Christmas Cake Murder

by Joanne Fluke

  Before you take your cake out of the oven, test it for doneness by inserting a cake tester, thin wooden skewer, or long toothpick midway between the sides of the circular ring. (You can’t insert it in the center of the cake because that’s where the crater is!)

  If the tester comes out clean, your cake is done. If there is still unbaked batter clinging to the tester, shut the oven door and bake your cake in 5-minute increments until it tests done.

  Once your cake is done, take it out of the oven and set it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack.

  Let your cake cool for 20 minutes in the pan, but no longer than that.

  Use your impeccably clean fingers to pull the sides of the cake away from the pan. Don’t forget to do the same for the crater in the middle.

  Tip the Bundt pan upside down on a platter and drop it gently on a towel on the kitchen counter. Do this until the cake falls out of the pan and rests on the platter.

  Cover your Ultimate Butterscotch Bundt Cake loosely with foil and refrigerate it for at least one hour. Overnight is even better.

  Frost your cake with Cool Whip Butterscotch Frosting. (Recipe and instructions follow.)

  Yield: At least 10 pieces of decadent butterscotch cake. Serve with tall glasses of ice-cold milk or cups of strong coffee.

  COOL WHIP BUTTERSCOTCH FROSTING

  This recipe is made in the microwave.

  6-ounce (by weight) bag of butterscotch chips (or measure one cup of chips, which is roughly half of an 11-ounce by weight bag)

  8-ounce (by weight) tub of FROZEN Cool Whip (Do not thaw!)

  Hannah’s 1st Note: Make sure you use the original Cool Whip, not the sugar free or the real whipped cream type of Cool Whip.

  Place the cup of butterscotch chips in your food processor or blender. Chop them into smaller pieces so that they will melt faster.

  Place the Cool Whip in a microwave-safe bowl.

  Add the chopped butterscotch chips to the bowl.

  Microwave the bowl on HIGH for 1 minute and then let it sit in the microwave for an additional minute.

  Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir to see if the butterscotch chips have melted. If they haven’t, heat in 30-second intervals with 1-minute standing times until you succeed in melting the chips.

  Take the bowl out of the microwave and let it sit on the countertop or on a cold stovetop burner for 15 minutes. This standing time will thicken the icing.

  When the time is up, give the bowl a stir and remove your cake from the refrigerator. Frost your Ultimate Butterscotch Bundt Cake with the frosting and don’t forget the crater in the middle. You don’t need to frost all the way inside the crater. That’s almost impossible. Just frost an inch or so down the cavity.

  Return your cake to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cutting it and serving it to your guests.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can also use this icing on cookies. It would be wonderful on any cookie with a vanilla, chocolate, or butterscotch taste. I especially like it on Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies and Cocoa-Crunch Cookies. Just make sure that the cookies are cool when you frost them.

  Yield: This frosting will frost a batch of cookies, a 9-inch by 13-inch flat cake, a Bundt cake, or a round two-tier layer cake.

  Chapter Sixteen

  As she rode up in the elevator, Hannah did something very unusual. She actually looked at her reflection in the mirrored walls. Her mother, Claire, Michelle, and Lisa had been one hundred percent right. The color of her dress was perfect with her hair. And, wonder of wonders, Bertie at the Cut ’n Curl beauty parlor had actually managed to tame her curly red hair into some semblance of normalcy.

  The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and Hannah began to smile as she spotted Andrea and Mayor Bascomb moving through the crowd with trays of champagne. Michelle and Lisa were following them with trays containing the truffles that they’d made. She waited for a moment, watching as the huge crowd of guests reached out, one by one, for the truffles. Delores had been right about how well the confections would complement the champagne.

  As she entered the beautifully decorated ballroom, a tall, well-dressed man left the crowd and hurried to intercept her.

  “Hannah!” he greeted her with a smile as he gave her a little hug. “You look great!”

  “Thank you!” Hannah smiled back, but it took her a second or two to place him. “Cliff! I didn’t recognize you at first. For some reason, you look even taller than you did in high school.”

  “That’s because I am taller. I grew an inch and a half after we left school. Trudi says that I was a late bloomer.”

  “How’s Trudi? I haven’t seen her since I’ve been back.”

  “She’s fine. I just came out to ask you to save me a dance.”

  This time Hannah’s smile was much more than polite. “Really?”

  “Yes. We had so much fun at the senior prom and I wanted to dance with you again. And . . . well . . . there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

  “Who?”

  “Someone I’m . . . interested in, but I’m not sure. You’re the smartest person I know, Hannah, and if you like someone, I know they’re a really good person.”

  “Is this someone you’re thinking about hiring, Cliff?” Hannah asked the obvious question.

  Cliff began to smile. “Not exactly. But it is someone I might ask to marry me. I just don’t know if I’m making a mistake. And I really don’t want to do that. I’d value your opinion, Hannah.”

  Hannah gave a little sigh as she thought back to her failed romance with the assistant professor she’d planned to marry. “I’d like to meet her, but I’m not sure you should value my opinion about something like that. I’ve made some bad mistakes in the romance department myself.”

