Christmas Sweets
Page 7
MINNESOTA PEACH COBBLER
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
Hannah’s Note: Don’t thaw your peaches before you make this—leave them frozen.
Spray a 13-inch by 9-inch cake pan with Pam or other nonstick cooking spray.
10 cups frozen sliced peaches (approximately
2½ pounds)
cup lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
1½ cups white (granulated) sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup flour (no need to sift)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup melted butter (1 stick, ¼ pound)
Measure the peaches and put them in a large mixing bowl. Let them sit on the counter and thaw for 10 minutes. Then sprinkle them with lemon juice and toss.
In another smaller bowl combine white sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Mix them together with a fork until they’re evenly combined.
Pour the dry mixture over the peaches and toss them. (This works best if you use your impeccably clean hands.) Once most of the dry mixture is clinging to the peaches, dump them into the cake pan you’ve prepared. Sprinkle any dry mixture left in the bowl on top of the peaches in the pan.
Melt the butter. Drizzle it over the peaches. Then cover the cake pan tightly with foil.
Bake the peach mixture at 350 degrees F., for 40 minutes. Take it out of the oven and set it on a heatproof surface, but DON’T TURN OFF THE OVEN!
Top Crust:
1 cup flour (no need to sift)
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ stick softened butter (¼ cup, pound)
2 beaten eggs (just stir them up in a glass with a
fork)
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in the smaller bowl you used earlier. Cut in the softened butter with a couple of forks until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Add the beaten eggs and mix them in with a fork. For those of you who remember your school library with fondness, the result will resemble library paste but it’ll smell a whole lot better! (If you have a food processor, you can also make the crust using the steel blade and chilled butter cut into 4 chunks.)
Remove the foil cover from the peaches and drop on spoonfuls of the topping. Because the topping is thick, you’ll have to do this in little dibs and dabs scraped from the spoon with another spoon, a rubber spatula, or with your freshly washed finger. Dab on the topping until the whole pan is polka-dotted. (Don’t worry if some spots aren’t covered very well—the batter will spread out and fill in as it bakes and result in a crunchy crust.)
Bake at 350 degrees F., uncovered, for an additional 50 minutes.
Minnesota Peach Cobbler can be eaten hot, warm, room temperature, or chilled. It can be served by itself in a bowl, or topped with cream or ice cream.
Chapter Seven
“Maybe tonight is our lucky night,” Matt said, sitting down on the couch next to Julie and reaching for the remote control. “Hannah brought us a quadruple batch of fudge cupcakes, and the boys ate four apiece. With stomachs that full, they should sleep for hours.”
“Don’t count on anything when it comes to the kids. Even after we put them to bed, there’s always something they need.”
“There’s always something the boys need,” Matt corrected her. “It’s never the girls.”
“That’s true. The girls are no trouble at all.” Julie glanced at the screen where The Quiet Man was playing without sound. “Where were we anyway?”
“I think I was kissing you and you were making those little purring noises in your throat, the ones that make me feel like I’m the most important guy in the world.”
Julie laughed, but her cheeks turned pink “Well, you are the most important guy in the world, but I was talking about the movie. What scene were we watching the last time the boys interrupted us?”
“The one where Maureen O’Hara bolts the door and John Wayne breaks it open. But I don’t really care about that. I’d rather research those little purring noises.”
“Research is very important for a teacher,” Julie replied, snuggling into his arms and leaving John and Maureen to their own devices.
* * *
“Mr. Sherwood?”
Matt groaned. This couldn’t be real. No one was that unlucky. He must be imagining the night’s worst scenario, because he was afraid it might happen again.
“Mr. Sherwood?”
Yup. It was happening. That was Larry’s voice, and the boys were interrupting his night with Julie again.
Resolutely, Matt pulled away from Julie’s willing arms and turned to face his ten-year-old tormentor. “What is it, Larry?”
“Gary had a nightmare.”
There was a beat of silence while Matt considered the logic of that statement. “I’m sorry to hear that. But if Gary had a nightmare, why didn’t he come down here to get us?”
“Because he’s hiding in the closet and he won’t come out. He thinks Spense and I are aliens. We think he’s still dreaming.”
It was the lamest excuse Matt had ever heard, and he was about to say so when Julie interrupted.
“I’ll go,” she offered, standing up and moving past him. “You find the scene where John Wayne fights with Victor McLaglen while I’m gone. When I come back, we can start watching everything all over again.”
* * *
“Of course I’m sure,” Larry said, once Julie had gone back downstairs. “We broke them up, but not for long. They’re just going to start kissing again.”
Spenser nodded. “I think you’re right. And if they keep this up, we’re going to lose to the girls for sure. It’s time to pull out the big guns.”
“What big guns?” Gary and Larry asked together.
