Baked Alaska (35 page)

On the way back to their rooms around 10:40 that evening, they passed several passengers carrying plates heaped with chocolate desserts, reminding Sadie that tonight was the famous Chocolate Fiesta on deck twelve.

Sadie had just eaten half a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries and she had a stomachache, but miss something like this? Never.

The lights were low when they entered the buffet; lucky for them, the fiesta was wrapping up. Sadie could only imagine the mob that had descended when the buffet first opened. A few of the featured items, like the triple chocolate mousse and the black forest cake, were gone, but there were still cream puffs and fudge and a Baked Alaska with a chocolate cake base.

Sadie had never made Baked Alaska, and had only had it when it was made in a pie crust, which she hadn’t loved, but after sharing a slice of the cake-based treat with Pete, she changed her opinion of the dessert. The way the textures and flavors of the different parts blended together was delicious and unique. She wondered how the recipe would work as a cupcake; since working with Lois in her cupcake shop in New Mexico, Sadie had experimented with several new and interesting cupcake recipes. A Baked Alaska cupcake could be fun. Lois would love it!

“I guess we don’t dock in Ketchikan until one o’clock tomorrow afternoon,” Sadie said when they waddled out of the buffet half an hour later. “Is there anything you’d like to do in the morning?”

“When I was in the casino, they announced a final qualifying round for the blackjack tournament tomorrow morning. I was thinking about signing up.”

Sadie thought of Mary Anne’s husband who seemed to spend all his free time in the casino and tried to hide her frown. Glen was likely a gambling addict, and yet Pete had spent a good portion of his free time—of which Sadie admitted there had been very little—doing the same thing. Should she be worried?

“Sadie?” Pete asked. “You don’t like that I’m gambling?”

“My mother thought face cards were evil.”

“And your father taught you to play with M&M’s instead of money.”

Sadie whipped her head around to look at him. “How did you know that?”

“Breanna told me when we went to the casino together the other day. Your brother taught her and Shawn to play, you know. She’s pretty good, and I think she left with an extra twenty bucks in her pocket.”

“Jack taught them how to play?” Sadie shook her head. “What a sneak.”

“I know when to quit, and I’ve never had a problem with it.”

Sadie nodded, feeling silly. “Can I watch? Just to make sure I can stage an intervention if you need it.”

Pete chuckled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You can be my good luck charm.”

“I’m surprised they’re still doing qualifying rounds. The tournament must be coming up quick; the cruise is almost over.” Maybe Sadie would see Mary Anne there and could relay the fact that Officer Jareg wanted to talk with her, assuming he hadn’t caught up with her before then.

“I guess one of the winners dropped out so they opened up another round at ten tomorrow morning, which is when the tournament was originally scheduled. The tournament itself was pushed back to eleven.”

They’d reached deck eight, where Sadie’s cabin was located. Without her children around, they had no chaperones—no one to keep them honest with what they did or where they slept—but the very idea made Sadie blush. It was just a few more months until Breanna’s wedding, then she and Pete could start their future knowing they hadn’t compromised their values during the long, and often arduous, wait to be together.

“What’s the tournament prize?” she asked Pete.

“Five hundred dollars
and
a mug with a picture of the ship on it.”

Sadie gasped and put a hand to her chest. “A mug? You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, ma’am,” Pete said with a slow shake of his head. “A
mug
. For real.”

“Well, I don’t know how you would ever live with yourself if you
didn’t
play in that qualifying round. I just hope your heart isn’t broken if you don’t win that mug.”

“I’m so glad you can see things my way.”

Baked Alaska

1 quart of ice cream, softened (strawberry is traditional)

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Dash of salt

Line a 1-quart round bowl with plastic wrap, allowing some to hang over the edge of bowl. Spoon softened ice cream into bowl, spreading until level. Freeze overnight (or at least 4 hours, until firm).

To make the cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a round of waxed paper to fit bottom of pan and place in pan, then spray with nonstick spray again.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat egg, water, and sugar together for 3 to 5 minutes, until sugar is dissolved. Mix remaining dry ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk. Sprinkle dry mixture over egg-sugar mixture and fold together until just combined. Pour mixture into prepared pie pan and bake for 12 to 18 minutes or until cake begins to pull away from the side of pan. Invert onto cooling rack to cool and remove the wax paper.

Once the cake has cooled completely, increase oven temperature to 475 degrees.

