Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (22 page)

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Authors: Joanne Fluke

BOOK: Red Velvet Cupcake Murder
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“Okay,” Hannah said, catching on at last. Norman wanted to pump Roger for information and he thought it would be easier done as a guy-to-guy thing.
“How about coming back to my office?” Sally asked. “Dot’s the hostess tonight and I’ll tell her to buzz me when your mother and Doc Knight come in.”
“That’s fine with me,” Hannah agreed. She loved to go to Sally’s office with its picture window overlooking the kitchen.
Once they’d stopped at the hostess station to give Dot instructions, and Hannah had asked about her husband and baby, Jamie, Sally led her down the hallway to her office.
“Sit here,” she said, gesturing to the chair opposite her desk. “I want to show you my new dessert. It’s called Snappy Turtle Pie and I’m putting it on the menu for the first time tonight.”
Hannah watched as Sally picked up the phone and dialed a number. Then she turned toward the window and saw a woman in the kitchen pick up the phone.
“Hi, Mary,” Sally greeted the woman. “Could you please find out if anyone’s ordered the Snappy Turtle Pie yet?”
Hannah watched as Mary made her way to a man in a chef’s toque. A moment later, she was back on the phone again.
“Excellent,” Sally said. “And you’re on the second pie?” She listened for a moment and then she spoke again. “Ask him if he’ll prepare a piece for you to bring in here. And I could use two mugs of black coffee, too. Thank you, Mary.”
“What’s Snappy Turtle Pie?” Hannah asked when Sally had hung up the phone. She hoped it wasn’t real snapping turtle.
“You’ll see. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Norman said you wanted to talk to me. Is it about Doctor Bev?”
“Yes. Mike sent down a diver and they recovered a thermos from her new car. Doc Knight’s testing the contents right now to see if they contain the tranquilizers that killed her. I really need to know if anyone here filled that thermos for her before she left yesterday morning.”
“Let me check with room service. And if no one delivered coffee to their suite, I’ll ask the busboys who were working at breakfast. It’s possible one of them filled the thermos.”
“Thanks, Sally. It’s important. I really need to know.”
“Because it could get you off the hook?”
Obviously, the Lake Eden gossip hotline was working. “You’re right, but only if the coffee in the thermos tests positive for tranquilizers.”
“Let me know as soon as you know. I’ve been worried about you. I’ll find out where that coffee came from. Was it black?”
“No. Doc Knight said she had coffee, cream, sweetener, and my cupcakes in her stomach.”
“There was sparkling water too. That’s all she had at lunch. I waited on them myself.”
“Did Norman look uncomfortable at lunch?”
“Like a sheep about to be shorn. He wanted out in the worst way possible, but you know Norman. He wasn’t about to make a scene that might hurt my lunch business.”
Hannah knew she was asking questions that had nothing to do with her investigation, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “How about Doctor Bev? Did she look happy to be with Norman?”
Sally threw up her hands. “Who could tell with her? All I know is that she kept trying to put her hand over his, and he kept pulling his hand away. I wasn’t close enough to hear their conversation, but it was clear that Norman wanted to be almost anywhere but here with her.” Sally paused and smiled. “That question wasn’t part of your investigation, was it?”
“No, it was personal,” Hannah admitted.
There was a knock on the door and Sally shouted for whoever it was to come in. The woman Hannah had seen on the phone in the kitchen entered the room with a tray.
“Here’s your coffee, Sally,” she said, setting the tray on the table. “And here’s the pie.”
“Just put the pie in front of Hannah,” Sally said, gesturing toward Hannah. “Thanks, Mary. Just leave the tray and I’ll carry it in the kitchen when we’re through.”
Hannah glanced down at the pie and began to smile. “It’s darling!” she said, noticing the cookie shaped like a turtle on top. “Where did you get those cookies?”
“We bake them here. It’s a recipe from Lisa’s Aunt Nancy and she gave it to me. Her aunt sent her three cookie recipes and she said this one was too labor intensive for The Cookie Jar, but it was so cute, she thought I’d like it. It’s not too labor intensive for us. Mary loves to fuss with garnishes and things and she really enjoys baking these.”
“You’re going to spoil my dinner,” Hannah said.
“No, I’m not. When your mother called in for the reservation she told me you hadn’t eaten for hours.”
“That’s true.” Hannah cut off the tip of the pie and popped it into her mouth. “Mmmmmm!”
Sally smiled. “It’s just like a turtle sundae in a chocolate cookie crust. Try the cookie.”
Hannah didn’t need a second invitation. She bit into the turtle cookie and smiled with enjoyment. “Tell Mary the cookies are absolutely perfect. This is going to be a huge hit, Sally.”
“I think so, too. And since the pie is an ice cream pie, it’s great for the summer.”
Hannah made short work of both pie and cookie. When she was finished, she laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Sally asked.
“I was just thinking of something my Great-Grandma Elsa used to say. It was,
Life is risky. Eat dessert first!
”
SNAPPY TURTLE PIE
1 chocolate cookie crumb pie shell
(chocolate is
best, but shortbread or graham cracker will also
work just fine)
1 pint vanilla ice cream
4 ounces
(
of a 6-ounce jar)
caramel ice cream
topping
(I used Smucker’s)
½ cup salted pecan pieces
4 ounces
(
of an 6-ounce jar)
chocolate fudge ice
cream topping
(I used Smucker’s)
1 small container frozen Cool Whip
(original, not
low-fat, or real whipped cream)
Hannah’s Note: If you can’t find salted pecans, buy plain pecans. Measure out ½ cup of pieces, heat them in the microwave or the oven until they’re hot and then toss them with 2 Tablespoons of melted, salted butter. Sprinkle on a ¼ teaspoon of salt, toss again, and you have salted pecan pieces.
Set your cookie crumb pie shell on the counter along with your ice cream carton. Let the ice cream soften for 5 to 10 minutes. You want it approximately the consistency of soft-serve.
Using a rubber spatula, spread out your ice cream in the bottom of the chocolate cookie crumb crust. Smooth the top with the spatula.
Working quickly, pour the caramel topping over the ice cream. You can drizzle it, pour it, whatever. Just try to get it as evenly distributed as you can.
Sprinkle the salted pecan pieces on top of the caramel layer.
Pour or drizzle the chocolate fudge topping over the pecans.
Cover the top of your pie with wax paper
(don’t push it down—you don’t want it to stick)
and put your Snappy Turtle Pie in the freezer overnight.
Put your container of Cool Whip in the
refrigerator
overnight. Then it’ll be spreadable in the morning.
In the morning, remove your pie from the freezer and spread Cool Whip over the top. Cover it with wax paper again and stick it back into the freezer for at least 6 hours.
If you’re not planning to serve your pie for dinner that night, wait until the 6 hours are up and then put it into a freezer bag and return it to the freezer for storage. It will be fine for about a month.
Take your Snappy Turtle Pie out of the freezer and place it on the countertop about 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve it. When it’s time for dessert, cut it into 6 pieces as you would a regular pie, put each piece on a dessert plate, and place one Snappy Turtle Cookie
(recipe follows)
on the center of each piece, the head of the turtle facing the tip of the pie.
Yield: 6 slices of yummy ice cream pie that all of your guests will ooh and ahh over.
 
