The Great Greenfield Bake-Off Read online

  “That is strange,” said Jessie. “Mrs. Catalan has everything with the bake-off planned out so well. It’s not like her for there to be a mix-up.”

  “I think there’s something else weird going on,” Violet told them all. She pointed to where a man was standing in a shadowy place by the audience stands. It was obvious that the man was trying not to be noticed. Anytime anyone got close, he ducked farther into the shadows. Violet only noticed him because of where she was standing. If she’d been just an inch to the right, she wouldn’t have seen him at all. “That looks like Mr. Lin. Doesn’t it?” She moved over so her siblings could see what she saw.

  “What could he be doing here?” Jessie wondered. “His bakery is not involved in the competition, and the other day he seemed to be arguing with Mrs. Catalan.”

  When Violet looked again, Mr. Lin was gone.

  “Hmm,” Henry said, rubbing his chin. “We better pay extra attention tomorrow. If there’s something strange going on at the bake-off, the Aldens will figure it out.”

  The Contest Begins

  “Welcome to the Great Greenfield Bake-Off!”

  Jessie noted that Leslie Smallwater sounded more energetic now than she had the day before. “I think Leslie got a good night’s sleep,” she told Benny.

  The tent was bustling with activity. The camera crew was there, ready to film the events for the evening news. The stands for the audience were packed. There were probably a hundred people watching, maybe more. Plus, all the people who would see the event on TV. Mrs. Catalan was all dressed up, smiling for the cameras and the audience. She looked excited for the competition to start. Jessie’s heart was racing. This was huge.

  Violet had made signs to cheer on Jessie and Benny. Other people had signs to support their bakers too. Some people held balloons. There was excitement in the air.

  The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. It was a great day for baking.

  Jessie and Benny greeted the other contestants as they made their way to their station. Everyone was animated and obviously nervous. Except for Connor and Emma. They weren’t greeting anyone. They stood at their kitchen station, still and ready, staring at Leslie for instructions to begin.

  Jessie and Benny were wearing their bake-off aprons. They went to stand behind their baking station. Everyone was told they had to keep their hands firmly against their sides until they heard the opening bell. Then they had two hours to complete their desserts and present them for judging.

  “I know you explained it to me a lot of times, but it’s still no-bake-baffling. Tell me again why we are not baking for the bake-off?” Benny asked Jessie after Leslie explained the rules to the audience.

  “This is the big twist Mrs. Catalan was talking about,” Jessie said. “Normally baking requires heat. But there are some desserts that are exactly like baked desserts that don’t require time in an oven or any heat at all.”

  Since he couldn’t move his arms, Benny raised his shoulders and tilted his head. “Makes no sense,” he told her.

  “Stop thinking about it or you’ll get a headache,” Jessie told him. “Let’s just bake! All the ingredients for our no-bake chocolate lasagna are here, and we are ready to make it.”

  “But not bake it,” Benny put in with one last shrug.

  “Exactly,” Jessie said with a giggle. “Now you’ve got it.”

  She glanced over the ingredients on their worktable. She checked each one off in her head. The crust was made of chocolate wafer cookies and butter. Cooking spray kept it from sticking to the dish.

  Cream cheese, sugar, milk, vanilla, and whipping cream for the first layer.

  The next layer was chocolate pudding mix and more milk.

  Jessie double checked that there was enough milk for everything they’d put it in. They had a half-gallon carton. That was plenty.

  The recipe called for a topping of chocolate chips and more whipped cream, but creativity was a big part of the score. Presentation was too, so Jessie and Benny had decided that since regular lasagna was an Italian food, they’d decorate the top of their dessert in honor of the Italian flag. The flag was green, white, and red. They’d have a thick stripe of green grapes, a stripe of mini marshmallows and a stripe of cut strawberries.

  All those ingredients had been on the list.

  Jessie felt relieved that everything they needed was there. The sugar was in a clear jar with a handwritten label. All the other stuff was in original containers from the store. Jessie noticed that the worktables around her also had sugar in bins. That made sense because everyone was using a lot of sugar, so they probably brought one big bag from the bakery and divided it up. Her brain measured what she’d need. They’d have extra.

