The Semi-Sweet Hereafter

by Colette London

  I had to call Travis and line up something new right away.

  “Mrs. Wright will not go free,” Satya reiterated with a sigh. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” Bluntly, she added, “Do you need help finding your way out?”

  “No, we’ve got it covered.” Danny grabbed me and bolted.

  In the hallway, I protested. “Danny! We were talking.”

  “No, you were fishing.” He strode onward, holding my hand to keep me with him. “Nobody’s going to congratulate you.”

  I slowed. Was that what I was after? Had I been fishing for accolades? If I was, it was understandable. I’d risked murder.

  “Travis will congratulate me.” I cheered up at the thought. “He always knows what to say.” More importantly . . . “And how to say it.” I couldn’t wait to hear his sexy tones, telling me how brave I’d been, how clever, how determined and how persistent.

  The minute we reached the sidewalk, Danny stopped. He faced me. He cleared his throat. He wore the deepest possible frown.

  “Congratulations,” he said roughly. “You did it.”

  I smiled. “There. Was that so hard?”

  He didn’t quit frowning. “Given the circumstances? Yes.”

  I examined his face. “I knew it. You only said that to beat Travis to the punch, didn’t you?” With an annoyed exclamation, I swatted his arm. “Danny! You’re supposed to mean it.”

  “I mean everything I say to you,” he said.

  “That’s more like it. Come on.” I started walking toward the closest Tube station. I’d glimpsed an iconic roundel nearby, and I refused to be scared away from such a useful form of transportation. Although, since my push had been accidental—

  “You mean too much to me to keep risking you like this,” Danny said from behind me. Too late, I realized he hadn’t followed me. “If you keep this up,” he warned, “I’ll quit.”

  What? I turned to face him, openmouthed. “Quit? You can’t quit. You’re just upset.” Right? “You don’t mean that.”

  He crossed his arms. I couldn’t read his face. “Try me.”

  I didn’t want to. “Fortunately for us,” I said, “that won’t be an issue, since I’m not running into any more murders.”

  Danny gave me a cynical look—the same look he’d been giving me for years now, for just as long as we’d known one another. He didn’t back down or agree. But then, I hadn’t expected him to.

  I could always count on him for sheer stubbornness.

  Well, I could match him on that. “I sneaked Jeremy’s dimpled pub mug out of the guesthouse in my luggage. I’m going to give it to Liam. I think he’d appreciate the keepsake.”

  Danny only looked at me. I thought he was waiting for me to cave in to his (unlikely to be enforced) demand. But I wouldn’t.

  A tense moment ticked past between us. We both stood there.

  Finally, Danny sighed. “I’m the one with the shady past, here. If you start stealing things, where does that leave me?”

  At his grudging acceptance of my change of subject, I almost went weak with relief. I guessed a part of me had feared he meant that threat. But Danny not help if I were in trouble?

  It was unthinkable. Both of us knew it.

  “My little slip leaves you reformed, just the way I like it.” I gestured for him to catch up. Together, we walked. “What else do I have to do?” I mused, taking in the only-in-London mixture of skyscrapers, centuries-old buildings, Routemaster buses, and black cabs. “Oh yeah. Call Claire and tell her I won’t be writing a tell-all book about the chocolate industry.”

  “At the commercial taping with Gemma, Claire asked me if ‘chocolate whispering’ was a real job,” Danny confided with a twinkle in his eye. “I told her you made it up.”

  “You made it up! You came up with the name, too. Remember?”

  Danny offered me an exaggeratedly thoughtful look. He furrowed his brows in confusion. “No, I don’t remember that.”

  “Yes, you do. That night in New York, when we decided I could make a living at chocolate? You said I’d be great!”

  Doubtfully, my security expert shook his head. “Nah, that doesn’t sound like me. You must be thinking of Harvard.”

  “It was you.” I knew it was. “I remember as if it happened yesterday. Danny, I’m doing this job because of you.”

  There were a few other factors at work, of course. But my longtime friend and sometime source of frustration was the main reason I’d found my purpose in life. I owed him for that.

  I always would owe him for that. Just as much as I owed wonderful Uncle Ross for giving me the world in a suitcase.

  But Danny wasn’t in the mood for reminiscing with me. Probably because he’d just threatened (inconceivably) to quit.

  If you keep this up, I’ll quit.

  I just couldn’t believe it. Maybe he was feeling grumpy.

  “Gemma is planning to buy out Phoebe’s share of Primrose,” he said affably, shooting down my “grumpy” supposition with his hand on the small of my back as we headed down into the station. “She told me so last night. She has enough money now. So if you’re worried about the chocolaterie-pâtisserie continuing . . . don’t.”

  “I wasn’t even thinking about that,” I said honestly.

