Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes - Culinary Competition Mystery #3

Chapter 6

(Amy)

As Amy waited in the hallway outside the K Hotel ballroom, she peeked through the cellophane window of the bakery box cradled in her arms. Her round cake had simple scallops of buttercream icing around the top and bottom edges. The contest she was competing in was all about taste. Decoration was supposed to be minimal. In fact, the rules sheet stated the cake's appearance would not be taken into account at all in the Trending Flavors competition. An insanely delicious combination of cake and filling was the goal.

Though her cake was supposed to be plain and simple in appearance, she still felt a pang of inferiority as she looked at the spectacularly decorated wedding cakes that would be entered in the Delightful Decorating contest. Those cakes, or more likely inedible foam forms, were decorated to be solely judged on appearance. The hallway where competitors were lining up to turn in their entries was like a museum exhibit of incredible cake art. The culinary masterpieces had everything from flowers made out of sugar to decidedly indigestible but gloriously glitzy swags of rhinestone chains.

Amy gasped in delight when a cake decorated like a beach, complete with realistic-looking starfish and seashells rolled past on a cart. Tinted sugar, or maybe cookie crumbs, formed sand dunes all around the base of the cake that had been hand-painted with a peaceful beach scene complete with seagulls in the sky and boats bobbing on the waves. It would've been perfect for Carla's casual wedding, but the bride to be had already insisted on a tower of baked doughnuts. Amy believed in doing things differently. Thinking outside the usual recipe box was how she had won many contests. But doughnuts as the wedding cake, instead of additional treats, was a bit too informal for her even if it did loosely tie into Shepler's profession.

She glanced at the person who had queued up behind her and realized it was Mariah, a pastry chef that Sophie had introduced her to. "Your cake is gorgeous," Amy said as she stepped closer to get a good look at the light blue cake trimmed with swags of lace-embossed brown fondant. The decorations were stately and classic, but the color combination really made it stand out from the predominantly white-based cakes from the other competitors. "I love the colors."

"Thanks," Mariah said as she inched the cart holding the cake a little farther forward in the slow-moving line. Her chartreuse green chef's jacket seemed to glow in the bright overhead lights illuminating the windowless corridor. "I've started my own cake business, Exquisite Cakes. No more sorbets and cookies for me. All cakes, all the time."

Sophie had tried to get her to come to work at Riverbend Café several times, but Mariah always gracefully declined the job offers. Now Amy knew why. "Congratulations. How exciting. Where is your bakery?"

"In cyberspace right now, at my website. I'm holding planning meetings with clients in their homes or wherever they want to meet. I can't complain about the amount of business I have a month into the venture, but I would love to have an actual bakery that I can work from soon. I make all of the cakes at a commercial kitchen co-op. Not an ideal situation since I have to schedule my time a week in advance." She patted the handle of the cart. A plainly iced, round cake that appeared to be destined for the Trending Flavors competition sat on the bottom shelf. "I'm hoping my cakes will at least place in these contests. It will give me great exposure, and the prize money could be a nice nest egg for opening a brick and mortar store. You haven't heard of any bakery or restaurant spaces for rent, have you? I just need a small reception and display area. The kitchen is the most important thing."

Amy shook her head. Sharing a kitchen with people cooking anything from garlicky braised pork to nuclear hot salsa couldn't be easy when trying to make delicate cakes. "I'm sorry. I don't know of any available spaces, but I'll let you know if I hear of anything."