Winner Bakes All (8 page)

Jenna thumbed through PLC's recipe file, searching for the perfect cupcake to bake for the Golden Spoon's grand reopening party.

“It should be something golden delicious,” she said.

“Like the apple?” asked Delaney.

“No…like a golden cake. How 'bout this?” Jenna pushed a recipe card in front of Kylie.

“A lemonade cupcake? Well, it's definitely the right color…”

“How about pineapple? Or banana?” Delaney suggested.

Lexi shook her head. “We've done those tons of times. It's such a special occasion that we should do something really spectacular.”

Sadie took a stack of recipe cards from Jenna and flipped through them. “No, no, no.…
yes
!”

She pulled a card out and placed it on the table in front of her friends.

“Whoa…that looks awesome,” Jenna said. “But we've never tried it like that before.”

“How hard could it be?” Kylie pondered, skimming the ingredients. “It's a basic golden cake and caramel oozes out of the center…makes my mouth water just thinking about it!”

“I love the gold sugar crystals on the frosting,” Lexi said. “Too bad we don't have one of those fondant printers like the Cake King had. We could do the Golden Spoon logo on top.”

“All agreed…say ‘cupcake'!” Kylie said.

“CUPCAKE!” everyone yelled, seconding the motion.

•••

Six hours later, Sadie, Mrs. Harris, and the girls were helping her father load his truck with twelve dozen Golden Caramel cupcakes.

“You're gonna save me one, right?” Mr. Harris asked his daughter.

“Are you kidding? After all the hard work you did on the Golden Spoon? You can have two!” Sadie hugged him.

When they arrived in Greenwich, a big crowd was already lined up outside the door.

“Wow,” Kylie remarked. “Looks like Mr. Ludwig's customers missed him!”

“Or they missed PLC's cupcakes,” Mrs. Harris pointed out.

They piled out of the truck and knocked on the door. Mr. Ludwig was watching out the window with a huge smile on his face. “You're here! You're here! Please come in!”

Sadie had never seen him so excited. He practically skipped to the door to open it. He was dressed in a lavender suit with a metallic gold tie.

“Close your eyes,” he insisted. “Don't look just yet!”

The girls obeyed as Mr. Ludwig guided them through the door and into the store.

“You, too!” Mr. Harris said, covering his wife's eyes. “No peeking!”

“I feel like I'm on an episode of
Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition
,” Mrs. Harris said, chuckling. “What do you have up your sleeve, Gabe?”

The store smelled like wood chips and fresh paint, one of Sadie's favorite aromas.

“Okay…open them!” Mr. Ludwig commanded.

The girls couldn't believe their eyes! The entire store had been painted a beautiful shade of purple. There were brand-new glass shelves from floor to ceiling, a crystal chandelier dangling from the ceiling, and in the very front, a giant display for Peace, Love, and Cupcakes.

“OMG!” Kylie gasped. “We get our own cupcake display?”

“Well, I thought having cupcakes at the Golden Spoon every week from the finalists for
Battle
of
the
Bakers
would be a big draw for my customers.” Mr. Ludwig winked.

“Dad, you did an amazing job!” Sadie exclaimed. The display looked like a giant cupcake with glass shelves from top to bottom.

“And you'll notice I did a peace sign on top…not a cherry,” Mr. Harris added. “I know how Fiero feels about maraschino cherries.”

Just then, Fiero, Carly, Jerry,
and
Mrs. Vanderwall stepped forward.

“You're here? You came?” Sadie said breathlessly. Dina, Cece, and Chloe were also there to celebrate.

“Well, zees gentleman said he has zee finest coopcakes—so we had to taste for ourselves,” Fiero said.

“And now that we see who makes them, I'm sure we won't be disappointed.” Jerry smiled. “Right, Mrs. V?”

Sadie opened the box and handed her a Golden Caramel cupcake.

Mrs. Vanderwall took a lick…then another…then another.

“Mmmmm,” she said. “Mmmmm.…mmmmmmm.”

Kylie elbowed Sadie. “That's a definite ‘I like it'!”

“You know, I discovered these girls,” Mr. Ludwig began. “They owe it all to me.”

“Here we go!” Jenna groaned.

“I have an incredible talent for finding culinary talent…”

“
Oui?
You like zee French macaroons?” Fiero interrupted.

“Do I like them? I love them!” Mr. Ludwig cried. “I could talk food for hours!”

“Then we'll be here a very, very long time,” Mr. Harris whispered and tugged on Sadie's ponytail. “I can't understand a word that Fiero guy says!” He took Sadie's chin in his hand. “Did I mention how proud I am of you?”

