The Christmas Bake-Off (3 page)

A few people muttered disapprovingly in the crowd, but most seemed content to accept the judges’ decision. Rachel only cringed a little. She had been mortified to hear about her daughter’s actions, but was grateful that Katie had been so understanding, accepting Milly’s apology and her offer to help out on Saturdays at the shop for a month to compensate. Milly had made the decision to stay for the prize giving, and Rachel was proud of her daughter for not running away.

‘It seems,’ Diana continued ‘ – and well, this is a little embarrassing – but the second cake doesn’t seem to have been sabotaged at all. We thought it had been flavoured with toothpaste, but John assures me that is how it is meant to be.’

A roar of laughter went up from the crowd. Rachel looked around and saw John standing behind her, smiling and giving an innocent shrug. Next to him was Katie, laughing kindly. Rachel was surprised to see that she looked relaxed, even a little relieved.

‘It’s an enormous shame we were forced to disqualify Katie’s cake,’ Diana continued, ‘but we’re very pleased indeed with our winner. She’s brought technical skill, patience and genuine baking flair to this entry. The Skipley Village Christmas Bake Off first prize goes to …

… Bea Murray!’

Rachel raised a hand to her chest in surprised delight. Beside her, Bea looked even more startled. ‘Oh no, this can’t be right, can it?’ Bea said, convinced she’d misheard.

‘It’s you, Bea,’ Rachel reassured her. ‘Go ahead and get it!’

Slowly, Bea made her way over to where Diana was standing.

‘Thank you very much,’ Bea said, taking the microphone. ‘What an honour – I think, for once, I’m speechless!’ she laughed. She accepted one of the prizes, a bottle of champagne, gratefully. But when Diana passed her a red envelope with the prize money inside, she held it up instead.

‘I’ll enjoy the bubbles,’ she said, ‘but I’d like to donate this to a woman whose cakes have brought us all joy over the past few years,’ she said. ‘And I think we all know who I’m talking about.’

Saturday, 23 December, 7 p.m.

‘One mulled wine too many, I think,’ Katie said, laughing, and leaning on John’s arm as they left the village hall together. She was still wearing his coat, and was grateful for it – the clear night was crisp and chilly.

‘And quite right too,’ John said. ‘In case you haven’t noticed, it’s nearly Christmas, Katie.’

‘You’re right!’ Katie sang out into the still night. ‘Only two days to go.’

‘So, tell me,’ John said. ‘What are you going to spend the money Bea gave you on?’

‘Ooh,’ she said, with a rush of enthusiasm. ‘There’s a course running in Leeds on vintage-style wedding cakes. I’ve been thinking for a while that I’d like to be able to offer something special like that.’

‘Sounds good,’ John said. ‘Well, if you ever need a willing guinea pig … ’

‘I’ll know just where to look,’ Katie said, with a smile. The snow glistened on the ground under the old streetlamps of Skipley High Street. The sounds of revelry from the Village Hall had grown distant, and the street was peaceful. As Katie’s eyes met John’s warm brown gaze, she felt as if she were seeing him for the first time. How had she never noticed him in
that
way? Perhaps she’d been so consumed in making her shop a success, she hadn’t made time for anything else.

Looking away, Katie scooped up a lump of snow from a car bonnet and shaped it into a ball. Then, taking aim, lobbed it at John from close range. He gave a laugh of surprise, then hastily cobbled together a snowball of his own and returned fire.

Dashing behind the car for shelter, she rolled up another ball and threw it over the top. As she stood up, one hit her squarely on the shoulder before dissolving into powder. Katie laughed as she brushed off the snow.

‘So tell me,’ Katie ventured, emboldened by the freshness of the night and the mulled wine she’d drunk. ‘Is it just the cakes you come in for?’

‘Of course it is,’ John said.

Katie hesitated, then noticed the cheeky glint in his eye.

‘It’s just I was rather hoping,’ Katie said, taking a step towards him so that they were almost touching, ‘that there might be more to it than that.’

‘Whatever do you mean?’ he asked, innocently, looking into her eyes.

‘You know.’

‘Katie Jones,’ he said, brushing some of the powdered snow out of her dark hair. ‘Good as your baking is, I have to say you’re right.’

The church bells rang out as she smiled in response.

John leaned in to kiss her gently, and she put her arms around him, bringing him closer. He pulled away for a moment.

‘Merry Christmas, Katie,’ he whispered in her ear.

Christmas Recipes

I hope you enjoyed reading
The Christmas Bake Off.
To make Bea’s prize-winning cinnamon stars for your family and friends, just follow this simple recipe:

Cinnamon Stars

3 egg whites

250g icing sugar

400g ground almonds

2 level teaspoons of cinnamon powder

4 level teaspoons of cocoa powder (to add colour - the biscuit dough will be brown and the frosting a snowy white.)

1. Whisk egg whites stiff, then fold in the icing sugar.
   
2. Put aside 5 tablespoons of this meringue mixture – you’ll need this later, to paint the biscuits before baking.
   
3. Mix the cinnamon and cocoa in with the ground almonds and bind together with the rest of the stiffly beaten egg whites. Work lightly into a dough and then place in the fridge for 30 mins. Enjoy a glass of mulled wine while you’re waiting.
   
4. Roll dough out to a thickness of around 1.5cm (not thinner), between two large layers of cling film (as the dough will be very sticky).
   
5. Using a star-shaped cutter, cut out your biscuit shapes.
   
6. With a pastry brush, add a coating of the meringue mix over the top of the stars.
   
7. Place biscuits on greaseproof paper/ baking parchment. Bake for up to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 150 degrees. Check on your biscuits after 15 minutes – when ready, they should be fairly moist, not hard, and the star frosting should still be white.
   
8. Arrange the biscuits on a wire rack to cool, then store in an airtight container until you’re ready to gift – or eat – them.
   

For a pretty accompaniment to your stars (and to use up your egg yolks) try these tasty vanilla crescent moons:

Vanilla Moons

100g ground almonds

280g plain flour

70g sugar

200g unsalted butter

2 egg yolks

50g icing sugar

A few drops of vanilla essence

1. Beat the butter, sugar and egg yolks together
   
2. Sift the flour, then mix that and the ground almonds in with your butter, sugar and egg mixture.
   
3. Flavour with drops of vanilla essence to taste.
   
4. Place the dough in the fridge for an hour. When it’s cool, form it into small sausage shapes with your hands and then curl them to make the moons. Place the biscuits on a baking tray with a little room for them to spread.
   
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for 20 minutes.
   
6. Arrange on a wire rack to cool.
   
7. You can store them in an airtight container. When you’re ready to put them out to eat, give them a dusting of sifted icing sugar.
   

Happy baking! Love, Abby xx

Enjoy this seasonal amuse-bouche?

Then you’ll love getting your teeth into ‘Meet Me Under the Mistletoe’ – also by Abby Clements.

Available now!