The long blasts from the oven timer pulled Kelly from her concentration on the four three-tiered mini cakes she’d just finished. With a Red Hots theme, she hoped the chocolate cinnamon combination held in proper balance once the frosting had been added.
She swept the back of her hand across her forehead, pushing her bangs from her face, then put down her piping bag.
Sara rushed in, shouting, “Time’s up. Step away from the dishes.”
“I’m ready,” Kelly said. Lacing her fingers, she gave them a good stretch. It was crazy how this competition changed everything. If anyone had asked her just one week ago what her three best recipes were, she’d have rattled them off without hesitation. But now with all this on the line and knowing hundreds of thousands of viewers nationwide would be watching, she found herself constantly second guessing what the judges might like best.
She took a knife from the drawer and sliced a sliver of a wedge from one of the pretty cakes she’d just plated. The combination of the red frosting between the dark chocolate layers was flawless, and the white frosting on top was the perfect consistency, still holding its peaks. She inhaled the scent. Sweet and spicy. So far, so good. She took a bite, hoping for the best—the flavors mingled in a delicious union. She closed her eyes and smiled. Nailed it.
“Try it, Judge Sara,” Kelly said, barely being able to hold her enthusiasm.
Sara pushed her fork into the cake and took a bite. “Oh. My. Goodness. This is amazing. I hope you wrote down this recipe.”
“I’m going to. It is good, isn’t it?”
“Too good.” Sara took another bite. “Oh, yeah. Those cinnamon candies are perfect in the dark chocolate. Just enough spice.”
Kelly relaxed. “It’s anybody’s guess what’ll be thrown our way. It could be something as classy as an award ceremony dessert or a two-year-old’s Halloween party.”
“I think it’s safe to say since it’s the Valentine’s Day show that it won’t be Halloween, but it could be a kid’s Valentine’s challenge. We hadn’t really brainstormed about that. Like the funny cards we all used to exchange in elementary school.”
“True. Or it could be a timed event for something in an hour. You know hard that is.”
“I saw one episode where they had liquid nitrogen cool things in a hurry.”
“You’re right. I remember that. I hope that’s available.” It wasn’t going to do her any good to worry over things she had no control over. “I’m just going to have to trust they will.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Sara reassured her. “Even ninety minutes is hard when it comes to cooling the cake long enough to do good work with the frosting and decoration. I bet they have all kinds of behind-the-scenes stuff going on. They’d have to, working under all those stage lights and everything.”
“True. I’ve got to be ready for anything.”
“You already are,” Sara said. “This competition was made for you.”
“I don’t want to get caught flat-footed. I studied pastry terms online last night so I’d know what they were talking about if they threw any of that high-falutin’ talk my way.”
“Hadn’t thought about that. They do that sometimes. Crème fraîche and all that.”
“Right. We make that stuff, but we never call it that. I don’t want to look silly.”
Sara put her hands on Kelly’s shoulders. “You won’t. Don’t try to be what you think they want you to be. Just be you. You’re deserving of this opportunity. The only person worried about your lack of formal training is you. I promise you that.”
“I hope you’re right,” Kelly said.
“You know desserts better than anyone, and you do sweet and savory all the time,” Sara said. “It’s why we have customers all over the nation. Something for everyone.”
“I can do this,” she said, trying to believe it.
“You’ve totally got this. Trust yourself. You know, you could sell these.”
“Good plan.” Kelly picked up a red marker and a bakery case card from the baker’s rack and wrote Cupid’s Red Hot Chocolate Cake. She lined up the other three cakes onto a narrow baking sheet and carried them out to the front case.
Kelly opened the case and slid the tray into place, then slipped the sign into the shiny metal clip.
“Those are beautiful.” Mrs. Thompson, the town librarian, peered over her hot pink readers.
“Thank you. It’s a brand-new recipe.” Kelly caught the grin on Sara’s face. “Thought I’d test out some new ones for the holiday.”
“Add one of those to my order,” Mrs. Thompson said. “And four forks. They’re simply gorgeous. If they’re even half as good as they look, they’ll be to die for.”
Kelly boxed up the cake, and then there were two.
They waved to Mrs. Thompson as she left.
