Page 11 of The Chef's Kiss
“I made it to go.” An older woman with a manager’s badge on her name tag set my drink in front of me. “Next time, give the menu a glance and maybe read the sign.” She pointed to a huge sign in front of the register. “Please, no phones while ordering.”
I gave an irritable sigh and took my coffee and walked back outside.
“Excuse me.” I stopped a girl heading into the Hugga Mugga. “Is there a bakery around here?”
“Uh, right there behind you.” She pointed over my head and kept moving. I thought small-town people were supposed to be nice, but I was beginning to see they were only nice to each other.
“Jake’s Cakes. Real original.” I shook my head. The names of these shops were just a little too cutesy to be taken seriously, but this bakery had to be better than the Milk And Cookies place I passed on my way here.
Phone in hand, I scrolled through recipes online, looking for inspiration to strike. “Hi there.” I walked up to the counter. “I’m Hudson Silverman, the new chef at Orchard Hill Farms.”
“Read the sign, loser.”
What was with the signs here? I stuffed my phone in my pocket and looked up.
“No Hugga Mugga drinks inside Jake’s Cakes.”
“Seriously?” I looked at the tall athletic guy behind the counter. He had to be an ex-football player turned baker. No one that looked like that set out to become a baker.
“Seriously.” He pointed to the door and turned back to a customer I hadn’t realized he was talking to when I came in.
I walked back to the front of the bakery and set my cup on the wall outside, hoping it would still be there when I was done here.
“Now, what kind of dinosaur cake are you hoping for, Samantha? I have to see if I have the pans for the right shapes.” The man behind the counter searched through a sample book, oblivious to the single mom giving him her best flirting.
“Well, Cooper is really into the Stegosaurus and the Triceratops.” She twisted a strand of her long blond hair around her finger.
“Which is the one that looks like a rhino?” The guy I assumed was Jake leaned on the counter to give his customer his undivided attention.
“Triceratops.”
“Is the Stegosaurus the one with the spikes down the back?”
“Oh, wait.” Samantha dug through her purse and pulled out a plastic dinosaur toy. “Would this help?”
“Perfect.” Jake gave her a dazzling smile, taking the toy and examining it. “I can build this with some simple shapes. Cooper will love it. What kind of cake do you want?”
“Oh, chocolate’s fine.” The girl shrugged, and I waited, prepared for Jake to talk her into something fancier, like a black forest or at least a peanut butter layer cake, but he just took some notes and made a quick sketch of the toy.
“It’ll be ready for you by Friday.”
“Thanks, Jake. And you’re more than welcome to come to the party. The more adults the merrier.”
“Thanks, Samantha.” He turned back to his register and never got around to accepting or declining her invitation. I would guess the guy had a lot of experience dodging his single female clientele.
“How can I help you, sir?” Jake wiped his hands on a towel and turned to retrieve a cake from the oven. It smelled … unremarkable.
“Hi there, I’m Hudson Silverman. The new chef at the Orchard Hill Farms restaurant. I’m hoping to find a local baker to outsource our dessert menu until we can hire a proper pastry chef.”
“All right. What kind of menu are you looking for? I might be able to provide Lena a standard nightly menu of two options and maybe a third on the weekends.
“We would need at least five desserts daily.” I scrolled through my notes. “Perhaps we can offer you use of our top-of-the-line kitchen in the afternoons so you won’t have to deliver regularly.”
“I like my kitchen just fine. And I’d rather think you’d be doing the picking up.”
“We can handle the details later. I was thinking about a classic soufflé with an apple compote. Maybe an old-fashioned apple crumble with clotted cream and fried apple blossoms. Also, we’d need a berry and polenta tart. That’s all the rage right now. Maybe sour boysenberry and polenta with a shortbread crust. Then, a fresh take on an apple spice cake, with a rum glaze and pecan salted caramel ice cream. I suppose we’d need an apple pie as well. I’d like to elevate it with an almond and walnut crust instead of traditional pie dough, with a layer of cheesecake and caramelized apple roses on top. We’ll need a good dark chocolate cake too, with a ganache drizzle.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, my friend.” Jake shook his head. “I make cakes. The sign above my bakery is pretty straightforward. I’m Jake.” He pointed to himself. “And I make cakes. Sometimes big chunky brownies and cookies, but I don’t really do fancy. Unless you count wedding cakes with buttercream flowers as fancy.”
