Murder by Mocha

parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. (Yes, spray the paper! These “cupcake tops” are lower in fat than cookies and cakes with lots of butter and will have a greater tendency to stick. The parchment will also protect the bottom of your rounds from browning too much.) Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough per round onto your the baking sheet and cook for 10–13 minutes. Do not overbake. The finished round will feel spongy to the touch on the outside but with a somewhat firm structure. The inside should be fudgy, moist, and a little underbaked. The rounds will be too soft to pick up when they first come out of the oven. Slide the entire sheet of parchment onto a wire rack and allow rounds to cool before lifting or moving. They will harden as they cool—and they’ll taste deliciously fudgy, filling your mouth as you chew with the sultry flavor and aroma of chocolate. Once cool, frost with Fast Mocha Frosting (see below).

How to Make Fast Mocha Frosting: In a nonstick saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Add 4 tablespoons cold brewed coffee, 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. (Do not boil or you may get a scorched taste.) While stirring, add 2–2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, until mixture is melted and smooth. (You be the judge on the consistency you prefer. The amount you need may vary depending on the humidity or your altitude.) Remove from heat and work quickly to frost the cooled cupcake tops. The frosting hardens fast. You can always reheat, stir, and add a bit more coffee to soften again.

Phoebe Themis’s Mini Chocolate-Chip Scones

The scone is the UK equivalent of an American biscuit. They’re delicious with tea or coffee, slathered with butter while still warm, or split and served with clotted (or unsweetened whipped) cream and fruit preserves. The scone originated as a Scottish quick bread. According to Madame’s new favorite librarian, “The name came from the original Stone of Destiny, known as Scone, which was the place where Scottish kings were once crowned.” For further reading, Phoebe Themis suggests The Stone of Destiny: Symbol of Nationhood by David Breeze, Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments, and Graeme Munro, Chief Executive, Historic Scotland, published by Historic Scotland, 1997.

Makes 12 scones, of 2 to 2½ inches in diameter

2 cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder (yes, with the self-rising flour!)

½ cup (1 stick) butter, well softened

⅓ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

¾ cup whole milk (for a richer scone, use half-and-half or light cream)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw), for dusting, optional

Step 1—Prepare the dry ingredients: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Place a sieve in a bowl and measure the flour and baking powder into it and then lift the sieve and sift the two together into the bowl. Add the (softened) butter. Use your fingers to work the butter completely into the flour until the mixture is mealy and crumbly. Fold in the granulated sugar and chocolate chips.

Step 2—Prepare the wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Reserve 4 tablespoons of this mixture and place it in a separate cup. (You’ll use this reserved liquid to coat the scones before baking.) Whisk the vanilla into the remaining egg mixture.

Step 3—Marry the dry and wet: Using a fork, begin to combine the egg mixture with the dry ingredients, a little at a time. A sticky dough will form.

Step 4—Knead gently and stamp out your scones: Form the dough into a ball and move it to a floured surface. If the dough is especially wet or sticky, add a bit more flour until you can work with it. Using floured hands, shape and pat the dough into a very thick circle of about ¾- to 1-inch thick. Stamp out the scones with a round biscuit (or cookie) cutter that’s around 2 inches in diameter. For best result, dip the cutter repeatedly in flour between applications to the sticky dough. Gather up the scraps and repeat until all the dough is used up. Using a pastry brush, coat the top and sides of each scone with the milk-egg mixture that you reserved in Step 2. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar (optional).

Step 5—Bake: Place your pan on the top rack of the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes, depending on the size of your scones. To ensure even browning, rotate the pan once during baking. They are done when the tops have turned a golden brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack. (To reheat scones, wrap loosely in foil, and warm in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.)

Clare’s Brooklyn Blackout Cake (For Mike)

When Mike had to become untraceable for his own safety, Clare went a little crazy. To keep as busy as possible during this blackout period, she decided to make her Blackout Cake.

The Blackout is a rich and decadent chocolate cake with fudge pudding slathered between each of the three layers. The entire cake is then frosted in chocolate and covered in cake crumbs. The original recipe was developed in Brooklyn, New York, during World War II, and is named after the blackout drills performed by the Civilian Defense Corps.

Because the dessert is time-consuming to make and complicated to assemble, Clare found it the perfect distraction from her continual worries about Mike’s safety. Even better, when Mike finally appeared, safe and happy, she had this incredible cake ready to help them celebrate.

The recipe for this cake, along with photo illustrations on how to make it, can be found at my Coffeehouse Mystery Web site. Visit me there at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com to download a free PDF of this recipe. If you have any questions, I also have a message board.

Cook with joy!

—Cleo