“I thought I’d given you a challenge, but you handled that like nothing,” Sara said. “I’d better up the difficulty on those orders I wrote up.”
“Pickles. Sushi. Dirt!” Kelly rolled her eyes. “Okay, not dirt, but you know what I mean. Maybe edible flowers. And don’t go easy. I mean crazy stuff. You’ve seen the show.”
“I have. Okay, that’s going to be challenging, but I can do that. I’ll try to think of the toughest one I’ve seen them do, and flip it on its head.”
“Great.” Kelly grabbed two small buckets from the shelf—one red and one pink. “You can put the challenges in the pink bucket. And the random items in the red one. Then I’ll just blindly pick one from each bucket and go for it.”
“We only have two days.” Sara grabbed a small mixing bowl and set it next to the buckets. “I’ll put time frames in here. We’ll do an hour, ninety minutes, or unlimited.”
“Yes! That’s a great idea.” Kelly hugged Sara. “Thanks for putting up with me through all of this. I know I’m being a pain.”
“Are you kidding? If I were in your shoes, I’d be one hot mess. You’re just trying to be prepared, and I’m happy to help any way I can.” Sara grabbed a notebook and pen. “I’m going to go back out front, but I already have an idea for the first challenge. Are you ready for it?”
“I hope so.” Kelly slid the half-eaten cake to the side. “Whatever we bake that tastes good, we’ll put in the case as a special.”
“I think the customers will enjoy seeing your innovations. And they can always go next door to the cafe to get the good old standby flavors you always bake.”
“Exactly. Okay. Good.” She widened her stance and gestured to Sara. “I’m ready. Bring it on.”
Sara held up a finger. “Baked dessert. Whatever you like.”
“Easy.”
“But…” She held up two fingers. “Your dessert must include both of these ingredients. Old Bay seasoning and figs.” Holding up three fingers. “You have forty-five minutes. Go!” She dropped her arm down to her side as if starting a race.
“Do we even have any Old Bay?”
Sara laughed. “Only because I picked some up at the store today for home. It’s with my stuff. I’ll bring that for you while you raid the pantry.”
“Oh, man. Game on!” Kelly started the timer on the oven, and then raced to the stock room to gather ingredients. Hopefully the pantry on set would be close to the kitchen. Then again, she knew where everything was in her pantry. That would be a whole other challenge there. She’d eat up a good seven minutes just getting what she needed back to her kitchen here.
Kelly ran back into the kitchen with items on the rolling cart. She’d even grabbed a couple of extra things, still trying to come up with the dessert she’d make.
Racing against the clock, she shot a glance at the oven timer. She set the oven temperature to 350F. A safe temperature for just about anything.
She decided to go with something that would tickle the memories of whoever ate it. A savory twist on sweet potato pie. She went to work, encouraged by the preliminary tastes. She’d just plated the desserts and was dabbing whipped frosting stars to the top of each one when Sara got back.
Sara waved a flour sack towel in the air. “Time!” And just as she said it, the oven timer began to ping.
Kelly stepped back from the table and raised her hands in the air. “Got it!” Four dessert plates were filled with identical pastries. Picture perfect.
“Okay, let’s see how you did.” Sara lifted one of the plates and smelled it. “That Old Bay has a distinctive smell, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. I hope I got the ratios right. It’s either going to be amazing or awful.”
“Explain what you’ve brought to us today,” Sara said, doing her best Martin Schlipshel impression.
“I’ve made for you a savory twist on a fall favorite, sweet potato pie. I think the spicy Old Bay and sweetness of the sweet potato make for a light and wonderful accompaniment for summer seafood boils.”
“Nice.” She lifted a bite to her mouth, taking her time with a reaction.
“Come on already!”
“Well…” She looked to the ceiling, then took another bite before smiling broadly. “This is really good.”
“You had me going there for a minute. The batter tasted good. Let me try it.” She reached for a bite of the one Sara had set back down on the plate.
Sara smacked her away. “Get your own!”
“That’s an excellent sign,” Kelly said. “You never mind sharing with me.” She grabbed one of the other plates and held it up, taking the time to smell it and touch it, looking for any flaw. Then she sliced it in half. The pie looked moist and held its shape. Finally, she took a bite. “This is surprisingly good. Why haven’t I ever tried that before?”
