Culinary Romance Book With Recipes
The Bakery Booking by Morgan Utley
Book excerpt
Lily left the house shortly after we got home to run off with her friends, which allowed me to study in peace and quiet. After talking with Mom, we decided she seemed to be doing a lot better and realized she had been wasting time moping. She was a little hesitant leaving the house and had a hard time deciding what to wear, but once Susie and Kylee arrived, she put on a happy face and went on her way.
I managed to finish all my studying and got caught up on my homework, so that I wasn’t totally swamped during the rest of the week.
The next day, I took my test and thanks to my partner, I was able to pass the lab portion. I couldn’t wait to finish this semester, so I never had to do another science class again. The rest of the day flew by and I was able to stay caught up on my studying for my other classes. I figured my sister was at the house, because that’s where she preferred to study, so I hung out in the library. Once I decided my brain had had enough, I headed over to the bakery to meet Troy.
“What’s up, Rosie?” he greeted merrily when I walked into the bakery.
“Hi, Troy!” I said excitedly and waved like a little school girl.
The bakery was a small little shop, with tons of character. My mom loved the color pink, so the walls were striped with thick light pink and white stripes. There were a couple sets of hot pink tables and chairs, big enough to seat three people and a huge window that offered different flavored cupcakes, cookies and sweet rolls.
Today, she was featuring five different cupcakes: lime-coconut, dark-chocolate raspberry, lemon-blueberry, vanilla, vanilla-and-chocolate Oreo. Also available were snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies and orange rolls. She liked to throw in a pastry every now and again to mix it up. She also had a huge book of cakes that she had previously put together that sat on the counter, so people could get ideas for their own cakes.
She loved to make cakes. She loved that no custom cake was ever the same, unless the customer ordered that. Behind the counter was a huge board that listed all the prices and in the back was where endless amounts of sugar, flour and other ingredients could be found. She also had my favorite twenty-quart mixer back there, where I could knock out dozens of cookies in no time.
I walked around the counter and gave Troy a big hug. “Hey, long time no see! How was Costa Rica?”
Troy had been studying abroad in Costa Rica for school and had been gone for an entire semester. My mom was stoked to hear that he was back and wanted to continue working for her.
“Oh, man, it was amazing! It was gorgeous and I was able to pick up a ton of Spanish. How have you been?”
I pulled out a pink apron, and tied it around my waist, “I’ve been good. Just trying to keep up on school work and maintain my scholarship. Chemistry is kicking my butt.”
“I hear that class is no fun. I dread taking it. Listen, did I hear that Jake and Lily broke up?” he asked quietly.
“Yep, they broke up about three weeks ago,” I nodded and started taking inventory of everything.
“Holy crap. I didn’t think they were ever going to break up! Those two seemed perfect for each other.” He followed me around while I did inventory. There wasn’t much for him to do at night until we closed, because everything was already made and prepped.
“I didn’t think so either. They were on some special date last weekend and when I came back home, Lily was crying on the couch and told me they broke up. I could hardly believe it. I thought he was going to propose.”
“Oh, man, is she okay?”
“Yeah, I think she’s doing a lot better now.” I smiled appreciatively “Thanks for asking, Troy. That’s very nice of you to be concerned.”
“Well, I saw Jake the other night with some other chick and I was really confused. I figured that maybe they were just hanging out as friends, but…” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Tell me.”
“No, you don’t want to know.” Troy waved it off. “Just know he’s a jerk, and I should have punched him when I saw him.”
“Troy, tell me now,” I pressed and crossed my arms, still holding the clipboard.
“I saw him and this girl kissing,” he divulged softly. “I was so confused. I didn’t know what to do. I figured I would wait to see you and ask what happened. I should have punched him then and there.”
“It’s okay, Troy. Probably a good thing that you didn’t punch him. It sounds like it was a mutual thing, I think. Although, it sounds like Jake was more okay with the break up than Lily.” I uncrossed my arms and began counting the amount of chocolate chips we had. When I found an opened bag of milk chocolate chips, Troy nabbed them out of my hands.
