Killed on Blueberry Hill
Page 27
Kit winked at me. “Crime doesn’t always pay.”
“But a few lessons at the gun range certainly does,” Hitchcock added. “Here comes our sharpshooter.”
Natasha walked toward us, resplendent in a white bikini, white gauze cover-up, and a floppy white straw hat. On her arm hung a white straw handbag, with Dasha’s little head peeking out.
“Excuse me,” Kit said. “She’s a shark shooter. And don’t you forget it.”
“I won’t forget that I owe her my life.” I ran to greet her, both of us exchanging air kisses and a hug.
“I forget to tell you about dream I had last night,” Natasha said with obvious excitement. “I dream I am in fun house again. But now I am being chased, not you. It is big blueberries who run after me. They look like Dean in blueberry costume he wears in parade, but much bigger. And right before blueberries catch me, I turn into peacock and fly away. Is most important dream.”
“Why?”
“It means my new spa must be called after peacock. And I must pick building for my spa right away. This week. Before there are no more fresh blueberries left.”
Because my friend took her dreams seriously, I did, too. “I think you’re right. It’s high time Oriole Point had a spa called Peacock.”
“Da!” She hugged me again as Dasha gave a happy yap. “Now we must have blueberry dessert to celebrate.”
We walked arm in arm over to Theo and his pastry table.
“They all look delicious, Theo.” I intended to have one of each. Maybe two.
“I must have piece of blueberry cake,” Natasha announced. “Because of my dream.”
He placed a big slice of blueberry lemon cake on a plate and handed it to her.
“I think I’ll start with blueberry cake, too,” I said.
Theo appeared concerned as he handed me a slice of cake. “Are you sure, Marlee? A lot of bad things happened during blueberry season. I almost didn’t bring the cake. I didn’t want the blueberries to remind you of murder and Ryan and the fun house.”
“Are you kidding? Boyfriends come and go. So do murderers and Blueberry Blow Outs.” I took a big bite of the cake, savoring the rich batter and sweet fruit. “But blueberries are forever.”
Recipes
BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE
After Marlee and Kit share their first kiss, she sends him off with a pastry box filled with blueberry coffee cake. She tells Kit that her baker, Theo, got the recipe from his mother—who got it from Betty Crocker. Because the best bakers know better than to mess with a classic, here’s the classic Betty Crocker recipe.
Crumb topping
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
Coffee cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup shortening
¾ cup milk
1 egg
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
Vanilla glaze
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1–1½ teaspoons hot water
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease bottom and side of 9-inch-square pan or 9 x 3-inch springform pan with shortening or cooking spray.
2. In small bowl, mix ½ cup sugar, ⅓ cup flour, and the cinnamon. Cut in butter with fork until crumbly. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, stir together all coffee cake ingredients except blueberries. Beat mixture with spoon 30 seconds. Fold in blueberries. Spread batter in pan. Sprinkle with topping.
4. Bake 45–50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove side of pan.
5. In small bowl, mix all glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over warm coffee cake.
Makes 9 servings.
BAKED BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST
When Marlee and Tess meet for breakfast at the Sourdough Café, they order this delicious baked French toast. Since Marlee produced cooking shows during her TV career in NYC, she recognizes the dish as a delightfully gooey recipe by celebrity chef Emeril.
French toast
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
14 slices white bread cut into 1-inch cubes; crusts
removed and discarded
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and picked over
2 8-ounce packages cold cream cheese, cut into
1-inch cubes
10 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
⅓ cup maple syrup
¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Blueberry sauce
Blueberry sauce
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1½ cups water
1½ cups sugar
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1½ teaspoons orange zest
½ cup blueberries, rinsed and picked over
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter
1. Butter baking dish with a tablespoon of butter
2. Arrange half of the bread cubes on the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Top bread cubes with blueberries and cream cheese cubes.
4. Layer the remaining bread cubes over the blueberries/cheese cubes.
5. Whisk eggs, half-and-half, maple syrup, and orange juice in large bowl.
6. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread mixture in baking dish.
7. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.
8. Remove dish from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 350°F. Position rack in center of oven.
10. Bake the covered French toast for 30 minutes.
11. After 30 minutes, remove aluminum foil and continue baking another 30 minutes, or until toast is golden brown and puffed.
12. Remove from oven and let slightly cool, approximately 15 minutes.
13. After plating, ladle blueberry sauce over the French toast.
Makes 10–12 servings.
Blueberry sauce
1. In small saucepan, stir together over medium-high heat cornstarch, water, sugar, orange juice, and zest.
2. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add blueberries and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally until berries burst, approximately 5 minutes.
4. Add butter. Stir mixture until melted.
5. Remove blueberry mixture from heat. Spoon or ladle over warm French toast.
Makes 3 cups.
BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
During the Blueberry Blow Out, Marlee steps in at the last minute to judge the festival’s blueberry muffin contest. No matter how delicious the winning muffin may have been, it’s unlikely that it beat the taste of this famous blueberry muffin recipe first sampled by the public in Boston’s famous Jordan Marsh department store.
½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed, drained, and
dried, stems removed
3 teaspoons granulated sugar, for muffin tops
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Place rack in center of oven.
2. Cream the softened butter and 1¼ cups of sugar until light.
3. Add one egg at a time, beating well to blend into the mixture. Add vanilla.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to cream mixture, alternating with the ½ cup of milk.
5. Beat for several seconds.
6. Place ½ cup of the blueberries in a small bowl. Mash with fork.
7. Mix mashed blueberries into batter. Gently fold in remaining whole berries.
8. Line a 12-
muffin tin tray with cupcake liners. (Baking the muffins without liners may cause sticking due to the juiciness of the blueberries.) Even if using cupcake liners, lightly spray the liners and top of the tin tray with nonstick spray. Those delicious blueberries will spread.
9. Fill the muffin tins with batter. Sprinkle 3 teaspoons of sugar over the tops of the muffins.
10. Bake at 375°F for approximately 30 minutes, or until tops are light golden brown. Insert a toothpick in the center of a muffin to make certain it comes out clean.
11. After 5 minutes, gently remove from muffin pan. Place on rack to cool.
Makes 12 muffins.