“I don’t know, but it’s another keeper.”
“I’ll write it down before I forget.” Kelly grabbed for a pen and paper.
“Can you imagine how good these would be with a low country boil out on the deck in the summer? You should send a box of these to Ned and Hailey for their Bed & Breakfast housewarming in Sand Dollar Cove next weekend since you won’t be here.”
“You’ll have to take them for me. Did you see the pictures of the kitchen? I’d pay to cook there.”
“I’m sure they’d let you cook for free,” Sara teased.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to do beach theme mini cakes? Oh gosh, and we could do kind of a sweet-salty, like the margarita cupcakes or salted caramel ones. And shells, starfish, even maybe some colorful flip-flops out of fondant on the top. It would be so cute.”
“See? That’s why you are going to win this thing. Hands down. There’s no one better than you at this stuff. You’re so creative.”
“Don’t jinx me.”
“I’m not. I’m spreading good vibes.” Sara skipped around as if tossing fairy dust. “Acting as if it’s already happened. Don’t you know the difference?”
“Apparently not.”
Sara grabbed a whisk from the white stoneware crock and held it up to her mouth. “And introducing the winner of this round of Pastry Practice,” she said in an exaggerated TV host voice. “The grand prize? The right to make me more fabulous treats to try, even though I’m going to have to double my visits to the gym next week!”
“Now to round two,” Kelly said.
“I’ve already filled your buckets with ideas.” Sara glanced at her watch. “I’m out of here for the day. Good luck with practice. I can’t wait to see what you came up with when I come back to work in the morning.”
“Me too.” Kelly watched Sara leave. She was lucky to have such a good friend. It was perfect that she’d been here when the folks from the show had come. If she’d had to keep this news totally to herself, she’d have burst for sure by now.
It had been a busy work day, but even with the steady stream of customers and more than enough to keep her busy, Kelly’s mind had wandered way too many times back to Andrew. She had a lot more important things on her plate than an old flame. Especially one who’d broken her heart. She wished he’d just leave town already.
She was able to try out another challenge after she closed for the night. With nothing better than baking to do on a Saturday evening, Kelly went to her office and pulled a challenge from the pink bucket to get her mind off Andrew. “Just my luck.” The challenge she pulled was for a wedding mini cake.
She was tempted to pull another one instead, but if she could pull this off while she was trying not to think about Andrew, she could work under any pressure.
She pulled an obstacle from the red bucket.
“Peas?”
Sara was taking this challenge seriously. She could easily hide peas by mixing them into the batter, but how she integrated them was as important as just getting them into the recipe. And the judges were always less than pleased when an ingredient disappeared into the recipe and they couldn’t taste them or recognize them at all.
She took a baggie and let herself into the cafe next door. Thank goodness everyone had gone home for the night. She went into the walk-in freezer and scooped a bag full of frozen peas, then went back to the bakery, feeling like a thief in the night.
She set the timer and got to work. She made the cakes and put them in the oven. That left twenty-seven minutes to get them cooled, frosted, and decorated before time was up.
She dropped the cakes in the deep freeze and got to work on the fillings.
Working as fast as she could, she made a batch of raspberry filling and another of chocolate. Then she swirled interlocking hearts on wax paper out of the white chocolate she’d colored with edible silver to use as cake toppers.
While the cake toppers hardened, Kelly took the cakes out and alternated sweet centers between the layers as she stacked them. Fondant was pretty, but in a hurry it could end up looking bad. A good thing to practice. Besides, she knew she could crumb coat and frost like a champ in a hurry with no problem.
She rolled out the fondant, then draped it over the tiered cakes. It laid smooth and perfect. She piped tiny thin vines of green ivy around the cake, then dunked the small green peas in shimmery edible silver glaze. She crossed her fingers and popped one into her mouth. “So good!”
Tickled with how they looked and tasted, she placed them around the bottom edge of each tiny cake to create an edible pearl-like ridge. Time was running out on the clock. She raced to the freezer and grabbed the cake toppers, popping them one by one on top.
The timer sounded, and she stopped and stepped back from the counter.
When all was said and done, she’d turned out four beautiful mini wedding cakes. Given a few more minutes, she’d have done a design on the plates to give it more of a finished look, but these were beautiful.