Wedding Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Throw away the bowl if you used a paper bowl or rinse it out in the sink if you didn’t.

  Move on to the 2nd bowl flavored with lemon Jell-O (the yellow one). Use a soup spoon to empty that bowl in a puddle next to the raspberry puddle.

  Move on to the 3rd bowl, the orange one. Spoon out the batter in a puddle on the space that remains in your cake pan.

  Here comes the fun part. Pick up your cake pan and stand at the counter near your sink. Hold the pan up about 4 inches from the surface and then drop it on the counter. This will “settle” the batter. (I’m not really sure you have to do this, but it’s fun!)

  Leave the cake pan on the counter and take a table knife from your silverware drawer. Insert the tip of your knife about 1-inch from the inside edge of your pan. Run the knife around in a circle, dragging it against the bottom of the cake pan, but don’t close the circle. Instead just jog up 2-inches or so to start another circle. You’ll be making a spiral that ends in the center of your cake pan. Don’t make too many circles. You don’t want the cake batter to mix into the other colors too much. Three spirals is just about right for this size of cake pan.

  Move on to the empty layer pan. Using the same technique, make puddles from the green, blue, and purple bowls. When you have your 3 colored puddles in the pan, drop the 2nd layer pan, “settle” it the same way you did with the 1st layer pan.

  Use the rinsed table knife to repeat the swirling process with your 2nd layer pan.

  Bake your layers at 325 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or thin wooden skewer inserted one inch from the center of the pan comes out clean and the top is a light golden brown.

  Cool in the pans on a wire rack or on a cold stovetop burner for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edges of the pans to loosen the cakes. Then turn them out on a wire rack.

  After the cakes are completely cool, it’s time to frost your cake.

  WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

  ½ cup (1 stick, 8 ounces, ¼ pound) salted butter, softened to room temperature

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ¼ cup (4 Tablespoons) white Crème d’Cacao (I used Mr. Stacks)

  3 and ½ to 4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar (don’t pack it down when you measure it—just scoop it out and level it off on top—my frosting used the whole 4 cups of powdered sugar.)

  Hannah’s 1st Note: If you’re watching your salt intake, you can add less salt than is called for in the recipe. But remember that the reason the salt is there is because it cuts down on the sweetness of the frosting and enhances the flavor of the white chocolate.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you don’t want to use a liqueur in this frosting, you can substitute ¼ cup heavy cream for the white chocolate crème d’cacoa. If you do this, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to your frosting and call it Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

  Use an electric mixer to make this frosting. You can do it by hand, but you’ll really have to stir fast and furious to get it to the creamy consistency you need.

  Place the softened butter and the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at HIGH speed until the butter is smooth and creamy.

  Add 2 cups of the confectioner’s sugar. Beat the resulting mixture until it is smooth and has no lumps.

  Gradually add the white crème d’cacao, beating until the mixture is thoroughly combined.

  Add another cup of confectioner’s sugar. Beat until it is thoroughly incorporated.

  Add another half-cup of confectioner’s sugar and beat until everything is smooth and creamy.

  If your frosting has reached a good spreading consistency, stop beating and proceed to frost your 2-layer cake. If it has not, you may add up to another cup and a half of powdered sugar.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: This frosting is very forgiving. If you went a little overboard with the confectioner’s sugar and it’s a bit too stiff, add a little more crème d’cacoa or heavy cream. If your frosting is not stiff enough, add a bit more powdered sugar until it’s just right. You may end up with extra frosting this way, but the kids will always appreciate frosting spread between 2 graham crackers, or even frosting spread on the unsalted side of a soda cracker.

  To frost your cake, peel the parchment paper off the bottom of one layer and set it, bottom up, on the cake plate. (If the top has risen too much and it wobbles on the plate, even the top with a sharp knife.)

  Put dabs of frosting on top of the 1st layer and spread it out evenly with a frosting knife.

  Peel the paper off the bottom of the 2nd layer and place it, top side up, on top of the 1st layer. This time you don’t care if it’s risen a little. It will look pretty when you frost it.

  Frost the sides of your cake next. When you’ve frosted the sides to your satisfaction, move on to the very top.

  Put a generous dab of frosting in the center of the top. Then put dabs of frosting around it. Spread them together to cover the whole top and your work of tasty art is finished!

  Let the frosting dry for ten minutes or so. Then decorate your Double Rainbow Swirl Cake in any manner you choose. You can use colored frosting in a pastry bag, the little tubes of colored frostings you can buy at the grocery store, or you can stick colored candies on the top of your cake in a design you create. If you like, you can even sprinkle it with rings of multicolored decorating sugar, the kind you use on Christmas cookies. Whichever method you choose, the real surprise will come when you slice the cake and serve it to your guests!

  Yield: 12 to 24 slices

  Hannah’s 4th Note: I looked this up online once and a bakery said you could get 24 slices from a 2-layer cake. I guess that’s only if you don’t invite Mike or Ross.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Ithought it went well,” Michelle said when she got to the greenroom. “What do you think, Hannah?”

