Chapter 8
After that, I decided some baking was in order. Baking had become a form of stress relief for me over the years—yet one more reason I should bake for others, since I could only eat so many pastries before I started to look like a whale. While I had a few extra pounds on my hips, I loathed working out, so it was imperative that someone else eat most of my creations.
I decided to work on the adjustments to the chocolate cheesecake recipe I’d been tweaking and made a run to the store for ingredients.
Humming, I started with my favorite shortbread crust, mixing, then spreading it in the pan to bake while I beat the filling.
The temperature needed to be nice and steady, so I checked the preheating oven, then whipped the cream cheese and sugar.
It had been a full two days since I found the body, and I didn’t feel like Honey and I had made much headway. Apparently, neither had the police, and I was certain they were devoting a great deal of time to the problem.
I finished mixing in the softened cream cheese and slowly stirred in the sugar, vanilla and eggs, one at a time. I took a break to make notes and conjectures about each of the players in this little drama, letting the KitchenAid do its job. I melted the bittersweet chocolate, cooled it and whipped it in with the cream. I added the two mixtures, and beat the whole thing until it was light and fluffy.
After I’d poured it all into my grandma’s old spring-form pan, I put the pan in a water bath in the oven and set the timer. I had more than an hour before the cheesecake would be done. Time for a ramble.
I decided to take a closer look at downtown Silver Springs and headed out. In the past couple of years, I hadn’t made it back to town as much as I did prior to Grandma’s death. A clothing boutique had closed, a pet store opened and the craft store had gotten a face lift—which was well overdue. Half a block down the road, I turned to my own storefront and considered it.
The building was on a corner lot, all brick and two stories. The large window beside the glass front door had a circular top—perfect for my planned vinyl-lettering sign. The upstairs windows were tall and let in a lot of evening sunlight during the summer.
The back side of the building had a quaint little courtyard, and the kitchen stuck out next to it. It had a flat roof and shingles down the sides that curved up at the bottom—very charming and European. A set of stairs led up onto the roof above this portion of the apartment, and I remember many July Fourths sitting up there to watch city fireworks. Thankfully, all the businesses shared a large parking lot out back, where we stashed the Dumpsters out of sight and where I entered the upstairs apartment.
Despite the quaint European feel to the exterior, the interior was more like an old mom-and-pop restaurant. After continuing down the road for a few blocks to see what else was new, I headed back to my place. When I drew close, I saw a woman and child approaching and realized it was Valerie’s sister and daughter. Though they’d come to my table for cake Sunday night, there had been no chance for me to ask her any questions. I crossed the street and headed for Lidia.
“Hi, Lidia, isn’t it?” I asked when I got close. I looked at Dahlia and saw her sad, sad eyes and pinched face. Sympathy swelled inside me.
The fair-skinned woman with almond eyes and black hair like her sister’s looked at me, the little girl’s hand clasped in hers. “Yes, it’s Tess, right?”
“Yes. How are you doing? Are you enjoying the nice weather?” I studied the woman’s face. She looked worn out. Not surprising, considering everything she had to deal with.
She nodded. “Yes, it’s pretty here.” She seemed lethargic, and a bit wary.
“How are things going?” I asked. “You said you live in California?”
“Yes. My husband and I have a home in Long Beach. It’s a long drive. I didn’t get here until Saturday evening.”
“And when do you think you’ll be able to go home?”
She pressed her lips together for a moment, then shot a glance at the little girl by her side. “The police say I should be able to, um, arrange transport in the next day or so. We’ll have the funeral in Prescott on Saturday evening. I think Valerie would have liked a sunset service.”
“It sounds nice.” You know, if a funeral for a thirty-ish woman can ever be considered a nice event. “Are you making all the arrangements?”
“Yes. Our father passed years ago and Mom followed a few years back.” She dabbed at her left eye with the back of her hand and her voice hitched slightly as she spoke.
“This must be a terrible time for you. I’m sorry.” I understood what she was going through, as I’d had to plan my grandma’s funeral alone. Thank goodness for Honey. I looked at Dahlia. “It must be hard for both of you.” I knew Valerie had been a single mom to this little girl, which now left Dahlia all alone. I stuck out my hand. “Hi, Dahlia, I’m Tess. I’m pleased to see you again. Do you remember meeting me last night?”