“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll come up with something. Just give me a little time to think about it.”
Larry looked worried. “Better think fast, before . . .”
“. . . Mr. Sherwood asks her to marry him and we have to wear aprons and listen to Mrs. Caulder sing,” Gary finished.
FUDGE CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (1 ounce
each)
¼ cup white (granulated) sugar
½ cup raspberry syrup (for pancakes—I used
Knott’s red raspberry) * * *
1⅔ cups flour (unsifted)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, room temperature (one stick,
¼ pound)
1½ cups white sugar (not a misprint—you’ll use
one and three-quarters cups sugar in all)
3 eggs
⅓ cup milk
*** If you can’t find raspberry syrup, mix ¼ cup seedless raspberry jam with ¼ cup light Karo syrup and use that.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with double cupcake papers. Since this recipe makes 18 cupcakes, you can use an additional 6-cup muffin pan lined with double papers, or you can butter and flour an 8-inch square cake pan or the equivalent.
Microwave the chocolate, raspberry syrup, and ¼ cup sugar in a microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave again, for another minute. At this point, the chocolate will be almost melted, but it will maintain its shape. Stir the mixture until smooth and let cool to lukewarm. (You can also do this in a double boiler on the stove.)
Measure the flour, mix in the baking powder and salt, and set it aside. With an electric mixer (or with a VERY strong arm) beat the butter and 1½ cups sugar until light and fluffy. (About 3 minutes with a mixer—an additional 2 minutes if you’re doing it by hand.) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to make sure they’re thoroughly incorporated. Add approximately a third of the flour mixture and a third of the milk. (You don’t have to be exact—adding the flour and milk in increments makes the batter s
moother.) When that’s all mixed in, add another third of the flour and another third of the milk. And when that’s incorporated, add the remainder of the flour and the remainder of the milk. Mix thoroughly.
Test your chocolate mixture to make sure it’s cool enough to add. (You don’t want to cook the eggs!) If it’s fairly warm to the touch but not so hot you have to pull your hand away, you can add it at this point. Stir thoroughly and you’re done.
Let the batter rest for five minutes. Then stir it again by hand and fill each cupcake paper three-quarters full. If you decided to use the 8-inch cake pan instead of the 6-cup muffin tin, fill it with the remaining batter.
Bake the cupcakes in a 350 degree F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The 8-inch cake should bake an additional 5 minutes.
Fudge Frosting:
2 cups semi-sweet (regular) chocolate chips (a
12-ounce package)
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
18 cupcakes, or 12 cupcakes and 1 small cake,
cooled to room temperature and ready to frost.
If you use a double boiler for this frosting, it’s foolproof. You can also make it in a heavy saucepan over low to medium heat on the stovetop, but you’ll have to stir it constantly with a spatula to keep it from scorching.
Fill the bottom part of the double boiler with water. Make sure it doesn’t touch the underside of the top.
Put the chocolate chips in the top of the double boiler, set it over the bottom, and place the double boiler on the stovetop at medium heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate chips are melted.
Stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk and cook approximately 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the frosting is shiny and of spreading consistency.
Spread it on the cupcakes, making sure to fill in the “frosting pocket.”
Give the frosting pan to your favorite person to scrape.
These cupcakes are even better if you cool them, cover them, and let them sit for several hours (or even overnight) before frosting them.
Hannah’s Note: If you want to make them in mini-cupcake tins, fill those ⅔ full and bake them at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes.
Chapter Eight
“Do you know how to preheat the oven to three hundred and fifty degrees?” Hannah asked, taking nothing for granted as far as Julie’s domestic skills were concerned.
Julie nodded. “I can handle that part of it. It’s the job they used to give me when we baked in a group in high school. Do I have to do something with the rack?”
“It should be in the middle position,” Serena told her after glancing down at the recipe Hannah had brought. “Do you want us to unpack the box with the ingredients, Miss Swensen?”
“Not until Miss Jansen’s had time to read through the recipe,” Hannah said, handing the recipe to Julie as she came back to the workstation in the middle of the kitchen.
Julie scanned the recipe and started to smile. “What fun! I’ve never heard of Multiple-Choice Bar Cookies before.”
“You mean it’s like a test?” Serena asked.
“No, it’s like a buffet,” Julie said, placing the recipe on the surface of the workstation and motioning for the girls to come closer. “Just look. There are four columns, and you get to choose one ingredient from each column. You could make a lot of different bar cookies from this recipe.”
“One thousand five hundred and eighty-two,” Hannah said.
“You figured it out that fast?” Serena looked impressed.
“No, I made it up. Whenever I do math problems like that, I forget to subtract for the number of factors to avoid the duplicates.”