  “I don’t know. I thought so at the time, but now I’m not as sure. Rodney’s cake with those candied violets on top looked really gorgeous. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  “Neither have I,” Michelle admitted. “Did you see Brooke’s cake?”

  “No, but she’s up right after this commercial. I hope she does better tonight. They were really tough on her in New York.”

  “And it was all Gloria’s fault for telling her to use that marshmallow sauce.”

  The two sisters watched as Brooke wheeled her cake to the judging table. “It looks good,” Michelle commented. “I like those peach slices on top.”

  “So do I. Fingers crossed that it tastes as good as it looks.”

  “You want her to win?” Michelle asked, and she looked surprised. “I thought you wanted to win the first night in Lake Eden.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to win. It’s just that I’d mind less if I lost to Brooke than I would if I lost to anyone else.”

  “Okay. I guess I can understand that.”

  The door to the greenroom opened and Loren rushed in. He was carrying a jacket on a hanger. “Hi, guys. I spilled powdered sugar all over my other jacket and I have to change before I’m up.”

  “You’ve got time,” Hannah told him. “Brooke just wheeled in her cake. It looks really good.”

  Loren turned to look at the screen. “You’re right. It does look good. I just hope Chef Duquesne gives her a better score than last time. He was really nasty to her.”

  “I know,” Hannah said, “and it wasn’t her fault. She got a piece of bad advice from Gloria.”

  “I know. Gloria told me. She was pretty proud of the fact she tried to sabotage Brooke and it worked.”

  “And you think Chef Duquesne is nasty?” Michelle asked in the most sarcastic tone Hannah had ever heard her youngest sister use.

  “You’re absolutely right, Michelle.” Loren pulled off his stained chef’s coat and put on a clean one. “Gloria’s every bit as nasty. And that’s probably why they hooked up last night. Nastiness must seek its own level. And as far as I’m concerned, they deserve each other.”

  Hannah exch
anged glances with Michelle, and she knew that her youngest sister was thinking along the same lines as she was. If Gloria had wound up with Chef Duquesne last night, she might just win the competition tonight.

  “Do you think it’ll affect her scores?” Michelle asked the question that was on both of their minds.

  “Probably. At least it sure can’t hurt.” Loren buttoned up the placket of his chef’s jacket and turned for the door again. “Gotta run. I’m up right after Brooke finishes and I still have to put a couple more decorations on my cake.”

  “Good luck,” Hannah said as he went out the door. And then, the minute he had closed it behind him, she said, under her breath, “And bad luck to Gloria. She deserves it.”

  “You won!” Michelle said, heading out to Hannah’s cookie truck with their box of leftover ingredients.

  “I didn’t exactly win,” Hannah reminded her. “I tied for first place with Rodney Paloma.”

  “Yes, but Gloria wasn’t even in the running tonight. Doesn’t that make you feel good?”

  “Actually . . . yes!” Hannah admitted. “And Rodney’s cake probably deserved to take first place instead of tying with my Double Rainbow Swirl Cake. It was absolutely beautiful, and I got to taste it after the competition was over. I wasn’t sure how I’d like the taste of violets, but it was really good.”

  Michelle gave a little sigh. “I wish Brooke could have scored a bit higher.”

  “She didn’t do that badly. She came in third. That’s pretty good in a five-person completion.”

  “It’s not that hot when there’s a tie for first and second doesn’t count. It means she took fourth and there’s only five of us.”

  “But Gloria came in below Brooke. Brooke’s got to feel good about that,” Hannah said. And then she focused on the positive. “They said nice things about Brooke’s cake, though. It’s just that Chef Duquesne didn’t think it was innovative enough.”

  “Aunt Nancy was right. He’s a real snob.”

  “And Aunt Nancy was right about the Jell-O, too.” Hannah gave a little smile.

  “And also the fact that Chef Duquesne was impressed with appearances way back in high school. He liked the way the winning cakes looked, both yours and Rodney’s. And from what Loren told us about Gloria last night, he still chooses his dates by the way they look.”

  “You’re talking about Gloria,” Hannah said, opening the driver’s door of her cookie truck and sliding in behind the wheel.

  “Right.”

  “But Gloria didn’t win,” Hannah pointed out, waiting until Michelle had climbed into the passenger’s seat and buckled her seat belt.

  “Neither did Aunt Nancy as far as her date with Allen Duke was concerned. He took her to the prom, danced with her, and then he dumped her at home so that he could go out with his girlfriend.”

  Hannah thought about that for a moment as she started the cookie truck and backed out of her parking spot. “That’s interesting,” she said at last, once they’d turned onto the access road and they were traveling toward the highway. “Chef Duquesne likes the right woman on his arm because it makes him look good, but he doesn’t necessarily want to spend the whole time with her. Gloria looked good sitting next to him on a bar stool, and even though she spent the night with him, it had no effect on the score he gave her in the competition.”

  “Exactly.” Michelle turned to smile at Hannah. “His obsession with appearances doesn’t necessarily affect his professional judgment. He liked the way you looked as a bride. He thought that was the perfect way to present your wedding cake. But if your cake hadn’t tasted as good as it looked, you would have dropped way down in the ratings.”

  “The way Gloria did?”

