by Joanne Fluke
The church was packed with people. The minister at the front of the nave was reading the vows and Hannah heard the groom say, “I do.” Then the minister turned to the bride, a lovely vision in a white wedding dress and a veil.
“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” he asked her.
“Say no, Sara!” Joe shouted out, racing down the aisle.
The bride turned, and Hannah could see her shocked expression. For a moment she looked as if she were about to faint, but then her mouth opened and she gasped “Joe!?”
“It’s me, Sara!” Joe ran up to the altar and grabbed her arm. “Say no!”
“No!” Sara’s voice was loud and clear. “No, I won’t marry you, Jake!”
“Hallelujah!” Hannah heard the minister say under his breath, and there was a collective sigh of relief from the entire congregation.
“Joe?” Jake’s mouth fell open in shock, and he looked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “It can’t be you! You’re dead! I killed you!”
Mike pushed Andrea out of the way and raced down the aisle. Before Jake could try to make a move to flee, Mike had him down on the white carpet runner that the church used for weddings. He clicked on the handcuffs before any of the congregation could do more than gasp at what they’d just heard.
A moment later a tall, burly man rushed up to Mike. “Thanks, fella,” he said. “I’m the sheriff here and I’ll take over now. Everybody here heard him confess to attempted murder.”
“Let’s go in my squad car,” Mike said, hauling Jake to his feet. “We’ll put him in the back.”
There were a few moments of stunned silence, as the sheriff and Mike left the church, dragging Jake behind them. Then Joe took Sara in his arms. “I love you, Sara,” he said, and then he got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Sara’s response was immediate and the minister began to smile. “Hallelujah!” he declared, as he helped Joe to his feet. “Everyone here was expecting a wedding.”
Sara locked eyes with Joe. “Now?” she asked softly.
“Now,” Joe answered.
* * *
“Oh!” Carrie breathed. “How wonderful!”
“It was wonderful,” Hannah agreed. “I’ve never seen Joe look so happy. And Sara was radiant.”
“Of course she was.” Delores took a small bite of the Golden Raisin Rum Cupcakes that Lisa had placed on the large table in the back of The Cookie Jar. “These are wonderful cupcakes, Hannah.”
“Thank you.”
“They remind me of hot buttered rum,” Doc commented.
“I agree,” Rachael said, and they all turned to look at her.
“How do you know?” Lisa asked her cousin.
“I don’t, at least not from personal experience,” Rachael said quickly, “but my father used to make hot buttered rum for my mom on New Year’s Eve.”
“Good save,” Hannah, who was sitting next to Rachael, said under her breath. “Can anyone guess the first thing that Joe and Sara did right after the wedding?”
“They went to get Donnie,” Doc said quickly, and everyone else nodded.
“You’re right,” Norman confirmed it. “They got him and brought him to the reception.”
“Donnie didn’t have to go back again, did he?” Lisa asked.
Hannah shook her head. “No. Since Joe was Donnie’s brother, and he was married to Sara, the woman at family services closed Donnie’s case with the agency.”
“That’s a relief!” Carrie said. “Did you get a chance to meet Donnie?”
“Just briefly,” Mike said. “He sat with both of them at the head table, and he was so happy, he kept hugging Joe and Sara. The sheriff and I locked Jake in a cell at the jail, and we came back for the reception.”
“I forgot to tell you something,” Norman said. “Joe wanted Hannah and I to be their witnesses at the wedding. We stood up with Joe and Sara at the altar.”
“How wonderful!” Carrie gave a pleased nod. “Was it a beautiful wedding?”
“Yes. One of the ushers lent Joe his suit to wear, and Sara was already in her wedding gown,” Andrea explained.
The moment those words were out of Andrea’s mouth, Hannah realized that Delores was staring at her in shock. “What is it, Mother?”
“You stood up at the altar in those clothes?” Delores asked her.
“Yes.” Hannah shrugged, glancing down at her jeans and sweatshirt.
“And you stood up in front of all those people in that outfit?”
“Yes.” She tried her best not to give in to the additional reply that occurred to her, but she couldn’t resist. “I guess I could have taken these off, but I didn’t have anything else with me. And I don’t think the minister and the congregation would have approved of that.”
Doc was the first to begin laughing, and a moment later, Mike, Andrea, Carrie, Lisa, Rachael, and Norman joined in.
“Come on, Lori,” Doc said. “You know you deserved that, and I can see your lips twitching. Go ahead and laugh with the rest of us.”
It took a moment, but Delores burst into laughter along with everyone else. “That’s my Hannah,” she said.
GOLDEN RAISIN RUM CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 cup golden raisins (regular raisins will work, too)
¼ cup dark rum (I used Bacardí rum)
¼ cup pineapple juice (apple juice will also work just fine)
4 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup (8 ounces by weight) sour cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 box of spice 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)
Prepare your cupcake pans. You’ll need two 12-cup cupcake or muffin pans lined with double cupcake papers.
Place the cup of golden raisins in a 2-cup or larger, microwave-safe measuring bowl. (I used my Pyrex 2-cup measuring cup.)
Pour the quarter-cup of rum over the raisins.
Pour the quarter-cup pineapple juice over the rum.
Stir the raisins with the liquids.
Place the measuring cup or bowl in the microwave and heat on HIGH for one minute. Open the microwave and stir the raisins and liquids again.
Heat the raisins and liquids again on HIGH for 30 seconds.
Let the measuring cup sit in the microwave for another minute.
Using potholders or oven gloves, remove the measuring cup or bowl from the microwave and set it on a towel on the kitchen counter to cool.
Crack the eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix them up on LOW speed until they are light and fluffy, and are a uniform color.
Pour in the half-cup of vegetable oil and mix it in with the eggs on LOW speed. Continue to mix for one minute or until it is thoroughly mixed.
