Carrot Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #10)(12)

“I do!” Marge seized the opportunity.

“Me, too,” Patsy said, giving Mac a little nudge. “Come on. Slide out and let’s get some more of Hannah’s Special Carrot Cake.”

Marge grabbed Jack’s arm and almost pushed him out of booth. “Let’s go, Jack. I need some more coffee.”

Jack slid out of the booth and held out a hand to Marge. Then he turned to give Gus a final glare. “I’m out of here. And it’s not a minute too soon.”

And then they were gone, Jack, Marge, Patsy, and Mac. And that left Hannah alone in the booth with Gus.

“You’re leaving, too?” Gus asked in a tone she couldn’t quite read.

“Well…I should probably cut the last cake and refill the platter,” Hannah hedged awkwardly. But then she took pity and said, “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll fix a plate of cake for you and you can stash it somewhere for later.”

“Hold on a second. I’ll be right with you.” Gus popped what looked to Hannah like a pill in his mouth and washed it down with the scotch and soda Marge had gone to fetch for him earlier.

“Should you be drinking and taking meds at the same time?” Hannah couldn’t resist asking.

“It’s just an over-the-counter antacid. That paté had too much horseradish for me.”

Since they were sitting at the center of the horseshoe-shaped booth, Gus slid out from one direction and Hannah slid out from the other. Gus leaned over to retrieve his glass, and while she was waiting for him, Hannah looked out over the crowd. She was surprised to see Jack standing only a few feet away, holding Marge’s arm while she exchanged a few words with another couple in a booth.

Hannah gave a little wave, but all Jack did in return was scowl. He’d obviously heard her talking to Gus, because the look on his face was disapproving. If she had to describe it, Hannah would say that Jack Herman looked as if he’d just overheard her making a pact with the devil!

HANNAH’S SPECIAL CARROT CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

3 eggs

? cup vegetable oil (not canola, or olive, or anything but veggie oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

? cup sour cream (or unflavored yogurt)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or ? teaspoon cardamom and the rest cinnamon)

1? teaspoons salt

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, juice and all***

2 cups chopped walnuts (or pecans)

2? cups flour (don’t sift—pack it down when you measure)

2 cups grated carrots (also pack them down when you measure)

*** That’s about 1? cups of crushed pineapple and a scant cup juice

Grease (or spray with Pam) a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan and set it aside.

Hannah’s 1stNote: This is a lot easier with an electric mixer, but you can also make it by hand.

Beat the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Mix in the sour cream (or yogurt.) Add the baking soda, cinnamon (and cardamom if you used it) and salt. Mix them in thoroughly.

Add the can of crushed pineapple (including the liquid) and the chopped nuts to your bowl. Mix them in thoroughly.

Add the flour by half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Grate the carrots. (This is very easy with a food processor, but you can also do it with a hand grater.) Measure out 2 cups of grated carrots. Pack them down in the cup when you measure them.

Mix in the carrots BY HAND. Grated carrots tend to get caught on the beaters of electric mixers.

Spread the batter in your prepared cake pan and bake it at 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester (I use a food pick that’s a little longer than a toothpick,) inserted one inch from the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the cake pan on a wire rack. When it’s completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting while it’s still in the pan.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

? cup softened butter

8-ounce package softened cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar (no need to sift unless it’s got big lumps)

Mix the softened butter with the softened cream cheese and the vanilla until the mixture is smooth.

Hannah’s 2ndNote: Do this next step at room temperature. If you heated the cream cheese or the butter to soften it, make sure it’s cooled down before you continue.

Add the confectioner’s sugar in half-cup increments until the frosting is of proper spreading consistency. (You’ll use all, or almost all, of the sugar.)

Hannah’s 3rdNote: If you’re good with the pastry bag, remove 1?3 cup of frosting and save it in a little bowl to pipe on frosting carrots and stems.

With a frosting knife (or rubber spatula if you prefer) drop large dollops of frosting over the surface of your cooled cake. I usually end up with somewhere between 6 and 12 dollops. The dollops are like little stacks of frosting—you’ll spread neighboring stacks together, working your way from one end to the other, until you’ve frosted the whole cake. (This dollop method prevents uneven frosting thickness and “tearing” of the surface of your cake as you “pull” frosting from one end to the other.)

If you decided to use the pastry bag to decorate your cake, mix most of the remaining frosting with one drop of yellow food coloring and one drop of red food coloring. Mix it thoroughly to make an orange frosting and pipe little carrots on top to decorate your cake. You can save a bit of uncolored frosting to color green and dab green stems on the large end of the carrots.