“Right,” Julie said, looking every bit as confused as the kids. “Whenever I see a math problem like that, I’m glad I majored in English.”
Serena cracked up, and so did the two younger girls. Hannah could tell that Julie had a good relationship with them. It would be an unusual child indeed who didn’t like Julie. She was funny and caring at the same time.
“Since there are four columns, let’s split this up,” Julie continued. “You can choose one from each column. Take the first column, Serena. Hope? You’ve got the second column. And you’ve got the third column, Joy. I’ll take the fourth, and we’ll have our own creation.”
Leaving the girls to discuss their choices and argue the merits of graham cracker crumbs over chocolate wafer crumbs, Hannah pulled Julie aside to teach her how to melt butter in the microwave and pour it in the pan. Once that was done, they had time for a brief, private conversation.
“How are things developing with Matt?” Hannah discarded any fleeting notion she might have had at subtlety and waded in with both feet.
“We’d be fine if the kids would just leave us alone,” Julie said, and then she shook her head. “Matt and I talked about it, and he pointed out that it’s just the boys. The girls have been perfect angels. They never interrupt us when we’re together. I think they’re really sensitive to the way we feel about each other. It’s almost as if they’re encouraging us to get together.”
“Miss Jansen?” Hope called out. “Can I use M&Ms and raisins? It says two cups, and Serena thought it might be okay if I used one cup of each.”
“Hannah?” Julie turned to her.
“Absolutely. And that makes one thousand five hundred and eighty-three ways to make them. You’re a natural-born baker, Hope.”
“Thanks, Miss Swensen.”
While Julie was sprinkling the chosen ingredient from column A in the pan, Hannah thought about how the boys didn’t want Julie and Matt to get together and the girls did. It was a little strange, considering that both the boys and the girls seemed to like Matt and Julie a lot. Something didn’t make sense, but Hannah couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. Then Julie asked about the best way to cover the pan evenly with sweetened condensed milk, and Hannah shoved the romantic puzzle aside to consider later.
* * *
Spenser was worried. He’d thought it was suspicious when Mr. Sherwood said he was going out for supplies. The storeroom was fully stocked and there really wasn’t anything they needed. It was the reason he’d offered to help Mr. Sherwood unload when he came back, and just as he’d expected, Mr. Sherwood had insisted that he could handle it himself.
His curiosity aroused, Spenser had watched from an upstairs window as his teacher carried things in. Most of the packages Mr. Sherwood had bought were for them. Spenser recognized the toy store logo on the bags. But then Mr. Sherwood had gone back out to his car to retrieve a red bag with a logo on the side. It was a silver heart with an arrow, the trademark symbol of Cupid’s Jewelry. Since there was no way Mr. Sherwood had purchased jewelry for one of them, it had to be for Miss Jansen. And Spenser was pretty sure the bag contained a diamond engagement ring.
Spenser ducked around a corner as Mr. Sherwood came up the stairs to stash the bag in his room. Things were coming to a head much too fast. It was time for them to act, or all was lost.
* * *
“Something’s wrong in the office, Mr. Sherwood.” Gary arrived at his teacher’s side panting slightly, with Larry following a second or two behind him.
“What office?”
“The one down the hall,” Larry answered. “Gary and I were walking down . . .”
“. . . the hall when we heard this loud noise,” Gary finished.
“It was sort of like a ringing sound,” Larry tried to describe, “except it buzzed too. We thought it was . . .”
“. . . a phone off the hook, or something like that.”
“Thanks for telling me,” Matt said. “It sounds like a fax machine, or something electronic. I’ve got the master keys in my pocket. Show me which office it is, and we’ll go take a look.”
* * *
This time it seemed that the twins had a legitimate reason for needing him. As they neared the office that Julie used to check her e-mail and generate daily reports to Dr. Caulder, he could hear the beeping noise Larry and Gary had told him about.<
br />
“It’s definitely electronic,” Matt said, making short work of unlocking the door and flicking on the lights.
Gary headed straight for the computer desk. “It’s coming from here.”
“What is it?” Matt asked.
Larry gave a little laugh. “It’s an alarm clock. One of the guests must have left it in here . . .”
“. . . and it got turned on accidentally,” Gary finished. “But it’s a good thing we came in. This is the computer Miss Jansen used, and she . . .”
“. . . must have forgotten to turn it off,” Larry completed the thought. “Do you want me to do it, Mr. Sherwood?”
Matt nodded. Both Gary and Larry were computer gurus. Even though they were only ten, they’d already written several small programs, and they knew more about the computers in the offices than Matt did. “Go ahead. Just make sure you save any files Miss Jansen might have open.”
“Don’t worry about that. We always check everything to . . .” Gary stopped and stared at the screen. “What do you think . . . ?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s some kind of security . . .”