Devil's Food Cake Murder (9 page)

How to Frost Red Devil’s Food Cake (or any cake, for that matter.)

When you’re ready to frost your Red Devil’s Food Cake, turn one layer upside down on a cake plate so that the flat side is up. (If it’s too tippy that way, put it back in its pan and use a sharp knife to level off the top of the layer before you invert it on the cake plate a second time.)

Use Fudgy Frosting (recipe below) between the layers.

Position the second cake layer, rounded side up, on top of the frosting on the first layer.

Now frost the top and the sides of your cake. Your masterpiece is complete!

Hannah’s 3rd Note: Be generous with the frosting—it’s yummy!

Yield: This cake will serve at least 12 people. It’s perfect paired with vanilla or coffee ice cream.

(Mother likes this cake with chocolate ice cream, but that’s Mother. She convinced Dad to walk three blocks in a snowstorm when the car wouldn’t start and she ran out of chocolate ice cream!)

FUDGY FROSTING

2 cups semi-sweet (regular) chocolate chips (a 12-ounce package)

1/4 teaspoon salt (it brings out the flavor of the chocolate)

14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) salted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Hannah’s Note: 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 wooden spoon or a heat-resistant spatula to keep it from scorching.

Fill the bottom part of the double boiler with water. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the underside of the top.

Put the chocolate chips and the salt 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.

Shut off the heat, remove the top part of the double boiler to a cold burner, and quickly stir in the vanilla. (It may sputter a bit, so be careful.) Then add the butter and stir it in until it melts.

Your frosting is ready to use.

Once you have frosted your two-layer Red Devil’s Food Cake (or your Mini Cupcakes, if you decided to make those instead,) give the frosting pan to your favorite person to scrape. Once it cools, it’s just like fudge.

“He’s a very good minister,” Delores whispered to Hannah at the conclusion of Reverend Matthew’s sermon.

“Yes, he is. That was a good sermon,” Hannah whispered back. Reverend Matthew had been in Lake Eden for less than a week, and he was doing a wonderful job of substituting for Reverend Bob. Claire had confided that her husband had deliberately stood aside and urged Reverend Matthew to take over all the church duties, including today’s holy sacrament of communion. It had been a test, and Reverend Matthew had passed with flying colors. So far this week, Reverend Matthew had officiated at three weddings, two christenings, and one funeral. He’d also led the men’s Bible study group, gone to Lake Eden Memorial Hospital to visit and give communion to sick parishioners, written the next church bulletin, and counseled two couples on their upcoming marriages.

“He has such a fine singing voice!” Delores continued. “He’s handsome too, and an older man might be good for you, Hannah.”

Hannah gave her mother a cease and desist look and Delores returned the volley with a shrug. Then both of them smiled in perfect harmony. They’d played this scene many times before. Hannah’s role was to object to any suggestion Delores had when it came to men. Her mother’s role was to continue to suggest that her eldest daughter should consider every unattached male of Hannah’s age or older as a potential husband.

The hymn was almost over. When the final note in the second to the last stanza had been reached, or nearly reached since it ended on a high note, Delores and Hannah slid from the pew and tiptoed out. It was time for Hannah to arrange the cookies on the surfboard platter, and Delores had agreed to help.

Lisa and Herb were already in the church basement with Marge. They’d put on the coffee, covered the surfboard with plastic wrap, placed it on the refreshment table, and set out napkins, cream and sugar, and lemon for those who preferred tea.

“Are you going to do half one kind and half the other?” Herb asked Hannah as he carried a box of cookies to the table. “Or are you going to mix them up?”

“I’ll mix them up. They’ll look prettier that way.”

“I can do that,” Marge offered, starting to place the cookies on the surfboard that doubled as a platter.

“I’ll help,” Delores said, hurrying over to do just that. “Are you going to the party tonight, Marge?”

“No. Sunday night is our board game night and Jack really enjoys it. Parcheesi is his favorite, but he loves Uncle Wiggly too. He used to play it with the kids.”

Delores gave a little sigh. “I know he used to be a marvelous Contract Bridge player. He doesn’t play anymore?”