To assemble the dessert, return cooled cake layer to pie pan. Remove ice cream from freezer and invert onto cake layer (if the ice cream is sticking to the bowl, press a warm kitchen towel against bottom of bowl). Remove plastic wrap. Cover ice cream and cake with meringue, swirling decoratively, being sure to cover ice cream completely.

Bake for 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Slice into wedges and serve immediately. Cover and return any leftover slices to freezer.

Serves 8.

Meringue

4 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

Whip egg whites until frothy. Add sugar and vanilla. Continue beating, adding sugar slowly, until whites are stiff and glossy.

Baked Alaska Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cups milk

2 quarts ice cream, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cups into 2 muffin pans (48 cups). Spray paper cups with nonstick cooking spray. (Be sure to use liners on this recipe!)

To make cupcakes, mix flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl, set aside. In large bowl, beat shortening with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds until smooth. Gradually add sugar, scraping bowl occasionally until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, about 1/3 cup at a time, and milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating just until blended.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling only 1/4 full. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan then 15 minutes on cooling rack.

Spread 2 heaping tablespoons of softened ice cream on each cupcake—it should reach the top of the cupcake liner. Cover. Freeze at least 2 hours or overnight until ice cream is hardened.

When ice cream is solid preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spread meringue over ice-cream-topped cupcakes, covering surface of ice cream completely. Place finished cupcakes on cookie sheet.

Bake 2 to 3 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Makes 48 cupcakes.

Chapter 39

The next morning, they finished breakfast then headed to the casino to get Pete signed up for the qualifying round. Hopefully it wasn’t already full.

“I’d like to play a few practice hands,” he said after they learned there were still a few open spots. “Do you mind signing me up?”

“Not at all,” Sadie said. She headed over to the table under the sign “Tournament” and asked for an entry form.

“Passenger or Seaboard Club member?”

Sadie’s mind jumped to the paper she’d taken from Officer Jareg’s office and the list of English words written at the bottom. Seaboard had been the first word in the list. Could it be a reference to the Seaboard Club?

“Ma’am?” the staff member asked, bringing her back to the moment.

“Sorry, um, I’m not a member of the Seaboard Club.” Were the other words or names on that list something similar—programs or groups? She’d have to ask Pete what he thought.

“This is the form you want then,” the staff member said, handing her one of the forms. “And here is some information about the Seaboard Club; it’s our frequent cruisers program and membership gives you substantial discounts for many on-ship amenities.”

“Thank you,” Sadie said as she took both papers and then scanned the room for somewhere to sit. The scan stopped when she saw Mary Anne sitting at one of the window seats on the starboard side. Sadie made her way toward the older woman and said hello.

“Oh, hello,” Mary Anne said, standing up to give Sadie a hug. She still had that silly purse, and yet somehow it fit her personality. She was wearing a turquoise top with wispy purple flowers attached to it along with a pair of khaki pants. She wore a sun visor on her head despite the fact that the onboard paper had warned them about rain. “What are you doing here?” Mary Anne asked when she pulled back.

“Pete’s going to compete in the blackjack tournament, or well, the final qualifying round, I guess.”

“Really? Is he any good?”

“He seems to be,” Sadie said. Was it her imagination that Mary Anne’s smile fell just a little bit? “He made a couple hundred dollars yesterday and took me to the Bistro for dinner.”

Mary Anne’s smile returned full force. “Glen has made over twelve hundred dollars,” she said proudly. “I think they would ban him from the casino if they could, but they can’t—we checked.”

“Wow,” Sadie said, feeling defensive of Pete’s winnings, which Mary Anne had just pooh-poohed. Pete wasn’t spending twelve hours a day in the casino like Glen was, either. “Isn’t Glen already qualified for the tournament?”

“Of course. That’s why I’m here. I never miss a tournament,” Mary Anne said. “He’s the top winner with over eight thousand dollars.”

“He won eight thousand dollars!” Hadn’t she just said it was $1,200?

“No, no, no,” Mary Anne said, shaking her head but seemingly pleased to be able to explain. “In the tournaments you play with the casino’s money. The person with the highest total in each qualifying round gets to compete in the final tournament, but they don’t get to keep the winnings.”

“Oh, right,” Sadie said. She wished she’d asked Pete how it all worked so she wouldn’t have felt foolish.

The final qualifying round was announced—it would start in fifteen minutes—and Sadie remembered the entry form in her hand. “I better hurry and fill this out, then,” she said, reaching for her shoulder bag only to realize she’d left it in her room that morning and simply put her ship-card in her back pocket. She turned toward the tournament table where she remembered seeing a whole container of pens. “I’ll be right back, I need to get a pen.”