Felicity Fenchurch turned to David, who only managed to annoy her even more by giving an unhelpful shrug of his round fleshy shoulders. Bending down, she studied the triple-layer chocolate chestnut cake that was leaning precariously to the left. She had no idea why the food technologists hadn’t been able to make it work. She’d told them what she wanted, including the secret ingredient and special method, and no, she didn’t have an actual written recipe, it was a concept. Her dear granny hadn’t written it down. She’d told them to make a basic chocolate cake, add a slug of maple syrup and some chestnut puree, then pop a layer of whipped cream in the middle. Felicity straightened up and put her hands on her hips. She had no idea what they’d done wrong. They were clearly idiots.
David edged in closer. ‘Umm, darling Felicity, it’s looking a little, shall we say, tired at the moment, isn’t it?’ Felicity glared at him and he shrank bank. ‘I just mean it needs a little extra support and a tad more decoration. I’m sure it’ll be fab when it’s finished.’
‘It is finished,’ she replied, through gritted teeth. Even with the light set up to be as flattering as possible, it was uneven and messy. Maybe they hadn’t whipped the cream stiff enough. She’d watched the food techs turning out the cakes. They were fine. A little crumbly perhaps, but no one would know at home, as long they didn’t start falling apart. Felicity felt herself growing hot as she glanced at the top layer of sponge and saw a crack appearing. ‘I don’t know why it isn’t working.’ She glared at one of the food techs standing nearby. ‘You? What’s your name?’
A petite woman in her early twenties with lavender hair winced. ‘It’s Lucy, Miss Fenchurch.’
‘Well, Lucy,’ Felicity said, drumming her long, polished fingernails on the table top. ‘Why isn’t it working?’
Lucy stepped closer and examined the cake that was toppling further and further westward. Nervously, she said, ‘I think the cake layers are too small and the filling is too gooey for it to be triple layers. And the cream’s starting to melt under the lights as well. The sponges were a bit dry when we turned them out. I think the chestnut puree threw off the whole flour, cocoa, milk ratio, and we might have added too much maple syrup, it’s made it taste a bit …’ She hesitated. ‘Umm, bitter. We should probably make the layers thicker as well as it’s three layers. We could re-bake?’
Felicity caught Sasha, the producer, prowling at the back of the studio, and worse, she kept peering over and checking her watch. Felicity didn’t often lose sleep over anything, but since the incident with Esme Kendrick, she’d felt watched. Sasha didn’t normally bother coming to set and yet, here she was, the day they were shooting the recipe she’d borrowed from Esme. It couldn’t be a coincidence and Felicity was beginning to worry that she wasn’t going to get away with this one. She hadn’t slept much last night, or the night before, even with her special sleep mask and the relaxation tincture she had specially made for her by a very expensive herbalist. ‘There isn’t time,’ Felicity replied to Lucy, her voice a low growl. ‘And don’t worry about the taste. Can’t we buttercream the outside? Or put a ganache on it or something?’
‘A ganache would need to cool or it’ll melt the rest of the filling and I don’t think—’
‘You don’t think what?’ Felicity crossed her arms over her chest.
Lucy mumbled, ‘I don’t think a buttercream would work. It’ll make the cake far too sweet.’
Felicity eyed her. ‘You’re not paid to think, though, are you? You’re paid to bake.’
David edged forwards and ushered Lucy behind him. ‘Now, now, dear Fliss, I’m sure we’ll be able to sort something out. But we do need to hurry, we’re running out of time. The batter is ready and waiting for us to film the next segment and Sasha’s decided to pay a surprise visit today.’
In her three-inch heels Felicity was so tall she could see the few lonely hairs on his pink sweaty head. Damn that girl, she thought. She was sure now that Esme had played a trick on her. She must have known three layers were too many and she must have had a special recipe for the batter. From the corner of her eye she saw Sasha begin to walk towards them. Why did she have to come to set today? She never came to set. Felicity clenched her jaw and turned to Lucy. ‘Just shove some batons in it and put it in the blast chiller for a few minutes.’
Lucy’s eyes widened. ‘But the cake’s so crumbly it’ll just break up. I really think we need to re-bake and make the sponge thicker, or take a layer off.’
‘I will not take a layer off,’ hissed Felicity. ‘Just stick on any bits that fall off then cover the whole thing with chocolate buttercream. Dust the top with cocoa powder and shove on some gold leaf to make it sparkly. And I really don’t give a flying fig what you think. I just need this ready to be presented on camera in fifteen minutes. David?’
‘Yes?’
‘We’ll have to do some cut shots of me and not focus so much on the cake.’
‘But,’ he hesitated. ‘But Sasha said—’
‘I don’t care what Sasha says.’ Felicity flashed her eyes. She could feel herself growing hot under the pressure. ‘The cake isn’t going to work. Don’t ask me why. We must have had a bad batch of chestnut puree or something.’ She brushed her hair back from her face. ‘It is notoriously difficult to work with. Just shoot me with all the individual elements and do a quick shot of the finished thing. Light it with candles or something and I’ll do a voiceover at the end.’
‘We don’t have the money for a voice—’
Felicity shot him a look that said ‘Disagree with me and I’ll kill you.’ David shuffled away just as Sasha approached.
‘Everything all right?’ she asked, her eyes boring into Felicity.
‘Oh, Sasha, there you are. I was just wondering if you were coming into the studio today. I so hoped you would. This episode is going to be so fantastic. I can feel it.’
‘Right.’ Sasha stared at the cake, then at Felicity. ‘Make-up?’ she shouted, and two ladies with brushes came over. ‘Felicity needs some more coverage; she looks tired and sweaty today.’
And with that, Sasha turned and walked away while Felicity was left clenching her fists below the counter and gritting her teeth behind the hardest smile she’d ever had to give.