 
SNAPPY TURTLE COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
½ cup
(one stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)
salted butter,
softened
½ cup brown sugar
(pack it down in the cup when
you measure it)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
(keep the white in a small bowl for later)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon maple flavoring
(optional)
1 and
cups all-purpose flour
(pack it down in the
cup when you measure it)
cup pecan halves cut in half lengthwise
In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar until they’re nice and fluffy.
Mix in the baking soda and the salt.
Add the egg and the egg yolk and mix well.
Mix in the vanilla extract and the maple flavoring
(if you decided to use it).
Add the flour in increments, approximately a half-cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
(I know your last increment will be a little short, but don’t worry, the flour police will not knock on your door to arrest you!)
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Arrange the pecan pieces in groups of 5 in a starburst design so that they will resemble the feet and head of a turtle when you put a cookie dough ball in the center.
Shape the dough by rounded teaspoonful into dough balls.
Dip the bottom of the dough balls into the egg white and then set it in the center of your starburst of nuts. Press the dough balls down so that the tips of the nuts will stick out to form the “feet” and “head” when the cookies are baked.
Bake the Snappy Turtle Cookies at 350 degrees F., for 10 to 13 minutes or until the cookies are a golden brown.
Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 2 and ½ dozen cookies that will delight children and adults alike.
Hannah’s Note: Nancy sometimes frosts her cookies with canned chocolate frosting, but we always make our own frosting at The Cookie Jar. Here’s the recipe we like:
 
 
EASY CHOCOLATE FROSTING
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup whipping cream
½ cup butter
(1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)
1 and ½ cups powdered
(confectioners)
sugar
(NOT
sifted)
Combine the chips, cream and butter in a saucepan. Melt them together over very low heat, stirring constantly. When everything is melted, turn off the heat and move the pan to a cold burner. Stir everything smooth with a wooden spoon or a heat-resistant spatula.
(Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate chips with the cream and the butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute on HIGH. Stir to see if everything’s melted and if it’s not, heat it in 30-second increments until it is.)
Measure the powdered sugar, packing it down in the cup when you do so. Place it in a bowl large enough to also hold the chocolate mixture.
Give the chocolate mixture in the saucepan a final stir and then pour it over the powdered sugar. Do this fast and all at once. Start stirring immediately and mix until the frosting is smooth. This frosting will look “runny,” but don’t worry. It’ll harden up when the butter solidifies. If it hardens too much as you’re frosting the cookies, just heat it very gently over low heat on the stovetop, or, if you made it in the microwave, heat it again on HIGH for 20 seconds or so.
Yield: This frosting should frost 2 to 3 dozen cookies, or a small cake.

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