Cake and Confessions

by Laurel Remington

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon dried edible lavender

  • 1 cup butter, softened

  • 1½ cups sugar

  • 4 tablespoons lemon zest

  • 4 eggs

  • ¾ cup Greek yogurt

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 7-inch round cake pans, and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and lavender in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and eggs to the butter mixture, one egg at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Add Greek yogurt into wet ingredients and mix. Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Divide mixture evenly into the greased cake pans. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely on wire racks, then decorate with the frosting and toppings of your choice!

  Okay, so I’m kind of scared to mention this, but tonight’s the night. Wedding Belles: Episode Five, “Confetti and Cake” is premiering on Channel 3 at eight o’clock. They asked me if I wanted to watch it in advance, but I said no. I’ve got some friends coming over, and we’ll sit around and watch it together. My dad’s coming over too. He’s going to cook up a big pot of spaghetti for everyone, and the rest of us are doing garlic bread, salad, and tiramisu for dessert. But right now, I feel so nervous, I don’t know how I can possibly eat.

  I guess in the end, it doesn’t matter whether I look silly, or like a deer in the headlights in front of the camera. The main thing is that we made a lovely wedding feast for my mom and Em-K, and that one month later, things are going pretty well. It’s not even weird. Okay, maybe a little weird—but I’ll get there.

  Before the whole wedding thing even started, I wished I had a recipe for dealing with all the changes in my life. But the last few months have taught me that as long as I’m using the best ingredients—friends, family, love, truth, and self-confidence—then no matter what happens, I can handle it.

  So tonight, all I can do is be brave. (And keep hold of the remote in case I need to turn the TV off in a hurry!)

  The Little Cook xx

  I hit post and run downstairs just as the doorbell rings. Dad’s already in the kitchen making a huge pot of spaghetti, so it must be someone else, arriving early. Or maybe it’s Mom and Em-K—they went out to the store to pick up a few last-minute things. And we’ll all be having dinner together, just like in the dream I had that now seems a lifetime ago. But they wouldn’t have rung the doorbell…

  I go to the door and fling it open.

  “Surprise!” My heart jolts from the sound—they’re all here! All my friends, and “costars” of tonight’s show: Nick and Violet, Fraser and Naya, Gretchen and Alison, Annabel Greene…standing outside the door, each carrying something in their arms. Cupcakes, loaves of bread, salad, a big pink bowl of popcorn. I grin from ear to ear and feel the nerves and excitement course through my body. This, after all, is our night.

  “We thought we’d come early to help with dinner,” Naya says.

  “And bring some extra food in case we want to watch the show more than once.” Nick leans in and gives me a kiss on cheek.

  “Come in!” I stand aside, my knees a little bit wobbly. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

  I usher them into the front room, and everyone sits on the extra chairs and beanbags that Kelsie and I have set out. Fraser and Nick run to the kitchen to get some more plates and bowls. And the rest of us chat and pass around the popcorn, and trickle into the kitchen to help.

  A while later, when everything’s ready, we all sit around the table. Mom is at one end, with Em-K at the other. Dad and I are across from each other in the middle. Everyone else is filling in the gaps on either side. There’s an energy in the room as everyone talks and laughs, and Nick and Fraser carry the TV into the room. Treacle is beside himself, jumping from lap to lap and purring, in heaven from so many people to give him attention.

  The food is delicious, and even though I’m nervous, I still manage to eat a helping and a half. And a few minutes before eight, I tap my spoon on the edge of my glass of orange juice, and gradually the room falls silent.

  This time, even though everyone’s looking at me, I don’t feel my normal stage fright—not too much, anyway. “I’d like to propose a toast,” I say. “To friends, old and new.” My eyes sweep down the table, pausing on the face of each and every person here—the people I love. “And, of course,” I add, “to the Secret Cooking Club!”

  “To friends!”

  “To the Secret Cooking Club!” Everyone is chorusing and clinking glasses.

  “To the bride and groom!” Dad adds, lifting his glass.

  “To my two dads!” Kelsie yells out.

  “Two minutes to eight,” Nick says. From his place at the table next to Dad, he hands me the remote control.

  “It’s time, Scarlett,” he says.

  It’s time.

  Violet jumps out of her chair and runs over to the light switch. “Is everybody ready?” She dims the lights to a low amber.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” I point the remote and switch on the television.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to say thank you to all the young readers out there who love cooking and baking—you are the continuing inspiration behind the Secret Cooking Club books. This year, I’ve had the privilege to meet and talk to some of you at school events, and I’ve enjoyed every moment and learned so much! I’d also like to thank the teachers, parents, and librarians who have also given me encouragement to write this book, and the staff at St. Hilary’s School who let me be a judge for their real-life charity bake-off. Next, I’d like to mention the people at Chicken House who are true champions of new writers and have been so helpful and supportive to me in building my career as an author. Also, thanks to my agent, Anna Power, and my writing group—Ronan Winters, Chris King, Francisco Gochez, David Speakman, and Lucy Beresford, who have helped me to remain positive during some of the challenges I’ve faced this year.

  And most of all, I’d like to thank my family—my parents, Suzanne and Bruce, Monica Yeo, my partner, Ian, and especially my three lovely daughters: Eve, Rose, and Grace. You give meaning to my life and make it all worthwhile.

  About the Author

  Laurel Remington works as a lawyer for a renewable energy company that builds wind farms. She lives in the UK with her three girls.

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