by Joanne Fluke
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
While your oven is preheating, prepare 2 baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
Check your sheets of puff pastry to see they are thawed. If they are, it’s time to prepare the dough to receive its yummy contents.
Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on your floured board. Sprinkle a little flour on a rolling pin and roll your puff pastry out to a twelve-inch square.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: I use a ruler to make sure I have a 12-inch square when I’m through.
Use a sharp knife to make one horizontal line through the middle of the square and one vertical line through the middle of the square. This will divide it into 4 equal (or nearly equal) pieces.
Break the egg into a cup. Add 1 Tablespoon of water and whisk it up. This will be your egg wash.
Transfer one of your cut squares of puff pastry to your prepared cookie sheet.
Use a pastry brush to brush the inside edges of the square with the egg wash. This will make the edges stick together when you fold the dough over the cream cheese and blueberry filling.
Measure out ¼ cup of the cream cheese filling and place it in the center of the square.
Spread the cream cheese over the square evenly to within ½ inch of the edges.
Spread 2 Tablespoons of the blueberry sauce over the cream cheese.
Pick up one corner of the square and pull it over the filling to cover just a little over half of the filling. Then pick up the opposite corner and pull that over to overlap the first corner.
Since the egg wash you used on the square of puff pastry dough acts as a glue, that second corner should stick to the first corner. If it doesn’t, simply use a little more of the egg wash to stick the two overlapping corners together.
Hannah’s 4th Note: This sounds difficult, but it’s not. You’ll catch on fast once you complete the first one. It takes much longer to explain than it does to actually do it.
When you’ve completed the first 4 squares of dough, roll out and cut your second sheet of puff pastry and repeat the process to complete those.
Once you have all 8 Blueberry Danish on the cookie sheets, brush the top of the pastry with more egg wash and sprinkle on a little granulated sugar.
Bake your Blueberry Danish at 375 degrees F., for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they’re golden brown on top.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven to a wire rack and let the pastries cool for 10 minutes. While your Blueberry Danish are cooling, make the Drizzle Frosting.
Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and mix it with the cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Continue to mix until it’s smooth and thoroughly combined.
Use your favorite method to drizzle frosting over the tops of your Blueberry Danish. A pastry bag (or a plastic bag with one of the corners snipped off) works well for this.
Hannah’s 5th Note: If you don’t want to use a pastry bag to do this, simply mix in a little more cream so that the frosting will drizzle off the tip of a spoon held over the pastries.
When all the Blueberry Danish have been decorated with the Drizzle Frosting, pull the parchment paper and the Blueberry Danish off the cookie sheet and back onto the same wire rack.
These pastries are delicious eaten while slightly warm. They’re also good cold.
If any of your Blueberry Danish are left over (I don’t think this will happen!) wrap them loosely in wax paper and keep them in a cool place.
Chapter Thirteen
Andrea helped Grandma Knudson with her coat, and then she slipped into her parka and boots. “Do you want me to come back today?” she asked Hannah.
“Not unless you want to,” Hannah answered. “I’ll bake a few more things, but I don’t really need you for that. Then all I have to do is help Lisa and Aunt Nancy mix up the cookies we plan to bake tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning then,” Andrea said. “Thank you, Hannah. I really had fun helping you bake today.”
After they’d left, Hannah poured herself another cup of coffee and paged through her recipe book, deciding what she wanted to bake next. She was still trying to make up her mind when Michelle came through the back kitchen door.
“Hi, Hannah,” Michelle greeted her. “I’m glad you’re still here. I invited Mike for dinner with Lonnie and me tonight and I was hoping that you and Norman could come, too.”
“I’ll check with Norman, but I’m sure he’d like to have dinner with you. What would you like me to bring?”
“I’ve got mac and cheese in the crockpot and I’m going to add some cubes of ham.”
“So you’re making Ham It Up Mac and Cheese?” Hannah asked with a smile.
“I like that recipe title!” Michelle said with a laugh. “It’s perfect for me since I just held tryouts for the senior play.”
“Are you going to spice it up a little for Mike?”
Michelle thought about that for a moment. “I suppose I should. Not too much, though. I can always put hot sauce on the table.”
“There’s a big bottle of Slap Ya Mama in the pantry. Mike will want to add more spice even if you put in a can of Ortega chopped green chilies. There should be a couple of cans of those in the pantry, too.”
“But I don’t want to raid your pantry too often, Hannah.”
“That’s okay. You can always replace what you use if that makes you feel better.”
“Good idea. I’ll add the green chilies to the crock when I get home.” Michelle glanced over at the baker’s rack. “Do you have something you can bring for dessert?”
Hannah laughed. “Of course I do. This is a bakery, Michelle. I always have things I can bring for dessert.”
“Good. I know you and Norman will want to talk to Mike and Lonnie about the case after dinner.”
“You’re right. We will.”
“How about Andrea? Do you think I should invite Bill and Andrea, too?”
Hannah considered that for a moment and then she shook her head. “Not tonight. Mike may want to talk to me about Andrea as a suspect. I don’t think he’ll do that if she’s there.”
