Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(39)

Prepare the Sweet Crumb Topping first.





Use a fork from your silverware drawer to mix the chopped pecans and the brown sugar together in a small mixing bowl.





Next, mix in the all-purpose flour and the cinnamon.





Use the fork or a pie crust blender to cut in the cold butter.





Continue to mix until the resulting mixture is crumbly.





Set the Sweet Crumb Topping aside on the counter while you prepare the fruit layer.





Place the butter in the bottom of your prepared baking pan(s). Set the pan(s) in the oven until the butter has melted. Use pot holders to take the pan(s) out of the oven and then move to a wire rack or a cold stove burner.





Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the melted butter in the pan(s).





Arrange the thinly sliced pears in the pan(s).





Sprinkle the golden raisins on top of the sliced pears.





Let the pan(s) sit on the rack or cold burners while you make the Coffee Cake Batter.





Hannah’s 2nd Note: This coffee cake is easier to make if you use an electric mixer. You can do it by hand, but it will take some time and muscle.





Combine the flour, white sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix for a few seconds on LOW speed and turn off the mixer.





Add the softened butter, milk, and egg. Mix them in on LOW speed for a minute and then turn the mixer up to MEDIUM speed.





Mix for one minute, then shut off the mixer and scrape down the bowl.





Mix at MEDIUM speed for another 2 minutes, shut off the mixer, and scrape down the bowl again.





Take the bowl out of the mixer and give it another stir by hand with a rubber spatula.





Pour the Coffee Cake Batter over the fruit layer in your pan(s).





Remember that Sweet Crumb Topping? It’s now time to use it.





Sprinkle the Sweet Crumb Topping over the Coffee Cake Batter in your pan(s).





Bake your yummy creation at 350 degrees F. until a cake tester, long toothpick, or thin wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean with no batter sticking to it.





Baking time for the 9-inch by 9-inch square pan should be approximately 50 minutes.





If you used an 8-inch by 8-inch square pan, baking time should be approximately 40 minutes.





If you also used a standard-sized bread pan, baking time should be approximately 40 minutes.





Hannah’s 3rd Note: Start testing your Upside Down Pear Coffee Cake 5 minutes before the end of the baking time.





Use pot holders to remove the pan(s) from the oven, then immediately invert a heatproof serving platter over the top of your pan. Hold on to the pan(s) with pot holders and invert the pan quickly. Leave the pan(s) in place, sitting on top of your Upside Down Pear Coffee Cake, for one or two minutes so that the butterscotch formed by the butter and brown sugar can drizzle down over the top of your coffee cake(s).





Yield: Approximately 9 servings unless you invite Mike or Norman.





Michelle’s Note: The next time I make this, I’m going to try it with thinly sliced fresh peaches.





Chapter Thirteen


Promptly at nine o’clock, Hannah stood at the top of the steps of the Lake Eden First Mercantile Bank, waiting for Lydia Gradin, the head teller, to open the front door.

“Good morning, Hannah,” Lydia said in her best customer service voice as she unlocked the door and ushered Hannah in.

“Hi, Lydia,” Hannah responded, stepping inside the cavernous interior. The bank was built entirely of Minnesota granite, trucked here from the Cold Spring granite quarries.

“I’ll help you in just a minute,” Lydia told her. “Just let me open the safe and unlock my cash box.”

“Take your time, Lydia,” Hannah said, watching her walk away. Lydia was wearing a tight red pullover sweater that she must have purchased when she was two or three sizes smaller, and an extremely short black skirt that Delores would have termed “inappropriate” for a woman approaching sixty.

The only bank in town was nicely decorated with fake palm trees of a species that would never grow in the Minnesota climate. Comfortable chairs upholstered in a beautiful shade of lavender graced the waiting area, and Hannah chose one to occupy. There were small glass-topped tables between the chairs, and large colorful paintings of tropical flowers that would quickly wither and die if they had been planted in a local garden. The décor had been updated when Doug Greerson had taken over as president of the bank, and Hannah had once asked him why he’d chosen to decorate in fake trees and flowers that would be more at home on a tropical island. Doug had laughed and confessed that since he never had time for vacations, entering the newly decorated bank every morning gave him the illusion of tropical warmth and was second best only to taking a trip to Aruba.