“No, it’s too frustrating. He forgets the conventions and he feels bad about forgetting. Board games are better and we all have a good time.”

“Especially me,” Lisa said, coming up with the basket of herbal teabags. “Since I was the youngest, I always had to go to bed before the game was over. And then later, when I was old enough, the other kids didn’t want to play.”

“What do you think of the substitute minister?” Herb asked Delores.

“He’s very good. And he also looks very handsome in black.”

Marge laughed. “Do I detect a hint of interest in your voice?” she teased.

“Oh, he’s too young for me.”

Hannah held her breath, waiting for her mother’s next comment and hoping it wouldn’t come. She sent Delores a look that said, Don’t you dare! and her mother returned it with a devilish smile.

“Actually,” Delores said, “I was thinking of …”

Hannah had all she could do not to groan as she waited for her mother to finish the sentence. Delores was about to exact her pound of flesh.

“I was thinking of Vonnie Blair, Doc Knight’s secretary. She’s a lovely woman and very religious. She told me once that she’d been thinking of going into the ministry herself, but they wouldn’t have taken her seriously back then.”

Thank you, Mother, Hannah said silently, sending her gratitude by way of the unique mother-daughter radar that existed between the two of them. Delores acknowledged the sentiment by giving a little nod. All was well. It wasn’t Get Hannah time.

There was a sound from above their heads. Footsteps on the church floor. The service was over and Reverend Matthew had invited the whole congregation to Claire and Bob’s bon voyage party.

Thirty minutes passed in less time than Hannah believed possible. Three-quarters of their cookies had disappeared, along with two forty-cup urns of coffee, and a third of their herbal tea packets. The children had drunk their fill of lemonade, little Dennis Weiler had touched five cookies before his mother had grabbed his hand, and Earl Flensburg had complimented Hannah repeatedly on the Mini Mac Cookies.

Another ten minutes and all that was left was the cleanup. Hannah and Lisa received hugs from Reverend Bob and Claire before the happy couple went off to the parsonage to collect their luggage, shook hands with Reverend Matthew who complimented them on a wonderful job, and accepted Herb, Delores, and Marge’s offer to help with the cleanup. While Marge and Lisa washed the church coffee cups and spoons, and Herb folded up the church chairs and stacked them in their racks, Hannah and Delores wiped down the tables and packed up the few cookies that were left. In less than fifteen minutes they were completely through.

“See you tomorrow morning,” Hannah called out to Lisa as her partner drove off with Herb and Marge.

“Earl certainly liked those Mini Mac Cookies, and Carrie ate three of the Papaya Macs,” Delores commented to Hannah as they walked to their cars. “If I baked, I’d make some for Wednesday night. They’re coming over for dinner.”

Hannah knew when she was being tapped for cookies. “Would you like the leftover cookies, Mother?”

“I’d love them, but aren’t you serving cookies at Doctor Bev’s birthday party? I heard you were providing the dessert.”

“Yes, but not cookies. I’m bringing something else.” Hannah passed her mother the box of leftover cookies. “Just slip the box in a freezer bag and pop it in the freezer. Then take them out on Wednesday morning, let them thaw on the counter all day, and they’ll still be nice and fresh.”

“Thank you, dear. I do wish that I could attend the party this evening, but I’m on deadline for the outline, you know.”

Hannah sighed as she parted ways with her mother and headed to her cookie truck. One half of her wished that her mother would be there to support her, but the other half was glad that Delores wouldn’t be there to witness her daughter’s bad behavior just in case Hannah decided to scratch Beverly Thorndike’s eyes out.

Hannah backed out of her parking spot and waved goodbye to her mother. Once she’d turned onto Third, she drove almost all the way to Main, but turned into the alley before she reached the stop sign. Moments later, she was parking in her usual spot behind The Cookie Jar. It was time to do what she really didn’t want to do, and make Mocha Trifles for Doctor Bev’s birthday party.

