working in a restaurant.”

  Hannah glanced at one of the neighboring kitchen sets. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but I think you’re wrong. Rodney Paloma doesn’t look nervous.”

  “Take a second look. He’s hanging on to that mixing bowl like a drowning man holding on to a raft.” Michelle waited until Hannah had glanced at Rodney again. “Do you see what I mean?”

  “Yes, I do. He’s hanging on so hard, his knuckles are white. I think he’s trying to pretend it’s no big deal, but he’s certainly not at ease.”

  “Rodney’s got a good reason to be nervous. I read the Food Channel bio on him and it said that Dessert Enthusiast magazine listed him as one of the top twenty-five dessert chefs in the country. Rodney has to do well in the competition. His reputation’s on the line.”

  Hannah wanted to ask what the Food Channel had written about her, but perhaps she was better off not knowing. She could always find out once this competition was over. “Is Gloria Berkeley nervous? I can’t see her from here.”

  “Neither can I, but she’s already passed behind us three times on her way to the ladies’ room. Either she ate something that didn’t agree with her, or she’s nervous, too.”

  Hannah drew a deep steadying breath. “Maybe it’s not very nice of me, but I feel a lot better knowing that I’m not the only one with a case of the jitters.”

  “Contestants? Places, please!” The producer’s assistant stood near the apron of the stage with a clipboard in his hand. “If there’s anybody who hasn’t been miked, give me a shout. We’ll do a sound check in a minute or two.”

  “It’s almost show time,” Michelle said, smiling at Hannah. “You look great in that apron.”

  “Thanks!” Hannah glanced down at her apron. It was sunshine yellow with an embroidered rendition of The Cookie Jar sign on the bib. Michelle was wearing one too, and there were two extras folded neatly on the shelf under the counter of their kitchen set, just in case they spilled something. Hannah had ordered a dozen in all, and she planned to give them to her mother, Andrea, Lisa, Aunt Nancy, Marge, and Jack for Christmas.

  The other contestants were wearing chef’s jackets with the name of their restaurant on the front. Hannah preferred aprons because they were what she always wore when she baked. Her feet were clad in tennis shoes and she was wearing a black blouse and black slacks. Michelle was similarly dressed, and although they didn’t have the outfits that real restaurant chefs wore, Hannah thought they looked professional enough to satisfy the audience.

  The other contestants weren’t wearing tennis shoes, but they did have lace-up shoes with non-skid soles. That made sense in a restaurant kitchen, where spills on the floor could cause accidents. There was only one exception to sensible shoes, and that exception was Gloria Berkeley. She was wearing dress shoes with heels so high, Hannah wondered how she could possibly work in them.

  Gloria was a fashion plate from head to toe. She was dressed like a fashion model who was playing the part of a chef. Her bright red chef’s jacket complemented her blond hair and it was expertly tailored, leaving no doubt that her figure was perfect. Her matching skirt was short, and it twirled around her hips as she moved. When they’d first come in and Hannah had seen Gloria, she’d commented in an aside to Michelle, that she hoped Gloria wouldn’t drop anything during the competition. Because, if she did, and if she bent over to pick it up, their show might receive an X-rating. Of course Hannah had been joking, but she did think that Gloria’s outfit was entirely inappropriate for a baking competition.

  “All right, contestants and assistants,” the producer’s assistant spoke again. “We’re almost ready to begin. As we introduce you and you hear your names, do some bit of business with the ingredients on your workstation. Don’t actually start to prepare up your entry, but rearrange an ingredient or pick up a spoon or a mixing bowl. Then look up at the camera and give us a smile.”

  “You pick up the package of chips and I’ll move the bowl,” Michelle coached Hannah. “We can put them back down where they were right after the camera moves on.”

  As Hannah watched, the judges filed out of the greenroom. She recognized Alain Duquesne and Christian Parker from the taped show that Andrea had shown her, and she also recognized Jeremy Zales as the chef who had made the shrimp dish that had tantalized Moishe. La Vonna Brach looked exactly like the photo that accompanied her Food Channel biography, and since there were only five judges, the stylishly dressed fifth judge had to be the exotic ingredient importer, Helene Stone.

  “Aunt Nancy was right about Alain Duquesne being a ladies’ man,” Michelle whispered to Hannah. “He’s staring at Gloria’s skirt.”