  “So have I. And that’s why I’m asking you. I think it’s important to get an outside opinion from someone you trust.”

  “Okay, it’s a deal. But you have to do something for me, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You have to help me carry out the big platter with the Christmas cake I baked. We’re going to turn off the lights and hold a Christmas Cake Parade just like the one Essie remembers at the first Christmas Ball. It’s a really big cake and I need a strong guy to help me carry it, especially because the only lights will be the candles on the cakes.”

  “I’ll be glad to help you, Hannah.”

  “Thanks, Cliff. There’s one other thing I’d like you to do for me.”

  “What is it?”

  “I want you to love the hardware store as much as Dad did.”

  Cliff smiled and gave her a little hug. “That’s easy, Hannah. I already do.”

  * * *

  The first person Hannah saw as she entered the ballroom itself was Essie. She was sitting in a wheelchair that someone had decorated with green and gold garlands that perfectly complemented Essie’s deep red velvet ball gown. Instead of wearing her hair in a bun, the style she’d worn for years, her silver hair was now cut shorter and it curled beautifully around her face. Her makeup was perfectly applied, and Hannah made a mental note to ask Delores if she’d helped Essie get ready for the ball. In her wheelchair throne with a sparkling tiara on her head, it was obvious to everyone there that Essie was the queen of the Christmas Ball.

  “You look lovely, Essie,” Hannah greeted her.

  “Thank you, dear. And so do you. That dress you’re wearing is the perfect color for you. Have you seen your mother yet? She’s here with Annie and Grandma Knudson.”

  “I haven’t greeted Mother yet. Tonight, we’re like ships that pass in the night. I got here early to help set up for the buffet, and then I dashed home to get ready. When I got to her house, Mother was already gone and so were Michelle and Lisa.”

  “Well, they’re here now and your mother’s been telling everyone what marvelous bakers you girls are. She told me that you were going to hold a Christmas Cake Parade! Is that true, dear?”

  “Yes, it is. Michelle and Lisa got all o
f their friends to help us carry in the cakes. And Cliff Schuman promised to help me lead the parade with the largest one.”

  “Wonderful!” Essie smiled, but she seemed distracted by a man who’d just come into the ballroom. Hannah studied his face and came to the conclusion that he was a stranger. She turned back to Essie and asked, “Do you recognize the man who just came in?”

  “I’m not sure. There are quite a few people here that I don’t know.”

  “That’s probably because of the television interview you did for KCOW. Mother told me that it was picked up by some major networks and it was shown as a human interest story all over the country.”

  “That’s true and some people may have come just out of curiosity. That man looks familiar, like someone I used to know years ago. When are you holding the Christmas Cake Parade?”

  “As soon as Mayor Bascomb greets everyone and officially tells your guests about the first Christmas Ball. When he gets up to speak, I’ll go back to the kitchen to light the candles on the cakes.”

  “Is the orchestra going to play for the parade?”

  “Yes, but they recorded the music because there won’t be enough light for them to play. They gave Mother a recording. And after the parade, the lights will go back on and they’ll play music for dancing.”

  “Perfect! This is all so wonderful, Hannah! Thank you for organizing all that baking. Tonight will be a full circle for me, Hannah. Now I won’t have to wait and worry much longer.”

  Hannah tried not to show how puzzled she was by Essie’s comment as she hurried back to the kitchen. What an odd thing for Essie to say! An unwelcome thought flashed through her mind on her way down the hallway that led to the kitchen. Did Essie’s words about completing a full circle mean that she thought she would die tonight? Or was Hannah simply reading too much into what Essie had said?

  ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS BUNDT CAKE

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

  1 cup shredded coconut (pack it down when you measure it)

  ¼ cup (4 Tablespoons) all-purpose flour (You will be dividing this into Tablespoons.)

  8 ounces (by weight) candied pineapple wedges

  8 ounces (by weight) candied red cherries

  8 ounces (by weight) candied green cherries

  12-ounce (by weight) bag of white chocolate chips or vanilla baking chips (11-ounce package will do, too—I used Nestlé)

  4 large eggs

  ½ cup vegetable oil

  ½ cup cold whole milk

  1 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract

  8-ounce (by weight) tub of sour cream (I used Knudsen)

  1 box of white cake mix with or without pudding in the 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 instant vanilla pudding mix (I used Jell-O, the kind that makes 6 half-cup servings)

  Prepare your cake pan. You’ll need a Bundt pan that has been sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then floured. To flour a pan, put some flour in the bottom, hold it over your kitchen wastebasket, and tap the pan to move the flour all over the inside of the pan. Continue this until all the inside surface of the pan, including the sides of the crater in the center of the pan, have been covered with a light coating of flour.

  Put the coconut in the bowl of a food processor and chop it up into much smaller pieces by using the steel blade in an on-and-off motion.

  Place the finely-chopped coconut in a bowl on the counter.

  Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of flour (from the 4 Tablespoons you measured) in the bottom of the food processor bowl. Place the candied pineapple wedges on top of the flour.

  Sprinkle another Tablespoon of flour on top of the pineapple wedges. Place the red candied cherries on top of that flour.