It was eight o’clock in the evening, and time was passing so slowly Hannah thought she’d die. She glanced at her watch, hoping that no one would notice the sharp eye she was keeping on the time, and gave a little sigh. She was here at Doctor Bev’s birthday party, it was turning out to be an ordeal for her, and she couldn’t let anyone know it.

Norman had rented the banquet room of the Lake Eden Community Center for the party. The room was jammed with guests, and it was clear that Mike had done a bang-up job of inviting people. More than fifty guests were milling around, laughing and talking, and sipping drinks from the full bar that Hank Olsen, the regular bartender at the Lake Eden Municipal Bar, was manning. The nondrinkers were availing themselves of soft drinks from the row of coolers on a long table that had been set up against the far wall, and everyone seemed to be having a marvelous time. Everyone but Hannah, that is.

Someone had decorated the room with a ceiling of crepe paper streamers and metallic balloons that bobbed and swayed on strings attached to flowerpots filled with flowers. There was a six-piece band on an elevated stage, deli sandwiches brought in from the new deli out at the Tri-County Mall, and bowls of chips and dips. Hannah’s trifles, all five of them, were in bowls in the walk-in cooler, ready to emerge with candles on top when it was time for dessert.

The band began to play. The party had officially begun. Hannah felt an unsettling pang as Norman took Doctor Bev into his arms. She smiled up at him as he led her gracefully across the floor and he looked down at her with obvious affection.

It was more than a little pang. Hannah felt rotten to the core. She was having great difficulty keeping the pleasant expression on her face as she watched Norman and Doctor Bev dance. It reminded her of the first romantic dance at a wedding reception when the groom took his new bride in his arms and they danced for the first time as husband and wife.

“Hannah?”

A voice started her out of her unhappy contemplation, and Hannah tore her eyes away from what appeared to all the world like a happy couple. “Mike,” she greeted him, glad for the interruption.

“Come on, Hannah. Let’s dance.”

Mike held out his hand and Hannah took it. Dancing with Mike should keep her from dwelling on Norman and Doctor Bev. She knew from experience that it was impossible to think about anyone else when she was in Mike’s arms.

Mike’s sexy charisma worked like a charm the moment she began to dance, and her mind settled down into a purring idle. Hannah was so grateful to Mike for rescuing her from her unwanted spectator role that she snuggled a little closer into his arms and smiled up at him exactly the way that Doctor Bev had smiled up at Norman.

As their dance went on, Hannah was dimly aware that other couples had joined them on the area set aside as a dance floor. The song that the small band had been playing when they’d begun to dance had ended and the band had segued into another romantic tune. They’d played only a few bars before Mike stopped dancing and Hannah realized that someone else had tapped him on the shoulder to cut in.

It was Norman, and Hannah followed polite convention and stepped into his arms. Doctor Bev did the same with Mike, and the two couples separated. “Having fun?” Norman asked her.

“Fun,” Hannah repeated, hoping that he would take that for assent.

“Good. I think Bev’s enjoying herself, too. Most of our patients are here. Your mother even showed up. She told me she might be too busy working on her new outline, but she’s here.”

Hannah felt a rush of affection for her mother. Delores had come up with the perfect excuse, but she’d shown up to support Hannah. She was even on the dance floor with Doc Knight. As Hannah spotted them, Delores gave her the high sign. That meant her mother thought she was handling the situation well. It was probably a good thing Delores didn’t know how close Hannah had come to losing it when Doctor Bev had stepped into Norman’s arms.

Luckily, there was no shortage of partners. The men in Lake Eden liked to dance. It wasn’t like some dances in other places like the Eagle, a sleazy, country-western bar and dance place in the country that everyone called a dive. There the men who didn’t have dates for the evening would arrive ten minutes before the last call for drinks. They’d survey the unattached women, ask one of them to dance, buy her one drink at last call, and then attempt to arrange an after-hours date that wouldn’t cost them a dime.

Hannah stayed until after the refreshments were served and the birthday gifts were opened. The trifle recipe Sally had given her was a huge success, but that was little consolation. She said goodnight and happy birthday to Doctor Bev, and pleaded an early morning at The Cookie Jar to escape after two hours of smiling so constantly that her face felt as if it might crack.