“That’s what I thought, but I wanted to ask you.” Michelle looked over at the baking rack and began to smile. “Okay. What’s on the top rack? I can see they’re cupcakes and they look really cute.”
“They’re Easter Jelly Bean Nest Cupcakes. I’m going to try them out on our customers tomorrow. Would you like one?”
“Absolutely! I love jelly beans. And that little green nest is cute. Is it edible?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, good! How did you make it?”
“I dyed flaked coconut with green food dye and made little nests on top of the Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting before it dried. And then I put three jelly beans in each nest.”
“You got me with the Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting. I love coconut, too. Is there enough coffee left in the pot for me?”
“Yes, go sit down and I’ll bring you a cup. I’ll get a cupcake for you, too. It’s a new recipe that I’ve never made before and I’d like your opinion.”
“You just gave me justification for something I wanted, anyway,” Michelle declared, walking back to the workstation and sitting down there. “I love it when you do that, Hannah. Now I don’t have to feel guilty.”
“You’re on a diet?”
Michelle shook her head. “No, it’s just that I don’t want to make a habit of eating between meals. Lonnie took me out for breakfast this morning and I ate lunch at school.”
“Maybe I should adopt a policy like that,” Hannah mused, although she knew she never would.
“I don’t know if you can do it since you bake such wonderful things down here.”
Hannah laughed. She knew her youngest sister was half teasing and half serious. “I don’t think you have to worry about your weight, Michelle, even if you do eat something between meals.”
“Maybe you’re right, but I may have to watch my weight when I get to be your age.�
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Hannah winced, feeling much older than she had only moments before. Then she reminded herself that Michelle had been born when she was in high school, and of course Michelle would think that the sister who had been her babysitter was as old as the hills.
Hannah brought Michelle her cupcake and a cup of coffee, and she watched Michelle as she bit into the cupcake.
“Mmmm! These are great, Hannah.” Michelle finished the cupcake in record time. “What’s on the fourth shelf?”
“My new bar cookie! Nobody else has had them, not even me. I just finished them a half hour or so ago.”
“That’s even better, since I get to taste it first! Please bring me one of those, Hannah. I have a real responsibility to give you my opinion.”
Hannah cut a pan of Butterscotch Marshmallow Bar Cookies and delivered a portion-size piece to Michelle. “Oh, good, they’re gooey. How about you? Aren’t you having one?”
Hannah wavered. She hadn’t really been planning to taste her new bar cookie, but they did look yummy. “Yes, I’ll join you,” she said, deciding that it was her duty to taste them, too. She took a piece for herself and carried it over to join her sister.
“Oh, good! I don’t think I could have waited another second,” Michelle said as Hannah sat down.
There was a low hum of conversation from the coffee shop behind the swinging door as the two sisters took bites of Hannah’s new confection, but that was the only sound. Then Michelle gave a satisfied sigh. “Good,” she declared, taking a second bite.
Hannah didn’t say anything. She just smiled as the flavors blended in her mouth. Her customers would love the new bar cookies.
“Doc is going to love these,” Michelle said when she’d finished her portion. “He adores butterscotch.”
“You’re right,” Hannah agreed. “They’ll be perfect for Doc.”
“Do you want me to drop some off at Mother’s on my way out of town?” Michelle asked her.
“That’s a good idea, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. Will you bring some kind of bar cookie with you, something we can have with coffee tonight?”
“How about my Chocolate Hazelnut Toast Cookies?”
“You mean the kind you can dunk in coffee?”
“Yes, they’re like biscotti cookies.”
“So, that’s what you’ll bring tonight?”
“Yes, unless you’d rather have Sweet Orange Pie.”
“Sweet Orange Pie?” Michelle looked curious. “I’ve never had that before, have I?”
“No, it’s something I tried out this afternoon.”
“Did you have a piece?”
Hannah shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Then let’s have both of them for dessert,” Michelle decided. “We can have the pie at the table after we eat, and we can have the cookies later, after we’ve talked about the murder case.”
Hannah laughed. “I can tell you’re in a dessert mood.”
“I am. I think your Butterscotch Marshmallow Bar Cookies did it to me. We’re having a calorie-laden meal tonight with the . . .” Michelle paused for a second and then went on, “the Ham It Up Mac and Cheese and your desserts.”
“You could serve a tossed green salad to make us all feel better,” Hannah said.
“I will. I’ve got a new salad recipe I was thinking about trying. I got it from one of the other teachers at Jordan High. Every once in a while, when we don’t feel like eating school lunch, we all bring a dish and have our own potluck in the teachers’ lounge.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“It is, but we have to be careful we don’t bring anything too rich. We can’t take naps and we want to be alert for our afternoon classes.”
Hannah considered that for a moment. “I understand. The kids can get rambunctious in the afternoons. Most of them are eager to get out of class for their after-school activities.”
Michelle glanced up at the clock. “Speaking of after school, I’d better get moving if I’m going to stop by Mother’s. She’ll probably want to talk for a couple of minutes and I have to get back to the condo to check on my slow cooker.”
“Do you want me to bring anything besides dessert?” Hannah asked her.