She took my hand and gave it a shake, her pitiful eyes turned toward me. “My momma died.”
“I know, honey. I’m sorry. That’s a hard thing.” I crouched down. “You know what? My momma died too. I was a lot older than you, but it was still hard.”
That perked her interest. “How did your momma die?”
“My mom and dad both died in an accident. They were on a train and it went off the tracks. Lots of people died that day.” So many families destroyed in an instant.
“I don’t have a daddy, just a momma.” The hand she had tucked in Lidia’s moved, and I realized she held on so tight that her knuckles were white. Poor baby.
My heart broke for her. She was too young to be so alone. “I’m sorry, honey. But I bet it was special to have time alone with your momma.”
“That’s enough, Dahlia,” Lidia said. “Mustn’t spread rumors.”
I rose and looked at Lidia. “Don’t worry, I’m not a gossip.” I only collect it. I’m not much for spreading it. “So will you get custody?”
“Yes. There’s no one else. Tad and Analesa have been wonderful, though, offering to do whatever they can. Tad even offered to help arrange care if I had trouble swinging it, but I can’t imagine having someone else babysit her during the days. She’s been left alone at daycare too much already.” She put a hand on Dahlia’s head and smoothed her hair back. It glistened in the sun with deep red highlights. The gesture was familiar, easy and loving. That reassured me. Lidia would love and take good care of this little girl. “My job is flexible, anyway. I run my massage business out of my house, so I can schedule appointments while she’s in school or arrange play dates here and there.”
“Tad and Analesa’s offer was very generous.” Much more than I would have expected from Analesa, who had been more self-absorbed than most brides. “I’m sorry you have to stay here for so long.”
She shrugged. “It can’t be helped, but I’m moving into Valerie’s apartment tomorrow until I get everything settled. Thanks for your kind words. If you don’t mind, I think we’re ready for some dinner. I promised Dahlia pizza.”
“Yes, sorry if I kept you. Gregorio’s Pizza is delicious—and I’ve been living in Chicago for years now, so that’s high praise.” I moved on, letting them go, but after a moment, I looked back over my shoulder at them. The little girl’s slumped form strengthened my resolved to find out what really happened.
Chocolate Cheesecake
For a 9” springform pan.
Preheat oven 350 degrees—It’s best to bake this with the springform sitting inside a large pan of water so the cheesecake bakes evenly. For consistent oven temperatures, you should preheat the oven for at least an hour before baking the crust with the filling. This can be done while baking the crust and preparing the filling.
Crust:
1 cup flour
1 tsp cornstartch
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
Butter the pan bottom and sides, and wrap the outside with aluminum foil across the bottom and up the sides.
Mix flour, cornstarch and salt. In another bowl mix butter and sugar until creamy, add egg yolks and vanilla, and beat until blended, then lower the speed and mix in the flour mixture. Mix the dough with your hands until it forms a ball when you squeeze it. Chill for thirty minutes if you have time.
Flour your hands and press the ball into the center of the pan working it up to the edges of the pan and up 1 ½ inches up the side. Prick the crust with a fork, then bake until just golden and set, about 15 minutes. Don’t let it over-bake. Set on a wire rack to cool. Leave the oven on for the cheesecake.
Filling:
4 8-oz packages cream cheese at room temperature (use full fat, not reduced-fat varieties)
1 2/3 cups sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 extra-large eggs
¾ cup heavy or whipping cream
1 tsp almond extract
½ lb semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Put one package of cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and the cornstarch into a bowl and beat until creamy. Then add the other packages of cream cheese, one block at a time until mixed in. Scrape down the sides as needed. Increase the speed of the mixer and add the rest of the sugar, the vanilla, almond extract, and nutmeg. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well.
In a pan melt the chocolate on low heat. Cool a little so it’s still warm to the touch, then whip in cream. Add the chocolate cream mixture to the cream cheese mixture, blending just until mixed, but don’t over mix.
Spoon batter into the prepared crust. Place springform pan into a larger, shallow pan containing hot water that comes about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Bake about 1 ¼ hours or until set. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place on a wire rack to cool for two hours, then cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until cold, at least four hours. Overnight is better.
Honey likes more almond in her cheesecake, so I double it when I make it for her, but Marge likes it when I cut up a small bottle of maraschino cherries and put them on the crust before pouring the batter on top.