“I’ll say. You date someone for four years, and not a month after, he’s already sucking face with another woman? Not cool!” grunted Troy and he started eating chocolate chips.
“No, it’s not. Lily deserves much better than Jake, if that’s how he’s acting. And let’s just keep this between us, okay? I would hate for her to hear this. She’s just barely getting over the breakup… I feel like this would set her back emotionally.” I took the chocolate chips back from him.
“Hey! I’m stress-eating!” he joked and tried to take them back.
What was up with people taking things out of my hands lately?I laughed. “How about a cookie? I have a feeling we're going to have a little extra. You can even have two, if you want.” I draped an arm around his waist.
“Yeah, two cookies sound good. Three would be better,” he grinned and I pushed him playfully.
We laughed and, just as he was about to take a bite of a snickerdoodle cookie, two giggly girls came in; he shot me a pouty look and hid his cookie so no one would take it. In a split second, he turned his frown upside down and greeted the girls like nothing had happened.
“Welcome, ladies. Are you looking for something sweet?” he smiled, flashing his teeth and the two girls blushed and nodded, still giggling.
This was another reason why my mom had hired Troy; he was a handsome, good-humored, hard-working guy, and he attracted the ladies. She was convinced that he sold the most inventory just from his good looks.
He had a surfer look to him, with tanned skin that I assumed he had gotten from Costa Rica, and sandy-blonde hair, and intense blue eyes. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’d told me that he did like to surf. Of average height, Troy had a lean build and a very playful smile. He looked like someone who was up to doing anything and would have a fun time doing it.
I laughed at the flirty girls and went into the back room to finish the inventory. Mom had texted me earlier that day that she wanted me to do some shopping for the bakery too, since I had already planned on going. This meant that my list was growing even longer, but it also committed me to not have to close tomorrow, and Lily couldn’t get out of it. Technically, I was still on the clock but, thankfully in a different way, without Brad.
While I was in the refrigerator counting butter and eggs, I heard the bell ring, which didn’t faze me, because I knew Troy would be up front to grab the customer. But then, not a moment later, he found me in the fridge and informed me that there was a customer wanting to do a custom order.
Mom had instructed the staff that the only people able to take custom orders were her, Lily and myself. She didn’t want to risk someone messing up the order and, as a result, Mom making something the customer wouldn’t want. Custom orders were the big money maker and she wanted everything to be done right.
I followed Troy to the front and saw that there was a tall man standing behind the counter, looking at the cupcakes. He was wearing a grey suit, white shirt and dark blue tie, which brought out his dark blue, brooding eyes. He had dark hair, that was gelled and swept to the side… and did I mention drop-dead gorgeous? His jaw was squared with a cleft in the chin. He was definitely a dreamy Prince Charming.
I could feel my cheeks flush and I knew I shouldn’t be the one to take care of this customer. I wanted to run the other way and let Troy handle this one, but I figured that wouldn’t set a very good example. Plus, he would never let me live it down.
I cleared my throat and tried to speak, but no words came out.
Unfortunately for me, the man heard me clear my throat and he looked up and smiled, “Hi.”
“Hi, welcome to Karen’s Kreations. What can I help you with?” The line sounded so rehearsed, I felt like I was talking through a drive-through speaker phone. In my mind, I was kicking myself and I could see Troy smiling out of the corner of my eye. He was so going to give me a hard time for this.
“Well, I’m actually waiting for someone, but we need to order a cake for an event. Do you have a flyer where I can see the costs for the size, flavor, design, and whatnot?” He waved his phone around while he was talking. It made him look like an important business man who had things to do, but he was nice and not pushy.
“Yep, Troy, would you mind getting that from under the counter and handing it to him? I need to run to the back really quick, and I’ll be right with you, Mr.…?”
“Oh, call me Nick.”
I smiled. “Okay, Nick, I’ll be right with you,” I repeated and turned around to hide in the refrigerator.
A couple of minutes later, the refrigerator door opened, and Troy walked in to join me.