  Danny gave me a skeptical look as we neared the ticket barriers. “You were there a whole month. I know you, remember? I know when you’re worried about the people you care about.”

  Yeah—and I’d known Danny a lot longer.

  But I didn’t want to think about whatever lay ahead of us—up to and including the danger of losing Danny to another (implausible) murder. Just then, all I wanted was to unwind before running my errands, catching my Eurostar train, and visiting my parents. All I wanted was to move on. As usual.

  I may have told you before that I like being on the move.

  Playfully, I nudged Danny. “Hey, you wanna go celebrate? We did this together, you know—you, me, and Travis.” As usual. “I know a place near here that serves a wicked ice cream sundae.”

  “Oh no.” With faux alarm, my security expert held up his palms. “Here it comes. Don’t do it, Hayden. Just don’t.”

  “It’s got Tahitian vanilla-bean ice cream, dark-chocolate ice cream, and hand-churned cookie-dough ice cream,” I said as we reached the escalators. “It’s drizzled with bourbon caramel, espresso ganache, and house-made white-chocolate whipped cream—”

  Danny covered his ears with his hands. “I’m not listening.”

  “—with a cherry on top and loads of homemade chocolate jimmies.” I smiled broadly at him. “Did you know you can make your own jimmies? All you need are confectioner’s sugar, a little liquid, some flavoring of your choice, and something—”

  To bind it with, I was about to say. But Danny stopped me.

  “If I say I’ll try it, will you stop describing it?”

  “But describing it”—anticipating it—“is the best part!”

  He shook his head with evident disagreement. But once on the escalator, he grinned up at me. “Don’t ever change, Hayden.”

  “Who, me?” I feigned surprise. “I won’t. Count on it.”

  The only trouble was, I was afraid I already had.

  If another unlikely murder came up, I’d change even more.

  But until then, I owed Danny an ice-cream sundae to remember. “You’ll never forget this,” I told him. “Never.”

  “Yeah,” he joked. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  I scoffed. “You’re not afraid of anything.”

  I was. Now. But I knew how to put that out of my mind.

  I’m a world-traveling expert in chocolate, remember? If I can’t successfully distract myself with myriad destinations and hundreds of pounds of Theobroma cacao at my disposal, who can?

  So I grabbed Danny’s arm and led us both in the direction I wanted to go. For now, at least, I was still in the driver’s seat. Even if I couldn’t (yet) drive on the left, I was planning to take control
—starting with a scrumptious ice-cream sundae, continuing with a phone call check-in to Travis, and ending . . . ?

  Well, that I didn’t know yet, I acknowledged to myself as the people of London raced past. But I did know that I couldn’t wait to find out.

  DOUBLE CHOCOLATE STOUT COOKIES

  ½ cup (room temperature) butter

  ½ cup brown sugar

  ¼ cup granulated sugar

  2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  1 egg

  1½ cups flour

  ⅓ cup cocoa powder

  ¾ teaspoons kosher salt

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  6 ounces Guinness or other stout

  12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

  GET READY: Preheat oven to 375°.

  MAKE COOKIES: In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and egg; beat to combine.

  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Add dry flour/cocoa mixture to creamy butter/sugar mixture in thirds, alternating with the stout.

  Fold in the chocolate chips; stir just until combined.

  SHAPE & BAKE COOKIES: Chill the dough for 15 minutes, then scoop rounded spoonfuls onto greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (A #20 portion scoop—which holds 3 tablespoons—is handy here.) Flatten cookies slightly. Bake for 10–13 minutes, until just set. Cool and enjoy!

  Notes from Hayden

  Guinness works well in this recipe and is widely available across the U.S. Or go for a specialty stout like Triple Chocoholic from Saltaire Brewery in the U.K. Either one will have a roasted malt flavor that will add extra pizazz to your cookies. These are traditional chocolate chip cookies’ double-dark older brother—the one who’s always getting into trouble!

  STRAWBERRY-CHOCOLATE ETON MESS

  whites of 4 eggs (save yolks for another recipe)

  1 cup granulated sugar

  3 tablespoons cocoa powder

  2 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate

  1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced

  3 tablespoons granulated sugar

  1 cup heavy whipping cream

  2 tablespoons granulated sugar

  1 tablespoon cocoa powder

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  GET READY: Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a bain-marie by filling a small saucepan with a few inches of water and bringing to a boil; reduce to a very low simmer, then proceed with meringues.

  MAKE THE CHOCOLATE MERINGUES: In a heatproof stainless-steel bowl, whisk together egg whites and 1 cup sugar. Set over bain-marie, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Whisk frequently until all sugar granules are dissolved.