  “Ready?” she asked Benny as Leslie finished talking to the audience.

  “I am, but I don’t think Connor is,” Benny said, glancing in Connor’s direction. Connor was wearing a tall, white, puffy chef’s hat. Like them, his hands were stuck to his sides as he waited to start.

  “That hat is so fancy,” Jessie said. “He looks like a professional chef.”

  “Yep, his hat is cool,” Benny replied. “But Emma is missing.”

  “Oh,” Jessie said. She hadn’t noticed that Connor was standing alone. “I guess I thought she was blocked by the hat.”

  “Here she comes,” Benny said, noticing that Emma was dashing in from behind the audience stands. She was breathing hard as she took her position next to her brother. She looked worried.

  “I am getting the idea that Emma really doesn’t want to do this contest,” Jessie remarked. “She looks so scared!”

  “I’m scared too,” Benny said. “I don’t want to mess up.”

  “It’s going to be great,” Jessie said. “No matter what happens, we are going to do our best.”

  Suddenly Leslie was standing by their station. “Hey,” she whispered. “Have you seen my clipboard?”

  “Is it missing?” Benny asked. “We’re extra-special good at finding lost things.”

  “I must have just put it somewhere and forgot,” Leslie moaned. “Don’t tell anyone. I just thought maybe you’d seen it around this workstation.”

  “I don’t think it’s here,” Jessie said. “We’ll let you know if we see it.”

  “Thanks,” Leslie sighed. “On with the show, I suppose.” She dashed back to the front of the bake-off. “Bakers!” Leslie called. “On the count of three, everyone can begin.” She started the countdown. “One, two…”

  Violet called out to Jessie and Benny from the stands, “Bake it with a grin.”

  “That’s how the Aldens win!” Henry finished.

  “Three!” A bell rang. The timer started. The bake-off had begun.

  Jessie and Benny had agreed on a system. She’d measure; he’d mix.

  There was a mixing bowl provided for them. And a glass dish to layer their ingredients in. The refrigerator was the most important thing for them to get their chocolate lasagna done on time.

  “Don’t forget, Benny,” Jessie said. “Normally, the recipe says it takes three hours to chill. We don’t have that much time today.”

  “I remember,” Benny said. “We’ll use the freezer. It’s colder.” He wrapped his arms around himself and said, “Brrrr.” Then he added, “Can I lick the spoon?”

  Jessie snorted. “No time for licking.”

  “There’s always time for licking,” Benny said. “But I’ll be patient.” He raised his mixing spoon. “No-Bake Baker Benny is ready!”

  Jessie put chocolate wafer cookies in a plastic bag and handed it to Benny.

  “I am pretending that I am a superhero called De Crusher,” he announced, flexing a muscle. “My power is to smash stuff.” He began smashing the cookies into crumbles with the back of the mixing spoon. “Take that, yummy cookie! You’ll never escape my mighty strength!”

  While Benny squished and squashed the cookies to bitty bits, Jessie melted some butter on the small kitchen stove. They combined the crumbs and th
e melted butter in a mixing bowl, and Benny stirred it all up. Jessie pressed the crust into the oil-sprayed pan.

  Jessie measured the sugar and put it into another bowl. It didn’t look like the same sugar they had at Grandfather’s house. “I’m sure it’s sweet and delicious,” she muttered as she moved on to measuring the cream cheese.

  When the first layer was ready, she layered the sugary cream cheese on top of the crust.

  “I think I should lick the spoon,” Benny suggested.

  “No time.” Jessie shook her head. “Off to the freezer!”

  Benny grabbed the dish and dashed away.

  At the refrigerators, he ran into Emma, who was about to place her team’s dish into their freezer.

  “Having fun?” Benny asked.

  “Fun?” Emma seemed confused by the question. She was trying to balance a pan of cheesecake mix and open the freezer door at the same time.