  “Yes. He criticized her cakes for being too dry and not having enough flavor. But it was very clear he really liked the outfit she was wearing.”

  “Or not wearing!” Hannah said, referring to Gloria’s extremely short skirt.

  “Exactly right.”

  Both sisters sighed as Hannah drove up the on-ramp and onto the highway. It was almost eleven in the evening and there was very little traffic. Before either one of them had time to introduce a new topic of conversation, the lights of the Corner Tavern appeared in the distance.

  “Hamburger and fries?” Hannah asked.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” Michelle answered with a laugh. “I started thinking about one of their double-doubles the minute I saw their sign.”

  Less than five minutes later, they were sitting in a booth at the back, sipping coffee and waiting for their food. Michelle yawned once and took another sip of coffee. “Tonight was exhausting.”

  “Yes, but the cookie competition will be better. You don’t have to decorate those.”

  “True. I know Ross was busy, but did you get a chance to say good-bye to him before you left?”

  “Yes. He’s going to come over for breakfast early tomorrow morning before he goes to work. He said he’d be at the condo by six. I thought I’d make something easy, like pancakes.”

  “I’ll make Breakfast Puffs,” Michelle offered. “One of my roommates gave me a recipe from her mother, and I’ve been dying to try it. She said they’re like doughnuts, except better.”

  “That sounds good.” Hannah smiled at her. “But only if you’re sure you don’t mind getting up that early.”

  “I don’t mind at all. Besides, you should sleep in tomorrow. I’ll get you up in time to take a shower and get dressed before Ross comes over. And then we’ll drive out to Sally’s for our seven o’clock practice time.”

  “Seven o’clock?” Hannah was surprised. “But the kitchen will be crowded with staff if Sally’s serving her breakfast buffet.”

  “I asked her about that, and she said she switched everything around so that all the contestants got time to practice. They’re setting up an omelet station, a pancake station, and a waffle station in the dining room. And they’re doing the cooking right there. She’s having a table with pastry and muffins, a station for tea and coffee, and a carving station for ham and turkey. Dick’s doing all kinds of sausages on their portable grill. Sally’s locking the kitchen and drawing the curtains so that none of the contestants will be disturbed during their practice times.”

  “Are we the first contestants to practice?”

  “Yes. Practice times run from seven in the morning to two in the afternoon. That’s an hour to practice and a half hour to clean up.”

  “How about lunch? Won’t Sally and her staff need to get into the kitchen to prepare that?”

  Michelle shook her head. “She’s serving sandwiches and soups for lunch. And there’ll be a table for desserts. That’s the way she planned it for practice days. On competition days, the kitchen will be open for business for breakfast and lunch, but dinner will be early, from four-thirty to six. And after the competition is over for the night, she’ll serve a late supper to anyone who stays for it.”

  “That sounds like a lot of work for Sally and Dick.”

  “It is, but Sally says it’ll be worth it as far as their business is concerned. While the film crew is here, they’re going to film a series of commercials for the Lake Eden Inn, and the Food Channel is going to run them for a solid two months for free.”

  “National publicity.” Hannah turned to smile at the waitress, who’d arrived with their burgers and fries.

  “Anything else, Hannah?” the waitress asked.

  “Not for me, thank you.”

  The waitress turned to Michelle. “How about you, Michelle?”

  “Not right now, thanks. Maybe . . . dessert later?”

  The waitress laughed. “Didn’t you even get to taste that great-looking cake that Hannah baked?”

  “Uh . . . actually, yes. But that was in rehearsal. It was really good.”

  “It looked good on TV. We had it on here, and I watched you two on my break. Congratulations!”

  “Thank you,” Hannah responded, and the waitress hurried off. “Mystery solved,” she
told Michelle.

  “What mystery?”

  “I was wondering how she knew our names when I couldn’t remember ever meeting her before.”

  “You’d better get used to it,” Michelle said, picking up her burger with both hands. “Maybe you’re not classically trained like the other dessert chefs, but you’re about to become a national celebrity around here.”

  BREAKFAST PUFFS

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

  1 large egg

  1 cup cream cheese, softened

  ¾ stick salted butter (3 ounces)

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

  ½ cup cold milk

  1 and ¼ cups flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

  ——————

  ¾ stick salted butter, melted (3 ounces)

  ½ cup white (granulated) sugar

  ½ teaspoon cinnamon

  Spray the inside of a pan of 12 regular-size muffin cups with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.

  Beat the egg until it is light and fluffy.

  Unwrap the cream cheese and the butter, and place both in a microwave-safe bowl.

  Soften by heating the cream cheese and butter in the microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Let the bowl sit in the microwave for another minute and then try to stir the mixture smooth. If you cannot stir it smooth, microwave in 30-second increments with 30-second standing times until you can stir it smooth.

  Add the cream cheese and butter mixture to the beaten egg. Mix until everything is well combined.

  Add the white sugar and mix it in.

  With the mixer running on LOW speed, mix in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg until everything is thoroughly incorporated.

  With the mixer still running on LOW speed, mix in half of the cold milk and half of the flour. Mix until well combined.