  Sprinkle another Tablespoon of flour on top of the red candied cherries. Place the green candied cherries on top of that flour.

  Sprinkle a final Tablespoon of flour on top of the candied green cherries.

  Process the flour and candied fruit in an on-and-off motion with the steel blade until everything is chopped into small pieces.

  Add the candied fruit and flour mixture to the bowl with the finely chopped coconut.

  Put the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips in the bottom of the food processor bowl. In an on-and-off motion with the steel blade, chop the chips into small pieces.

  Place the chopped chips in another bowl on the counter. Now it’s time to start mixing up your cake.

  Crack the eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix them up on LOW speed until they’re a uniform color.

  Pour in the half-cup of vegetable oil and mix it in with the eggs on LOW speed.

  Add the half-cup of cold milk and the teaspoon of coconut or vanilla extract. Mix them in on LOW speed.

  Scoop out the container of sour cream and add it to your bowl. Mix that in on LOW speed.

  When everything is well combined, open the box of dry cake mix and sprinkle it on top of the liquid ingredients in the bowl of the mixer. Mix it in on LOW speed.

  Add the package of dry instant vanilla pudding mix. Beat it in, again on LOW speed.

  Finally, sprinkle in the candied fruit and coconut. Mix them in thoroughly on LOW speed.

  Shut off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and give your batter a final stir by hand.

  Use a rubber spatula to mix in the chopped white chocolate chips by hand. (The reason you’ve chopped them into little pieces is so the pieces are lighter and won’t sink down into the bottom of the Bundt pan.)

  Use the same rubber spatula to transfer the cake batter to the prepared Bundt pan.

  Smooth the top of your cake with the spatula and put it into the oven.

  Bake your Ultimate Christmas Cake at 350 degrees F. for 55 minutes.

  Before you take your cake out of the oven, test it for doneness by inserting a cake tester, thin wooden skewer, or long toothpick midway between the sides of the circular ring. (You can’t insert it in the center of the cake because that’s where the crater is!)

  If the tester comes out clean, your cake is done. If there is still unbaked batter clinging to the tester, shut the oven door and bake your cake in 5-minute increments, testing after each increment, until it tests done.

  Once your cake has finished baking, take it out of the oven and set it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack. Let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes.

  After the 20-minute cooling time is up, put your impeccably clean fingers on top of the pan and pull the sides of the cake away from the pan. Don’t forget to do the same for the crater in the middle. This will make certain the cake isn’t sticking to the sides and center of the Bundt pan.

  Tip the Bundt pan upside down on a platter and drop it gently on a towel on the kitchen counter. Do this until the cake falls out of the pan and rests on the platter.

  Cover your Ultimate Christmas Bundt Cake loosely with foil and refrigerate it for at least one hour. Overnight is even better.

  Frost your cake with Cool Whip White Chocolate Frosting. (Recipe and instructions follow.)

  Yield: At least 10 pieces of incredibly good and very rich cake. This cake is wonderful with vanilla ice cream on top. Serve with tall glasses of ice-cold milk or cups of strong coffee.

  COOL WHIP WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING

  This recipe is made in the microwave.

  8-ounce (by weight) tub of FROZEN Cool Whip (Do not thaw yet!)

  6-ounce (by weight) bag of white chocolate or vanilla chips (I used Nestlé white baking chips – half of an 11-ounce bag will do just fine)

  1 teaspoon coconut or vanilla extract

  Hannah’s 1st Note: Make sure you use the original Cool Whip, not the sugar free or the real whipped cream.

  Place the Cool Whip in a microwave-safe bowl.

  Add the chocolate chips to the bowl.

  Microwave the bowl on HIGH for 1 minute and then let it sit in the microwave for an additional minute.
/>
  Take the bowl out of the microwave the stir to see if the white chocolate chips are melted. If they’re not, heat them in 30-second intervals with 30-second standing times in the microwave until you succeed in melting the chips.

  Stir in the vanilla or coconut extract and let the bowl sit on the countertop or on a cold burner for 15 minutes to thicken the frosting.

  When the time is up, give the bowl a stir and remove your cake from the refrigerator.

  Frost your Ultimate Christmas Bundt Cake with the frosting and don’t forget the crater in the middle. You don’t need to frost all the way down. That’s almost impossible. Just frost an inch or so down the crater.

  Hannah’s 2nd Note: While your frosting is still soft and sticky, you can decorate your cake with more candied pineapple and red and green candied cherries if you wish. The top looks great if you make a circle of the red cherries on the outside of the top, a circle of candied pineapple just inside the red candied cherries, and then a circle of green candied cherries inside the candied pineapple.

  Return your cake to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cutting it and serving it to your guests.

  Hannah’s 3rd Note: You can also use this frosting on cookies. Simply frost and let your cookies sit on wax paper on the kitchen counter until the frosting has set and is dry to the touch.

  Yield: This frosting will frost a batch of cookies, a 9-inch by 13-inch cake, a Bundt cake, or a round two-tier layer cake.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hannah smiled as she came into the hotel kitchen with Cliff. Michelle and Lisa were staging the cake parade in a line that wound, snake-like, around the edges of the huge counters and appliances that filled the room.