Wedding Cake Murder (18 page)

“And do you serve coffee like this at your coffee shop?” Helene Stone asked her.

“Yes, every day. Many of my customers grew up on church basement coffee. They’d be disappointed if I served anything else.”

“I agree that the coffee is superb,” Chef Duquesne said. “But let’s get to your wedding cake, Miss Swensen. Am I correct in assuming that you’re going to cut your cake without your groom? Or is he here to help you?”

Hannah was so surprised at the question she was speechless for a moment, but then she answered quickly. “He’s here, Chef Duquesne, but he’s working behind one of the cameras. My fiancé, Ross Barton, is an independent producer for KCOW Television, our local station.”

“Is there anyone who can take over for him so that he can help you cut your cake?” Chef Duquesne asked, his eyes searching the various cameramen stationed at strategic places near the cooking stages.

“I’ll take over for him,” someone called out, and Hannah recognized P.K.’s voice. “He’ll be right there, Hannah.”

Hannah knew she was probably blushing beet red as Ross came out of the darkness and took his place at her side. One glance at his face and she could tell that he was enjoying the unexpected appearance. Ross was laughing, and he gave her a little hug before he turned to Judge Duquesne.

“I’ve never cut a wedding cake before, Chef. Will it be all right if I deliver the plates to the judging panel?”

“Yes!” La Vonna Brach was laughing, too. “You don’t have to feed cake to each other the way you’ll actually do at the wedding reception. I just want to taste Hannah’s creation. If it’s as good as her coffee, I’ll be very impressed.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Ross said, giving her his most charming smile as Hannah cut the first slice and he delivered it to her. “Everything Hannah bakes is wonderful.”

“And you are going to have a happy marriage if you keep on complimenting her that way,” Helene Stone said, accepting her dessert plate and fork from Ross. “This is a beautiful cake.” She looked up at Hannah. “Did you use food coloring?”

“No, I decided to use something that would give the cake the right colors, but also lend different flavors to those colors.”

“Jell-O powder!” Chef Duquesne pronounced, tasting a bit of the green area. “I recognize the taste. That was brilliant, Miss Swensen.”

“I saw you mixing the batter by hand,” Jeremy Zales told her. “I noticed that you used butter, cream, and powdered sugar, but there was another ingredient that you added to your frosting.”

“Yes, there was,” Hannah answered. “It was white chocolate liqueur.”

“Aha!” Christian Parker exclaimed. “I thought I recognized the underlying taste! That was an interesting choice, Miss Swensen.”

Chef Duquesne nodded. “Yes, and it was a
good
choice. It doesn’t overshadow the other flavors, but it adds another very pleasant dimension to the frosting.”

“Thank you,” Hannah said as the other judges began to praise her cake, describing it as innovative, surprising, and attractive on the plate. There were no negative comments and Hannah was delighted with their assessment.

“Would any of you care for a bit more coffee?” Michelle asked when she noticed that several of their coffee cups were empty.

“I would,” Helene Stone said, draining the last swallow in her cup.

Several of the other judges agreed, and this time Ross carried the silver carafe over to fill the cups. Then he returned the carafe to the tray and gave Hannah a hug. “I’d better get back to work.” He placed a kiss on Hannah’s cheek and then he was gone.

“I think you made a very wise choice, Miss Swensen,” Chef Duquesne said.

“Thank you,” Hannah responded, even though she wasn’t sure whether the head judge was approving her choice of husband or her choice of cake. Actually, she hoped it was both, but she’d have to wait for the reading of the scores to find out for sure.

DOUBLE RAINBOW SWIRL CAKE

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

1 and ½ cups softened butter
(3 sticks, 12 ounces,
¾
pound)

2 cups white
(granulated)
sugar

4 large eggs

½ cup
(8 ounces)
cream cheese
(I used Philadelphia cream cheese in the silver, brick-shaped package—half
of
it is equal to a half cup)

8 ounces white chocolate chips
(I used half of an 11-ounce package
of
Ghirardelli white chocolate—it’s about a cup and that’s close enough for this cake)

½ cup unflavored yogurt
(I used Mountain High)

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour
(DO NOT SIFT—use it right out
of
the box—just scrape it out and swoop, leveling off the top with a table knife.)

1 small package
(makes 4 half-cup servings)
raspberry Jell-O powder

1 small package
(makes 4 half-cup servings)
orange Jell-O powder

1 small package
(makes 4 half-cup servings)
lemon Jell-O powder

1 small package
(makes 4 half-cup servings)
lime Jell-O powder

1 small package
(makes 4 half-cup servings)
berry blue Jell-O powder

1 small package
(makes 4 half-cup servings)
grape Jell-O powder

Generously butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
(Don’t use Pam or any other nonstick cooking spray. Andrea says the Pam Baking Spray, the one with flour added, works just fine for her. But you can also butter the inside
of
the layer pans and sprinkle in flour to coat the bottom and the sides—that will work fine, too. Shake off any excess by thumping the bottom and sides
of
the pan and you’re good to go.

Personally, for a wedding cake, I don’t want any browning on the top, bottom, or sides
of
the layer. The only way I know to prevent this is to line the layer pans with a circle
of
parchment paper in the bottom, and a strip of parchment paper around the sides that extends at least two-inches over the top of the pan. Once you’ve coated all the parchment paper with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, you’ve done all you could to prevent browning.

Beat the softened butter and white granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.
(You can mix this cake by hand, but it takes some muscle.)

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until they’re light and fluffy. Make sure they’re well mixed.

Soften the cream cheese in a microwave-safe container on HIGH for 1 minute. Let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute longer without heating.

Add the white chocolate chips, the half-cup unflavored yogurt, and the salt.

Heat the mixture you made on HIGH for 1 minute more and again, let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute. Then try to stir it smooth with a heat-resistant rubber spatula. If you can’t stir it smooth, heat it in 30-second increments with 30 seconds of standing time until you
can
stir it smooth.

Add this to the contents of your mixing bowl. Beat until everything is thoroughly combined.

Add the baking powder and the vanilla extract. Mix until they’re incorporated.

Add the cake flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition. Mix until the resulting batter has no lumps.

Divide the cake batter into 6 smaller bowls.

Hannah’s 1
^st
Note: This is easier if you first divide the batter evenly into 2 larger bowls and then divide each of those bowls into 3 smaller bowls. They do not have to be perfect. The cake batter police will not be knocking on your door to measure each bowl. Just do it as best you can.

Open the first Jell-O package and add 2 Tablespoons of the raspberry Jell-O powder to the batter in the bowl. Mix until it is thoroughly combined and the red color is deep and even.

Repeat with the next 5 Jell-O flavors, adding 2 Tablespoons of the orange Jell-O powder to the
2
^nd
bowl, two Tablespoons of the lemon Jell-O powder to the
3
^rd
bowl, 2 Tablespoons of the lime Jell-O powder to the
4
^th
bowl, 2 Tablespoons of the berry blue Jell-O powder to the
5
^th
bowl, and 2 Tablespoons of the grape Jell-O powder to the 6
^th
bowl.

Hannah’s 2
^nd
Note: Lisa, Michelle and I prefer adding
Jell-O
powder rather than food coloring. The
Jell-O
powder gives a nice, intense color and it adds its own flavor to each bowl.

Seal up the packages of Jell-O that are left over and stick them in your pantry to use for the next Double Rainbow Swirl Cake you make.

To prepare your Double Rainbow Swirl Cake for baking, begin with the raspberry Jell-O bowl
(the red one)
. Use a soup spoon to empty it in a puddle in the
1
^st
layer cake pan near the outside edge of your cake.

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
2
^nd
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
3
^rd
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.