“Rosie, what are you doing?” he asked and raised an eyebrow.
“I just needed to finish this last bit of inventory and then I’ll be out there to help the customer,” I explained and Troy started laughing.
“You're so full of it!” he called out and I opened my mouth in shock.
“What are you talking about?” I tried to play it as cool as possible. “I really do have to check how much stock we have, so I know what to shop for tomorrow.”
“Oh, bologna!” he cut me off. “I haven’t seen you that caught off guard with a customer since that one lady demanded a chocolate cake be made and delivered within an hour of an event. And even then, you handled it better than that!” He gestured to the front and started laughing. “Do you think he’s cute, Rose?”
I could feel my face burn up and rolled my eyes. “No! I was just d-distracted and lost my tr-train of t-thought,” I stammered and Troy started laughing even harder.
“Oh, man, you totally have the hots for him. Should I tell him? Should I say something? Let him know your single?” He chuckled and winked.
“No! Don’t you dare!” Before I could say anything more, the bell for the front door rang and we both immediately left the refrigerator and returned to the front.
In the waiting area, was an exotic tall, thin woman with thick dark brown hair. She looked like she could be an actress in Bollywood, she was so beautiful. She walked over to Nick and gave him a kiss on the cheek, while holding a phone in her hand. She was wearing a ruby-red blazer with a black pencil skirt to show off extremely long legs, and black stilettos to complete the entire look. I could’ve sworn she just came out of a business meeting. She immediately made me feel like a two-foot tall ragamuffin.
They walked up to the counter together and I put on the best smile possible. “Hi, how can I help you?”
Troy stood to the side of me, wiping down the counters, appearing to be busy, but I knew he was eavesdropping.
“Hello, my name is Alisha,” she said with an Indian accent. “We are wanting to order a cake for our wedding in three months. Do you have any availability for June sixth?” she asked while flipping her hair back over her shoulder.
I could physically feel my heart sink to the floor. He was taken. There was no way I could entertain any thoughts with this guy. He was practically a married man. Trying to hide my disappointment, I forced a smile on my face and looked at the happy couple. My mind might know that Nick was with someone else, but my heart sure didn’t. When I looked at Nick, I noticed he had been staring at me, smiling. All of a sudden, I realized that I had to focus on my breathing and make sure I was getting oxygen.
“Let me check the calendar.” I reached under the counter for it and flipped forward to June, silently praying that it would be filled, but to my dismay, it was completely wide open. “Looks like we have that weekend available. Would you like to set up a cake testing?”
“Yes, that would be perfect. How about Thursday? Will that be enough time?” she inquired.
“Yup,” I said shakily. “That should be enough time.”
“Perfect. I want to try the white cake with vanilla frosting, the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, the white cake with raspberry filling and vanilla frosting, lemon cake with lemon frosting, the chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and strawberry filling, and the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Did you get all that written down?” she snapped.
“Yup.” I read back her cake requests.
“Perfect. We’ll be here at six o’clock on Thursday,” she informed me and smiled. “Thanks so much.” She spun and walked out the front door.
“Thank you,” Nick smiled. “It was nice to meet you.” He followed his fiancé out the door.
“No, thank you,” I murmured and penciled in my new favorite customer.
SNICKERDOODLE RECIPE
½ cup softened, salted butter
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 ½ cup sugar
2 room temperature eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsps. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup extra sugar
2 tsps. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together salted butter, vegetable shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in room temperature eggs and vanilla until fully mixed.
Add cream of tartar, salt, baking soda and flour, and mix until incorporated. Do not over mix.
Mix extra sugar and cinnamon into separate bowl.
Form dough into 1” balls and press dough into cinnamon sugar on one side. Place cookies, cinnamon sugar side up, on cookie tray.
Bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Book Details
AUTHOR NAME: Morgan Utley
BOOK TITLE: The Bakery Booking
GENRE: Romance
SUBGENRE: Culinary Romance / Contemporary Romance With Recipes
PAGE COUNT: 226
IN THE BLOG: New Contemporary Romance Novels
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