  Benny reached over to help her. That was when Emma dropped a plastic baggie that had been tucked under her cheesecake. She quickly thrust the cake in the freezer and snagged the baggie off the floor. Benny noticed the baggie didn’t look like what Leslie had put their ingredients in.

  Emma pretended nothing strange happened. And before Benny could ask her about it, Connor shouted, “Hurry up! We’re running behind.”

  Emma stuffed the baggie, which was filled with something brown with white speckles, in the pocket of her apron and muttered, “Thanks, Benny,” then hurried away.

  Benny went back to his station. “I think maybe Emma and Connor snuck in an extra ingredient,” he told Jessie. “But I’m not sure.” He told her what he’d seen.

  Jessie didn’t know what to make of it. “Let’s tell Henry and Violet to watch them closely in the next round,” she suggested. “We have to stay focused and finish our own dessert in time.”

  Soon the chocolate pudding layer was ready. Benny got the dessert from the freezer, they layered the pudding on top of the cream cheese, and knowing Jessie’s answer, he asked, “Can I lick the spoon?”

  She laughed and pointed to the freezer. “No time. Go.”

  Benny carried the dessert.

  “Twenty minutes!” Leslie announced. “You should be decorating your dessert now.”

  Benny and Jessie were ready. Jessie had already cut the fruit toppings and put the mini marshmallows in a bowl. But across the room, they could hear Connor arguing with Emma. It was clear they weren’t prepared. Neither were the two boys at another table. Something had gone wrong with the boys’ dessert, and it was warm and soupy, not chilled and firm. They were laughing at what a mess their dessert turned out to be. A team near the back of the room was finished. They were playing cards while they waited for the judging.

  Jessie placed the last strawberry in the Italian flag when Leslie blew a horn. “Time’s up,” she said. “Place your desserts at the end of your tables and step away.”

  Music played as the judges arrived.

  “That’s Daniel Prince,” Jessie told Benny, noting the judge behind Mrs. Catalan. “He is a food critic on TV.”

  “What’s a food critic?” Benny asked.

  “Someone who tastes food then talks about why it’s good or bad,” Jessie explained.

  “That’s a job?” Benny clapped his hands. “How come I didn’t know that? He gets paid to eat—that’s genius!” Benny was very impressed with Daniel Prince, until the next judge stepped into the tent.

  “That’s Merry Holiday!” said Benny. “I watch her TV show all the time. She shops.”

  “For what?” Jessie asked. She thought Merry Holiday sounded like a made-up name.

  “Food,” Benny said as if it were obvious. “Snacks and healthy food for people who need help getting stuff.” He added, “It’s a kids’ show. She’s very nice.”

  “I hope she’s nice to us,” Jessie said.

  “Merry Holiday is nice to everyone,” Benny told her.

  The contestants waited while the three judges walked around the workstations. They looked at each dessert, making notes on appearance, while Leslie cut slices to take back to the judging table.

  The winner of the round would be announced when everyone returned to the tent from the lunch break.

  “Can I lick the spoon now?” Benny asked.

  “YES!” Jessie handed him a clean spoon.

  Benny eagerly dipped the spoon into the leftover chocolate lasagna, taking a big heaping bite. Then he spit it right back out.

  “Gross!” he gagged.

  “Gross?” Jessie grabbed another spoon and took her own taste. “Salt!” she declared. “How did that happen?” She stared at their pretty dessert that was terrible to taste. “There isn’t even salt in the recipe! This is all wrong.” Jessie put her head in her hands. “There’s no way we’re going to win this round.”

  It’s a Mystery

  Mrs. McGregor, the housekeeper at Grandfather’s, had packed sandwiches for them. Jessie and Benny chose a grassy spot near the tent to have their lunch. Henry and Violet joined them.

  “I’m starving,” Benny said, opening his paper bag and peeking inside. “Oh, turkey with cranberry sauce and mayonnaise and extra ketchup!” He dug the sandwich out of the bag.

  Jessie heard a group nearby talking about their dessert. They were talking loudly, so it was easy to hear what they were saying. Henry, Violet, and Benny heard them too.

