Raspberry Danish Murder (Hannah Swensen #22)(4)

“I do!” Hannah said a split second before Michelle spoke.

“But so do I!” Michelle looked disappointed.

“Relax,” Lisa told them. “Both of you can have an end piece. And I bet I know why you both wanted end pieces. You think there’s more raspberry filling on the ends.”

“Isn’t there?” Hannah asked.

“No, but it looks like it. The raspberry filling is the same in every piece.”

Once Lisa had cut the large pastry into pieces, she gave one end piece to Hannah and the other to Michelle. She took a middle piece, and there was silence for several moments as the three women sipped coffee and enjoyed their breakfast treat.

“What do you think?” Lisa asked when only a bite or two of her piece was left.

“I think I want another piece!” Hannah told her, and Michelle nodded agreement.

“So do I,” Lisa admitted, getting more for all of them.

“I think our customers will want a second piece once they taste the first,” Michelle said quickly. “Hannah and I have to test that theory.”

Hannah looked thoughtful. “I wonder if there’s a way we could make them individually.”

“Good idea!” Lisa said. “Aunt Nancy and I will experiment. And we’ll have a taste test to see if the individual Danish are as good as the large ones. Dad just loves Raspberry Danish and so does Marge. And Aunt Nancy’s friend Heiti is crazy about her Danish.”

“Check on the time it takes to make the individual Danish as compared to the large ones,” Hannah told her. “The individual ones might not be cost effective.”

“Good point,” Lisa responded. “I didn’t even think of that. I’ll know after next weekend. Herb and I are having everyone over for Sunday brunch, and I’ll tell you on Monday morning.”

“One more piece, Lisa?” Michelle begged. “It was so good!”

Hannah stared at her youngest sister in awe. Michelle loved sweets and she ate cookies and other sweet treats whenever she wanted. If the world were fair, Michelle would weigh three hundred pounds by now. But her youngest sister somehow kept her perfect figure. Perhaps if she’d gone to the gym every day and worked out for an hour or so, or jogged miles in the morning, Hannah could understand it. But Michelle only went to the gym when she wanted to go, and Hannah had never seen her jog. Hannah had asked Doc Knight about it once, and he’d told her that the only explanation for Michelle and Andrea’s failure to gain weight had to do with body chemistry, an active metabolism, and luck of the draw. He’d also said that no doctors he knew could really explain it and perhaps it was simply hereditary. Hannah figured that whatever it was, she didn’t have it. It seemed as if she could simply walk by the bakers rack, glance at the cookies, or pies, or cakes cooling on the shelves, and she would gain weight. There were times when life just wasn’t fair and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.





RASPBERRY DANISH




DO NOT preheat your oven yet. You must do some preparation first.





Hannah’s 1st Note: Frozen puff pastry dough is good for all sorts of things. When you buy it for this recipe, buy 2 packages. You’ll only use one package in this recipe, but keep that second package in your freezer for later. Thaw it when you want to dress up leftovers by putting them inside little puff pastry packets and baking them, or make some turnovers from fresh fruit. Puff pastry can also be used for appetizers.





The Pastry:



One 17.5-ounce package frozen puff pastry dough (I used Pepperidge Farm, which contains 2 sheets of puff pastry)

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon water (right out of the tap is fine)

White (granulated) sugar to sprinkle on top





The Raspberry Sauce:



? cup fresh raspberries (you can also use frozen, but you’ll have to thaw them and dry them with paper towels so they won’t have an excess of juice)

2 Tablespoons water (right out of the tap is fine)

? teaspoon ground cardamom (if you don’t have it, use cinnamon)

1 and ? Tablespoons cornstarch

? cup white (granulated) sugar





The Cream Cheese Filling:



8-ounce package brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature (I used Philadelphia)

? cup white (granulated) sugar

? teaspoon vanilla extract





The Drizzle Frosting:



1 and ? cups powdered (confectioners) sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

? cup whipping cream (that’s heavy cream, not Half & Half )

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

teaspoon salt





Thaw both sheets of puff pastry dough according to package directions. Do this on a floured surface (I used a bread board). To prepare the surface, sprinkle on a little flour and spread it around with your impeccably clean palms.





While your puff pastry sheets are thawing, make the raspberry sauce.





In a medium-size saucepan, combine the raspberries with the water.





In a small bowl, combine the cardamom, cornstarch, and sugar. Stir with a fork until they are thoroughly mixed.