Shut off the mixer and add the cup (8 ounces) of sour cream. Mix it in on LOW speed.
Feel the measuring cup or bowl with the raisins and liquids. If they’re not so hot they might cook the eggs, add this to your mixer bowl.
Mix on LOW speed for one minute or until the raisins and liquids are thoroughly mixed in.
When everything is well combined, shut off the mixer and open the box of dry spice cake mix.
Add HALF of the dry cake mix to the mixer bowl but don’t turn on the mixer quite yet.
Sprinkle the teaspoon of ground cinnamon over the cake mix in the mixer bowl.
Turn the mixer on LOW speed and mix for 2 to 3 minutes, or until everything is well combined.
Shut off the mixer and sprinkle in the 2nd HALF of the dry cake mix. Mix it in thoroughly on LOW speed.
Shut off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Open t
he package of instant vanilla pudding and pie filling and sprinkle in the contents. Mix it in on LOW speed.
Shut off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and remove it from the mixer. Set it on the counter.
If you have a food processor, put in the steel blade and pour in the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips. Process in an on-and-off motion to chop them in smaller pieces. (You can also do this with a knife on a cutting board if you don’t have a food processor.)
Sprinkle the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips into your bowl and stir them in by hand with the rubber spatula.
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you don’t want to use rum in this recipe, use whole milk or water with a teaspoon of rum extract mixed in for flavor. If you don’t have and don’t want to buy rum extract, use vanilla extract or even coconut extract.
Use the rubber spatula or a scooper to transfer the cake batter into the prepared cupcake pan. Fill them three-quarters full.
Smooth the top of your cupcakes with the spatula and place them in the center of your preheated oven.
Bake your Golden Raisin Rum Cupcakes at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes.
Before you take your cupcakes out of the oven, test it for doneness by inserting a cake tester, thin wooden skewer, or long toothpick into the middle of one of the cupcakes. If the tester comes out clean and with no cupcake batter sticking to it, your cupcakes are done. If there is still unbaked batter clinging to the tester, shut the oven door and bake your cupcakes for 5 minutes longer.
Take your cupcakes out of the oven and set the pans on cold stove burners or wire racks. Let them cool in the pans until they cool to room temperature and then refrigerate them for 30 minutes before you frost them. (Overnight is fine, too.)
Frost your cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. (Recipe and instructions follow.)
Yield: Approximately 18 to 24 cupcakes, depending on cupcake size.
To Serve: These cupcakes can be served at room temperature or chilled. They’re very rich so be sure to accompany them with tall glasses of icy cold milk or cups of strong hot coffee.
CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened to room temperature
8-ounce (net weight) package softened, brick-style cream cheese (I used Philadelphia in the silver package.)
1 Tablespoon molasses (I used Grandma’s Molasses)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon rum extract (if you don’t have it, use vanilla extract)
4 to 4 and ½ cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar (no need to sift unless it’s got big lumps)
Mix the softened butter with the softened cream cheese until the resulting mixture is well blended.
Add the Tablespoon of molasses and mix it in thoroughly.
Sprinkle in the teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Mix it in thoroughly.
Hannah’s 1st Note: If your ground cinnamon is as old as the hills, you’d better toss it out and buy new. Cinnamon loses its flavor after a year in a spice jar.
Add the rum extract and mix it in until everything is well blended.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Do this next step at room temperature. If you heated the cream cheese and the butter to soften them, make sure your mixture has cooled to room temperature before you complete the next step.
Add the confectioners’ sugar in half-cup increments, stirring thoroughly after each addition, until the frosting is of proper spreading consistency. (You’ll use all, or almost all, of the powdered sugar.)
Use a frosting knife or a small rubber spatula to place a dollop of frosting in the center of the top of your cupcakes. Then spread it out almost to the edges of the cupcake paper.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you spread the frosting all the way out to the edge of the cupcake, your guests will get frosting on their fingers when they peel off the cupcake paper and they’ll have to wash or lick their fingers. Kids enjoy this. Adults, not so much.
If you wish to decorate the tops of your cupcakes, you’ll have to work quickly before the frosting hardens. You can make swirls in the frosting with the tip of your frosting knife or spatula to make a design. Another alternative is to press the edge of a small spatula into the frosting, pull it up, and make little tips in the frosting just as you might do with meringue. You can also sprinkle the frosting with your favorite kind of ground nuts.
If you have frosting left over, spread it on graham crackers, soda crackers, or what Great-Grandma Elsa used to call store-boughten cookies. This frosting can also be covered tightly and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. When you want to use it, let it sit on the kitchen counter, still tightly covered, for an hour or so, or until it reaches room temperature and it is spreadable again.
This frosting also works well in a pastry bag, which brings up all sorts of interesting possibilities for decorating cakes or cookies.
Baking Conversion Chart
These conversions are approximate, but they’ll work just fine for Hannah Swensen’s recipes.
VOLUME:
U.S. Metric
½ teaspoon 2 milliliters
1 teaspoon 5 milliliters
1 Tablespoon 15 milliliters
¼ cup 50 milliliters
⅓ cup 75 milliliters
½ cup 125 milliliters
¾ cup 175 milliliters
1 cup ¼ liter
WEIGHT:
U.S. Metric
1 ounce 28 grams
1 pound 454 grams
OVEN TEMPERATURE:
Degrees Fahrenheit Degrees Centigrade British (Regulo) Gas Mark
325 degrees F. 165 degrees C. 3
350 degrees F. 175 degrees C. 4
375 degrees F. 190 degrees C. 5
Note: Hannah’s rectangular sheet cake pan, 9 inches by 13 inches, is approximately 23 centimeters by 32.5 centimeters.