  A boy with brown hair was telling a blond girl, “We were so busy we didn’t taste our dessert until after the judges left. When we finally got a bite, it tasted terrible. I don’t understand what happened,” he said.

  They were clearly on different teams. The girl shrugged. “Maybe you could have fixed the problem if you’d tasted your dessert all along?”

  The boy said, “I just don’t get it. I followed the directions exactly. Our chocolate mud pie was perfect at home.”

  The girl shrugged again. “We should be sure to check every ingredient in the next round.”

  The boy agreed. The conversation faded to a whisper as they moved away.

  “Sounds like they had problems too,” Benny told Jessie, looking back at the other team.

  “I wonder if anyone else had issues with their dessert,” Violet said.

  Benny saw Emma and Connor nearby. He decided to ask them. He went over to their blanket. “Did you taste your dessert before the judges took some?”

  “We tasted everything.” Connor licked his lips and said, “My dessert was perfect.”

  “Why are you asking?” Emma wanted to know.

  “It’s just that—” Benny began when Connor interrupted.

  “Shhh, Emma,” Connor said quickly. “Focus on lunch. We need to eat fast and get ready for round two.”

  Emma had that look again, like she wanted to say something to her brother, but didn’t.

  Benny went back to his lunch spot. “Connor and Emma didn’t have a problem with their ingredients. So, it didn’t happen to everyone,” he reported.

  Henry glanced over to the judges’ table. “They must still be on their lunch break.”

  “We have something else to tell you,” Benny told Henry and Violet.

  “We think Connor and Emma might have brought in outside ingredients.” Jessie explained that Benny had seen Emma with a baggie. Then she took a big bite of her sandwich. They needed to get back to the tent soon.

  “Maybe Connor forgot something he needed?” Violet unwrapped her sandwich. She hadn’t started eating yet.

  “It would be against the rules to bring your own ingredients,” Henry reminded everyone. He glanced over at Connor and Emma. Connor was talking. Emma was listening and nodding. “He really wants to win, but I don’t know if he’d cheat to get his dessert on the menu at the bakery.”

  “Cheating isn’t fun,” Benny said, getting a cookie from his bag. “This is supposed to be a fun day.” He began to unwrap the cookie, then Jessie stopped him.

  “Benny, can you save that for later?” she asked. “Don’t get too full.
”

  “This is my first dessert today,” Benny said. “Since tasting our gross lasagna doesn’t count—” he opened his mouth wide for a bite.

  “Wait!” Jessie put up a hand. “I changed my mind about something important.”

  Benny raised his eyebrows and held the cookie in midair.

  “There’s always time for licking the spoon,” she said.

  “I tried to tell you that,” Benny grinned. Then he realized what she meant. “Oh. I get it. We’re going to make sure everything tastes right, right?”

  “Exactly.” Jessie packed up her own lunch cookie. “This round, I want you to taste everything as we go.”

  “Good idea,” he agreed. “So, I need to keep an empty space in my tummy for dessert testing.” Benny handed his cookie to Violet. “Good-bye, dear cookie friend. I’ll eat you later.” Benny looked down at his tummy. “This spot, right by my belly button, will be the tasting spot. It’ll fill up with the surprise dessert that we are about to make.”

  A bell rang. It was time for the chefs to return to the kitchen.

  “We’ll watch for anything unusual,” Henry told Jessie and Benny. They threw out their trash.

  “And anyone acting strange,” Violet added.

  “Thanks!” Jessie said.

  “Bake it with a grin,” Benny said this time.

  “That’s how the Aldens win!” Henry said, then he and Violet hurried to their seats in the audience.

  Leslie met the contestants in the kitchen.

  Merry Holiday, Daniel Prince, and Mrs. Catalan were seated around a long table where the teams’ desserts were displayed. They each had a spoon in one hand and a pencil in the other.

  Leslie Smallwater was standing near the judges with her clipboard.

  “She found it.” Jessie pointed out the clipboard to Benny.

  “Without us?” he giggled. “How?”

  “You think we’re the only ones who can solve mysteries?” Jessie giggled back at him.