  Remove mixture from the heat, then beat on high speed with a whisk attachment or beaters until the meringue is stiff and glossy, about 5 minutes. Sift over the cocoa powder, add the finely chopped chocolate, then gently fold together.

  Scoop rounded spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet to make individual meringues. Bake for 8 minutes; rotate baking sheet and bake for an additional 8 minutes, until meringues look puffy and slightly cracked. Cool completely.

  MAKE THE STRAWBERRIES: In a medium bowl, stir together strawberries and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar. Let macerate for at least 20 minutes, until juicy and delicious.

  MAKE THE COCOA WHIPPED CREAM: Whip together heavy cream, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla with a mixer until soft peaks form.

  TO MAKE THE STRAWBERRY-CHOCOLATE ETON MESS: Crumble the cooled meringues into a mixing bowl. Gently fold in the strawberries and cocoa whipped cream, mixing just until barely combined. Divide among 8 serving dishes, garnish with additional sliced strawberries and/or chocolate curls, then enjoy right away!

  Notes from Hayden

  Think of this as a British version of strawberry shortcake—with a chocolaty twist! Like Italian tiramisu, this layered dessert full of meringue pieces, whipped cream, and sweet strawberries is more than the sum of its parts. Sure, it’s messy—but only in the most delectable way! It’s easiest to make with a standing mixer and whisk attachment, but you can use a handheld mixer—just remember you’ll need to beat the meringue a bit longer.

  GOLDIE’S CHOCOLATE STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING CAKE

  8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

  1¼ cups boiling water

  ⅔ cups chopped dates

  ½ cup softened butter

  ¾ cup brown sugar

  3 eggs

  1½ cups flour

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  ½ cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup

  ¾ cup brown sugar

  ¼ cup butter

  ½ cup heavy whipping cream

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  GET READY: Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish, line the bottom with parchment paper, then set aside. In a small saucepan, combine 1¼ cups boiling water with dates; simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes, then set aside.

  MAKE CAKE: In a large bowl, cream butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then mix in the melted bittersweet chocolate.

  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir into the butter/chocolate mixture. Add the dates and their soaking liquid, then stir just until combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, then bake for 50 minutes until the cake feels springy to the touch or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

  MAKE TOFFEE SAUCE: In a small saucepan, combine golden syrup, brown sugar, butter, cream, and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 4–5 minutes, stirring often.

  SERVE: Serve the cake warm with hot toffee sauce. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra-decadent treat!

  Notes from Hayden

  This recipe might sound complicated, but it really isn’t! Lyle’s Golden Syrup has a light caramel flavor and is irreplaceable in this recipe. It’s been made by the British company Tate & Lyle’s since 1881 and was first called “Goldie,” just like Liam’s dog!

  CHOCOLATE BAKEWELL TART

  1¾ cups digestive biscuit crumbs

  ¼ cup granulated sugar

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  4 tablespoons butter, melted

  5 tablespoons blackcurrant jam, well stirred

  ¾ cup butter

  ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

  3 eggs

  ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)

  8 ounces chopped blanched almonds

  8 ounces ground almonds

  6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and

  cooled

  GET READY: Preheat oven to 350°.

  MAKE THE BISCUIT BASE: In a medium bowl, combine biscuit crumbs, ¼ cup sugar, salt, and melted butter. Stir to combine, then pour into a 9-inch springform pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 7 minutes, until very lightly crispy. Set aside to cool.

  Carefully spread the jam in a thin layer over the cooled biscuit base (an offset spatula is handy for this), spreading almost to the sides of the pan—leave an approximate 1-inch border so the jam doesn’t bubble over the edge.

  MAKE THE CHOCOLATE ALMOND FRANGIPANE FILLING: In a medium bowl, beat together ¾ cup butter and ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the almond extract (if using; vanilla extract makes a good substitution). Add the chopped and ground almonds; stir well. Pour mixture into the prepared, jam-filled crust.

  Dollop the melted chocolate on top, then use the edge of a knife to swirl it lightly into the mixture for a “marbled” effect. Place in the oven and bake for 35–40 minutes, until the almond/chocolate mixture has set but the filling is still slightly wobbly in the center. Cool completely on a wire rack.

  To serve, slice the tart into individual portions, then plate and enjoy with a dollop of whipped cream and/or additional ja
m.

  Notes from Hayden

  The pièce de résistance of Phoebe’s appearance on “telly” can be yours, too! If you can’t find digestive biscuits, substitute an equal amount of shortbread cookies, graham crackers, or even animal crackers. Or, for a real chocolate extravaganza, use chocolate wafers. Use any flavor of jam you like (blackcurrant is my fave, but it’s hard to find outside the U.K.), such as raspberry, strawberry, or apricot.