“No, I’ve got everything else covered. Get there anytime you want, but try to make it by six. We’ll eat early so we have time to talk.”
“Okay,” Hannah said, rising from her stool. “I’ll package those Butterscotch Marshmallow Bar Cookies for Mother and Doc while you finish your coffee. It’ll only take a minute or two.”
Once Hannah had packaged the bar cookies for Delores and Doc, she paged through her loose-leaf recipe folder to find her recipe for Sweet Orange Pie. A quick glance in the pantry and the walk-in cooler told her that she had everything she needed to bake it, so she was busy grating orange zest when Lisa and Aunt Nancy came into the kitchen.
“What are you making, Hannah?” Aunt Nancy asked, noticing the collection of baking ingredients spread out on the workstation.
“Sweet Orange Pie,” Hannah told her.
“Sweet Orange Pie?” Lisa’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I thought I’d tasted every pie in the world, but I’ve never had an orange pie.”
“I have enough ingredients for six pies,” Hannah told her. “I’ll make one for you and one for Aunt Nancy.”
“Will they be done by the time we mix up the cookie dough for tomorrow?” Aunt Nancy asked.
“No, but I’m only taking two to the condo. Michelle’s making dinner tonight for Mike, Lonnie, Norman, and me.”
“Did you say Mike was coming?” Lisa asked, looking slightly worried.
“Yes, he’ll be there,” Hannah told her.
“Then you’d better take three pies, Hannah. Mike’s appetite is legendary. If he likes it, he’s going to ask you if he can take some home with him.”
“Good point,” Hannah agreed. “I’ll do that and we’ll still have three left. If you want, we can serve them to our customers tomorrow.”
“Wonderful!” Aunt Nancy exclaimed. “Our customers really love to taste new recipes for us.”
Hannah began to smile. “Speaking of tasting new recipes, I made some new bar cookies. I cut one pan and I’d like to test them out on you. If you like them, we can serve those tomorrow, too.”
Lisa put on a fresh pot of coffee while Aunt Nancy gathered the ingredients they needed for the next day’s cookie baking. By the time everything was assembled on the stainless steel surface of the workstation, the coffee was ready and all three of them sat down to have a cup.
“I’ve been thinking about the wedding,” Aunt Nancy told them. “I know it’s early, but I’m in the process of making out a menu for the reception.”
“Do you know how many people will be there?”
Aunt Nancy shook her head. “Not yet, but my relatives will want to come, and Heiti’s made a lot of friends here in Lake Eden. And then there’s the personnel at the sheriff’s station. Since Heiti works there, they’ll all want to come.”
“It’s going to be huge,” Lisa said.
“I know,” Aunt Nancy agreed with a sigh. “I wish we could just have family there for the actual wedding, but so many people are expecting us to invite them.”
“Why don’t you do what Mother and Doc did?” Hannah asked her. “They got married in Las Vegas and then they came back to Lake Eden for the reception.”
“But I’d like to be married right here in Lake Eden,” Aunt Nancy said, “and so would Heiti. Both of us really like Reverend Bob and we want him to marry us.”
“There’s no reason in the world why you can’t do that,” Hannah pointed out.
“But how do we arrange it without inviting everyone in town to the wedding?”
“It’s simple. You just invite immediate family to the actual wedding service. And then Reverend Bob comes with you to the reception and introduces you to everyone as man and wife.”
“Won’t people feel cheated if we do something l
ike that?”
Lisa shook her head. “I don’t think so, not if you ask Reverend Bob if he’ll repeat the part of the ceremony where you say your vows. And only then will he introduce you to the crowd as husband and wife.”
“Oh!” Aunt Nancy looked intrigued with the idea. “But what if Reverend Bob can’t do that? It would be like he’d be marrying us twice.”
“Not really, especially if you did your personal vows in front of everyone at the reception. People can write their own vows, you know. And they say them right after the ceremonial vows.”
“Does the minister wait to pronounce you man and wife until they do that?” Aunt Nancy asked her.
Hannah gave a slight shrug. “I don’t know. That’s something you’ll have to ask Reverend Bob. I think he’ll be as flexible as he’s allowed to be. I know he’s performed weddings that weren’t held in the church. Doc told me about one that was held at the hospital when they had someone in traction for a broken leg.”
“I’ll talk to Reverend Bob right after his evening prayer service tonight,” Aunt Nancy promised. “Thank you, girls. Maybe there is a way Heiti and I can do this that’ll please everyone.”
EASTER JELLY BEAN NEST CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
Jelly Bean Nest Ingredients:
2 cups flaked coconut (press it down in the cup when you measure it)
3 drops green food coloring
120 (or more) jelly beans of various colors
Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup flaked coconut (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup whole milk
1 cup (8 ounces by weight) sour cream
½ teaspoon coconut extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 box of white cake mix, the kind that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake or a 2-layer cake (I used Duncan Hines)
5.1-ounce package of DRY instant vanilla pudding and pie filling (I used Jell-O)
12-ounce (by weight) bag of white chocolate or vanilla baking chips (11-ounce package will do, too—I used Nestlé)
