Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes - Culinary Competition Mystery #3

Chapter 24

(Amy)

Amy put the cap back on the red marker. The signs weren't art. The letters were uneven and kind of jagged thanks to the four cups of coffee she'd gulped down combined with multiple unexpected sneezes brought on by the stinky permanent ink fumes. But the signs got the message across to customers: Closing at 1 p.m. for a private event.

She rummaged through the junk drawer in the tiny kitchen. Even a commercial kitchen had a drawer that was the catchall area for pens, paper clips, and rubber bands. Amy moved aside a stack of blank envelopes and was rewarded with a roll of tape. She had called Sophie an hour earlier to check on Matt's condition and see how she was holding up. Matt was still in critical condition. Sophie was surviving on gallons of coffee and a few yogurt parfaits from the hospital cafeteria. Not optimal nutrition, but she was determined to stay by his side until he was allowed to wake up from the hopefully recuperative coma. She also made the decision to close the café early so Amy and JoJo could concentrate on organizing the food for the wedding without worrying about what was happening at the café. The consummate professional trying to keep her business on track even though her life had jumped the rails.

After the signs were handed off to a waitress to attach to the doors, Amy returned to her very important task—making the doughnuts. Two dozen were done. JoJo was busy dipping the dried cherry doughnuts in almond glaze and sprinkling them with sparkling, pink sugar crystals. The rum raisin ones were already dipped in vanilla glaze then dusted with edible gold powder. Amy used a squirt bottle to fill four circular depressions with tart lemon doughnut batter. An uplifting citrus scent immediately filled the small kitchen when the batter hit the hot metal. Then she closed the lid, flipped the iron over, and moved to the next doughnut maker to repeat the process. The technique was similar to making waffles. Fill, close, flip. Fill, close, flip. Culinary meditation at its finest with added energizing citrus aromatherapy benefits. Just what she needed at the start of a busy day.

It was Carla and Bruce's wedding day. Amy would meet up with her friends at Bridget Mahoney's mansion later. For now, the happy couple was shaking up wedding tradition again and enjoying their last morning meal as singles, together, at The Breakfast Spot. So much for the groom not seeing his bride until she walked down the aisle. Good choice of restaurant, though, since if they had decided on having breakfast at Riverbend, Amy would've hovered beside them asking if they had taken care of a hundred and one things. She couldn't help it. Her mind usually whirled like a hyper gerbil-powered exercise wheel once her morning coffee kicked in.

Soon all of the doughnuts were done. The lemon ones were rolled in chunky Demerara sugar crystals to mimic the flavor of classic lemon and brown sugar crepes. The Chinese five-spice doughnuts sported a green tea glaze and iridescent edible sugar pearls. The mundane snacks had been elevated to fancy wedding fare.

Amy grabbed her clipboard and toured the café's kitchens. She used a pink ink pen she'd found in the bottom of her purse to check everything off for the third time. The long loaves of French bread that would later be sliced, toasted, and topped with smoked eggplant dip were baked. The cinnamon-laced Mexican chocolate brownies were cut into slender diamond shapes and gently stacked in an airtight storage container. Once again, everything was assembled in the designated wedding food areas and prominently labeled so nothing would end up being served to café customers instead of wedding guests. All of the food was ready. Just as it had been the first two times she went over the list.

She looked at the clock hanging over the sandwich prep station. Despite her obsessive redundant checking, she was still on time—but she needed to leave immediately or she wouldn't be for long. She found JoJo in the small kitchen, transferring doughnuts from cooling racks into storage containers.