“Yeah…a couple dozen times,” Sadie said, blushing.

“We're proud of all of you,” Jerry jumped in. “Which is why
Battle
of
the
Bakers
decided to award you this.” He handed Sadie a large white envelope.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Open it! Open it!” the girls screamed.

Inside was a check for $500—and a certificate that read, “In Special Recognition of
Battle
of
the
Bakers'
Youngest Finalists: Peace, Love, and Cupcakes.”

“OMG!” Kylie squealed. “So we're winners?”

“Apparently so,” sniffed Mrs. Vanderwall. “I suppose even Michelangelo made a few mistakes now and then.”

“That will cover the cost of the fondant printer we wanted,” Lexi said. “Just think of all the awesome stuff we can make now!”

“With a display this size, I expect you to fill it weekly,” Mr. Ludwig reminded them.

Sadie was thrilled—but not just over the check and the certificate and the crowd of customers gobbling up their cupcakes. She noticed that her mom and dad were not only getting along, they were holding hands in the corner of the Golden Spoon. Her mom was oohing and ahhing over her dad's handiwork, and they looked happy for the first time in a long time.

Kylie tossed her a cupcake, and Sadie caught it in one hand. She took a bite and savored the moment.

“Pretty good, huh?” Kylie asked her.

“Not just good…” Sadie smiled, licking the sticky caramel off her fingers. “Golden!”

Snowball Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 14

½ cup sweetened coconut flakes + 2 tablespoons for garnish

½ cup butter, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1
½
teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 14 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan.

2. Toast the coconut flakes on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

3. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and eggs, beating after each addition.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the coconut milk.

5. Beat in sour cream and toasted coconut flakes.

6. Fill cupcakes ¾ of the way. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. Let cupcakes cool.

8. Once cupcakes are cooled, cut a circle about
½
inch deep out of the middle of the top of each cupcake.

9. Spoon Vanilla Meringue Frosting into the cut cupcakes.

10. Frost with Vanilla Meringue Frosting, and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Vanilla Meringue Frosting

Makes 3 cups frosting

4 large egg whites

A pinch of salt

1 cup of confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. Fill a pot half full with water. Simmer water.

2. Place a bowl on top of the pot, large enough so that it does not fall in or touch the water. Whisk all ingredients together in the bowl until the mixture is hot, about 2 minutes.

3. Take the mixture off the water and pour into an electric mixing bowl. Using the electric mixer, beat the hot egg mixture on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the mixture has cooled and stiff peaks have formed.

Golden Caramel Cupcakes

Makes 16

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, separated

½
teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

½
teaspoon baking powder

½
teaspoon baking soda

½
teaspoon salt

¾ cup buttermilk

1 cup Caramel Drizzle (recipe follows)

2 teaspoons gold sugar crystals

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing until incorporated.

3. Add the vanilla, and mix until all ingredients are combined.

4. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk; end with the flour.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into cake batter.

6. Pour 1 teaspoon of Caramel Drizzle into each liner. Add cupcake batter on top.

7. Fill cupcakes ¾ full. Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan.

8. Allow cupcakes to cool. Once cool, fill a pastry bag or a squeeze bottle with half of the caramel. Push the tip into the cupcake and squeeze the caramel drizzle into the center.

9. Frost with Caramel Buttercream Frosting. Use a spoon to lightly drizzle on Caramel Drizzle, and sprinkle with gold sugar crystals.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Makes 3 cups frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups confectioners' sugar

A pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

3 tablespoons Caramel Drizzle

Directions

1. Beat the butter until smooth.

2. Add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until most of the sugar is moistened, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

3. When the mixture is fully combined, add vanilla, milk, and Caramel Drizzle.

4. Increase speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Caramel Drizzle

Note: If
making Caramel Drizzle, please have adult
supervision
and use caution when melting sugar. You can also substitute with a jar of store-bought caramel sauce.

Makes 1 cup Caramel Drizzle

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

½
cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Heat sugar on medium-high heat in a medium-sized sauce pan. As the sugar begins to melt, constantly stir with a wooden spoon.

2. Stop stirring as soon as the sugar begins to boil. Once all of the sugar is melted, add the butter and whisk until all the butter is melted.

3. After the butter has melted, take the mixture off the heat. Count to five and very slowly add the heavy cream to the pot, stirring constantly. At this time, the mixture will dramatically increase.

4. At this point, the caramel will be extremely hot. Let cool until room temperature and refrigerate to thicken.