The Power of Poppy Pendle (22 page)

As soon as the weather turned nice, Poppy liked to sit on the steps
between them, munching chocolate croissants and chattering away about new recipe ideas.
On Poppy’s thirteenth birthday, when she went outside to hang the
OPEN
sign around her dad’s neck,
she was surprised to notice that he blinked. That was all at first, a blink here, a
blink there, and then his mouth started to move. The first thing he said was,
“I’m hungry,” so Poppy fed him warm pieces of chocolate butter bread,
and it wasn’t long after that, that he began to move. He was more than a little
stiff to begin with, but Poppy greased his joints with the best Normandy butter and
quite soon he was parading about with an enormous smile plastered across his face.

“I’m sorry about Mum,” Poppy apologized to her dad,
because Edith Pendle was still as cold and hard as a Yorkshire paving stone.

“Oh, she’ll come around,” Roger Pendle said brightly,
and she did. But it took her another two years. It was Poppy’s fifteenth birthday
when Edith Pendle finally opened her mouth and spat out the remains of a Twirlie bar.
“Ugh!” She grimaced. “That tastes disgusting.”

“Mum!” Poppy cried out, giving Edith Pendle a hug. She was
still a little cold and hard to the touch, but Poppy could feel her mother’s heart
beating away.

“Be a love, Poppy, and whip up a batch of those fabulous homemade
Twirlies you bake on Mondays, would you?” Edith Pendle smiled at her daughter and
added, “I see now you were born to be a baker.”

Poppy was happy to oblige, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Poppy lived all her life in the little cottage bakery down by the canal.
The picture of Great-Granny Mabel was moved from the house on Pudding Lane and hung on
the shop wall above the counter, right next to Poppy’s Baker of the Year award.
Every time her parents ate something that Poppy had made, they would close their eyes
and sigh, then point at the photo and say, “Your great-granny Mabel would have
been so proud of you.”

Occasionally when Poppy had created something especially fabulous, she
would get so excited that fireworks would explode out of the bowl. Or perhaps a bouquet
of rainbow-colored balloons would appear in the oven along with her latest creation.
Whenever this happened, Poppy simply smiled and gave a shrug, because she really
didn’t mind being magic, just so long as she could keep on baking.

SIMPLE BAKING TIPS FROM Poppy’S BAKERY

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1. Always wash your hands before you begin baking.

2. Ask an adult for permission and/or to help you to set up and use kitchen equipment, crack eggs, cut with knives, or take pans in and out of the oven, etc.

3. Good ingredients make the best cakes and cookies. Nothing is better than butter!

4. All the cookie recipes can be easily halved if you don’t want to make a full batch.

5. Measure your flour by gently scooping it out. Don’t pack the flour down, and always level off your measuring cups and spoons. A simple way to do this is to draw the back of a knife across the top, swiping away any excess flour.

6. Poppy recommends using kosher salt in all her recipes. If you are using regular salt, you might want to use a little less.

7. When a recipe calls for eggs, use large, not extra large, and make sure they are at room temperature. Just leave them out on the counter for an hour before you start to bake.

8. You might want to use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is cooking at the correct temperature. Sometimes ovens will run hotter or cooler than the temperature they have been set at, and it’s good to know this before starting to bake.

9. A rubber spatula is an extremely useful cooking tool that has a rubber head. It’s the best tool to use for scraping bowls clean and getting batter into pans. Most kitchens have at least one!

10. It’s a good idea to wash up your sticky bowls and pans, and put away ingredients when you have finished baking. If you do this, the adults in your house will be much more likely to let you use the kitchen again. They tend to get a little cranky (and rightly so!) if you leave them all your cleaning up.

11. And the most important rule of all: Have fun and enjoy sharing your goodies with your family and friends. If your cakes sink or your cookies are a little too crispy, it’s okay. They will still taste delicious, and the only way to get better is to keep practicing.

Recipes

Poppy’s Famous Chocolate Melt-Aways

Makes about 50 melt-aways

These are just as delicious as they sound. One bite and they literally
melt away on the tongue. Full of butter and good dark cocoa, they are a chocolate
lover’s dream. If you don’t mind them crumbling a bit, sandwich some softened vanilla
ice cream between two melt-aways for an extra special treat.

~ INGREDIENTS ~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

¹
/
₂
cup sugar

1
²
/
₃
cups self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour with a teaspoon of baking
powder mixed in)

¹
/
₂
cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (NOT hot cocoa mix)

¹
/
₄
teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

~ METHOD ~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Make sure your butter is really soft—this is important; otherwise, the
ingredients won’t blend together smoothly. The best way to soften butter is to leave it
out of the fridge overnight so it comes to room temperature. You can soften it in the
microwave for a few seconds, but be very careful not to melt it. You want soft butter,
not melted butter!