  “So are Christian Parker and Jeremy Zales,” Hannah pointed out.

  “But they’re not leering like Judge Duquesne is. Maybe we should have worn short skirts.”

  “Not me,” Hannah whispered back. “I don’t think it would have done me any good at all.”

  Michelle stifled a laugh, and Hannah realized that her sister had succeeded in relaxing her. She wasn’t as nervous as she’d been several minutes ago. Maybe this would be all right after all. She would do her best and hope that it was good enough. And even if it wasn’t, she’d know that she had given it her all.

  Suddenly it was brighter than daylight as the stage lighting clicked on and the exhaust fans began to whirr. Hannah blinked once or twice, but then her eyes became accustomed to the light. She peered into the darkness beyond the stages for a glimpse of Ross and P.K. She could see shapes, but that was all. Nobody outside the stage area was discernable.

  One by one, the judges were introduced. As the announcer called their names, each judge walked forward and took a chair at the judges’ table. As the announcer began to announce the contestants, Hannah felt the butterflies in her stomach take flight. This happened every time she had to appear in front of an audience.

  “Hannah Swensen from Lake Eden, Minnesota, and her assistant, Michelle Swensen,” the announcer intoned. “Miss Swensen owns a bakery and coffee shop called The Cookie Jar.”

  Hannah reached for the bag of white chocolate chips and moved it slightly and Michelle grabbed the bowl and the wooden spoon. It was their great-grandmother Elsa’s spoon and Hannah had brought it with them for luck. Just in time, Hannah remembered to smile and then the cameras moved on.

  “Good job!” Michelle whispered. “You didn’t look nervous at all.”

  “Appearances are deceiving,” Hannah whispered back, replacing the chips.

  All of the contestants listened attentively while the announcer read the rules. Of course they all knew the rules from previous readings and reminders, but it was for the audience’s benefit. Then the announcer cued Alain Duquesne to start the timer on the judges’ table. It was a two-sided clock that was clearly visible to both the audience and the contestants, and it would tick off the seconds and minutes of their time limit.

  For one very brief and panicked moment, Hannah was frozen in place. And then her muscles relaxed and she began to move. Michelle used the stovetop on their U-shaped work station to cook the sauce that would be ladled into the individual soufflé cups that they would present to the judges. As Hannah preheated the oven, prepared the soufflé dishes, and began to assemble the ingredients, the butterflies in her stomach calmed down and decided to take a nap.

  They baked exactly as they had practiced in their rehearsal and everything went according to plan. Hannah kept an eye on the clock. Soufflés were time critical and their soufflés had to be ready at exactly the right moment to present them to the judges.

 
; The soufflés rose as planned. They were very close to ready when the time clock at the judges’ table sounded a two-minute warning with a klaxon-like sound that was much louder than needed. Hannah removed the soufflé dishes from the oven, Michelle poured the sauce into a pitcher, and they were ready.

  When their names were announced Hannah carried the soufflés to the judges’ table, and Michelle followed her with the sauces and the cutlery they needed for their presentation.

  “Soufflés?!” Alain Duquesne sounded astounded. “You took quite a risk, Miss Swensen. What would you have done if they’d fallen? Served them to us anyway and called them pancakes?”

  Hannah and Michelle laughed dutifully, even though the head judge’s joke wasn’t that funny. But he was waiting for an answer and Hannah spoke.

  “I’ve made these dozens of times, Chef Duquesne, and they’ve never fallen. It’s a wonderful recipe.”

  “And I suppose you created it?” Jeremy Zales asked her.

  “No, Chef Zales. It came from a friend, Aunt Nancy and she received it from a friend of hers, Anne Elizabeth. I just modified it a bit by using white chocolate chips.”

  “How much flour is in this soufflé?” La Vonna Brach asked.

  “None, Ms. Brach. I’m not a nutritionist and I don’t have the background to make this claim, but I think that this soufflé may be a gluten-free dessert.”

  “It sounds like you’re right, Miss Swensen,” Christian Parker said.

  “It’s delicious,” Helene Stone commented. “Have you ever tried it with powdered vanilla?”

  “No, Ms. Stone. I don’t have access to ingredients like that in Lake Eden, but I’ll check with Florence at the Red Owl Grocery when I get home to see if she can special order it. It sounds like a wonderful idea.”