3. If you have a food processor or standing mixer, just dump in all the
ingredients and mix everything up together. Then go directly to step 5. If not, a
handheld mixer will work just fine. You might want to ask an adult to help you set up
your equipment.

4. Put the softened butter and sugar into a large bowl, and using a
handheld mixer, beat them together until light and fluffy. Then add the flour, cocoa
powder, salt, and vanilla. Go slowly at first; otherwise, the dry ingredients will fly
out of the bowl! As the mixture comes together, speed up beating until you have a soft,
slightly sticky dough.

5. This is the fun part! Make sure your hands are clean and dry. Have ready
two cookie pans (flat baking sheets). Using about 1 heaping teaspoon of the dough for
each, roll the mixture into small balls, and put the balls onto the baking sheets. Don’t
put them too close together, because you will flatten them out in a minute. Your hands
will get all gooey, but they will taste delicious!

6. Wash your hands! Now take a fork and stick it briefly into a glass of
water. Then flatten the cookie with the underside of the fork, pressing the tines gently
into each ball to spread it out. You will need to wet the fork every four or five
cookies to stop it from sticking to the dough.

7. When all the cookies have been flattened, bake for about 18 to 22
minutes. It is hard to tell when these cookies are done because they are such a dark
color to begin with. What you are aiming for is a crisp, melting cookie with deep
chocolate flavor. Some ovens run hotter than others, so you might want to bake a small
batch first and see how long they need. Let them cool completely and then try one. They
will crisp up as they cool. If the first batch is not quite crisp enough, bake the next
tray a little longer. If the cookies have a slightly burnt taste, you have left them in
too long, so take a few minutes off the next round. It is worth getting these cookies
perfect because they are so delicious!

8. Store the chocolate melt-aways at room temperature in an airtight
container.

Caramel Crunch Cookies

Makes about 50 caramel crunch cookies

Poppy invented these cookies her first morning at Marie Claire’s
bakery. They quickly became a favorite with the customers and always sell out early.
Like the chocolate melt-aways, these are delicious sandwiched together with vanilla ice
cream.

~ INGREDIENTS ~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1
¹
/
₂
cups all-purpose flour

¹
/
₄
cup cornstarch

²
/
₃
cup dark brown sugar (This gives the lovely caramel flavor, so use the
darkest, stickiest brown sugar you can find. Light brown sugar won’t be intense
enough.)

¹
/
₂
teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

G
LAZE
:

1 egg white, beaten, blended with 1 tablespoon water

Raw sugar (sometimes called Turbinado sugar, which has bigger crystals for
more crunch)

~ METHOD ~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. You can stir this dough by hand or in a food processor or standing
mixer. If you are using a food processor or standing mixer, simply put in all the
ingredients (except the glaze) and mix until blended. Then go directly to step 5.

3. Otherwise, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, and salt
in a large bowl.

4. Cut the butter into pieces, and add it to the bowl. Mash with the back
of a fork to blend it in, or rub the butter into the dry ingredients using your
fingertips. At first the mixture will look like dry crumbs, but as you work the butter
into smaller and smaller pieces, the dough will begin to get sticky. Now pour in the
vanilla. You can use a fork to mix it in or your fingers. This is when you squish the
whole lot together until it forms a large ball.

5. Get out two cookie pans (flat baking sheets). If you only have one,
that’s fine. You can bake the cookies in batches. Break off pieces of dough and roll
them into small balls, about 1 heaping teaspoonful each. Place the cookie balls on the
baking sheets. Then, using the heel of your hand or the tips of your fingers, press down
gently on each ball to flatten it out slightly. You don’t want them too flat because
they will spread in the oven. Try to make sure they are all an even thickness, about
¹
/
₄
inch.

6. Brush the top of each cookie lightly with the glaze, and sprinkle with
the raw sugar. If you like, you can stick a sliver of pecan on top for decoration.

7. Bake cookies for about 35 minutes, until deep golden. You might want to
ask an adult to help you get the cookies into and out of the oven. It’s a good idea to
turn the pans around halfway through cooking so the cookies bake evenly. The low oven
temperature is what gives these cookies their delicious caramel crunch. A lovely buttery
caramel scent will waft from your oven, telling you the cookies are done.

8. Cool on wire racks, and store in an airtight container to keep them
crunchy.

Raspberry Jam Shortbreads

Makes about 70 little shortbread cookies

These cookies look like precious jewels, with their shimmering
raspberry jam centers. Poppy likes to arrange them on antique wooden trays and display
them in the window of her bakery.

~ INGREDIENTS ~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

¹
/
₂
cup plus 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¹
/
₂
teaspoon salt

1
³
/
₄
cups flour

¹
/
₄
cup cornstarch

Raspberry jam

~ METHOD ~

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. You can make these in a food processor or a standing mixer if you like.
Just ask an adult to help you set up your equipment. Then simply dump in all the
ingredients EXCEPT the raspberry jam! Mix well to form a soft dough, and go directly to
step 4.