Katie Starting from Scratch (2 page)

I wrinkled my nose, thinking. “I'm not sure if I have the receipt. I think I used it to throw out my gum.”

“Well, next time, then,” Alexis said, going back to her app.

I finished setting up the ingredients for the cupcakes on my kitchen table: flour, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, milk, and butter.

“So, we need to make two batters,” I said. “I thought we could start with vanilla and chocolate.”

Then I picked up my latest baking tool: an insert that made two-toned cupcakes. It's a white plastic thing that fits inside the cups in your cupcake pan. For each cup there's a plastic circle with another plastic circle inside. You pour a different flavor or color of batter into each circle, and then take out the insert before you bake them. The finished
cupcake will have one color or flavor on the inside, and a different one on the outside.

“So why don't the batters run together when you take out the insert?” Emma wondered.

“I think because cupcake batter is so thick,” I said. “Anyway, we'll see. That's what this test is about, right?”

We quickly made the two different batters—we're pretty much pros at making batter by now. Then I put the insert on the pan. It fits only three cups at a time. Alexis carefully poured chocolate batter into the center circle, and then I poured the vanilla batter into the outer circle.

“Here goes nothing,” I said, lifting up the insert. Each cup now had a vanilla cupcake with a perfect circle of chocolate in the middle.

Emma clapped. “It works! Cool!”

I rinsed off the insert in the sink. “Let's do the whole pan.”

When we finished filling the pan, I put the cupcakes in the oven. While they baked, we made a batch of chocolate frosting.

“Dibs!” I called out, taking the beaters off the hand mixer. Frosting was still stuck to it, and I licked it right off. “Mmm.”

Emma laughed. “You remind me of Jake.”

“Just Jake?” I asked. “Matt is always grabbing the beaters from me. Sam too.”

Emma shook her head. “I guess it's a good thing you don't have three brothers, then.”

Emma mentioning Jake reminded me of Emily.

“I have something to ask you guys,” I said. “I know we're baking next Saturday, but Mom wants me to watch Emily. Can I bring her to the meeting?”

“Oh, so your mom has another date with Mr. Green?” Alexis asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

I sighed. “It seems like she
always
has a date with Mr. Green lately.” I lowered my voice. Mom was somewhere in the house, and I didn't necessarily want her to hear that. “They're going to some Broadway matinee or something.”

“Sure, bring her,” Alexis said. “She's practically our age, right? It's not like she's some annoying little kid or something. No offense, Emma.”

“Believe me, I know how annoying Jake can be,” she said.

The timer went off, and I took the cupcake pan out of the oven and put it on a cooling rack. We had to wait until the cupcakes cooled to frost them, or the frosting would just melt everywhere.

Alexis walked over to the pan. “You know, they look just like ordinary cupcakes,” she said. “I mean,
it's a cool idea, but how would people know they're special? It might not be worth the extra effort to make them.”

I pulled a cupcake from the pan with my fingertips. “Let's see if it worked, first,” I said. I took a knife and cut right through the cupcake. The chocolate cake center was perfect!

“That is really awesome,” Emma said. “I bet people would love these, Alexis.”

“Maybe we could cut one open and put it on the display,” I suggested. “As an example.”

Alexis nodded. “That could work. And our customers are always asking for something new. I'll add these to the order form and the website.”

“We should taste them first,” I said. (I knew they were going to be great, but I never turn down a chance to taste a cupcake.)

The cupcakes were just about cool enough to frost, so we iced them all. I poured glasses of milk for each of us (cupcakes and milk, the perfect pairing), and then we sat down and ate.

In my first bite, I got vanilla cake, chocolate cake, and chocolate frosting all in one. It was amazing.

“This is soooo good,” I said, after washing down the bite with some milk. “Can you imagine all the other flavors we could do?”

“Red velvet and chocolate,” Emma suggested.

“Or color combinations,” Alexis said. “Pink and purple. Yellow and green. Kids would love that!”

We were quiet for a minute, enjoying our cupcakes and the sweet taste of success. Then Emma's blue eyes lit up.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” she said. “Principal LaCosta stopped me in the hall yesterday. She asked if the Cupcake Club would sell refreshments at the talent show.”

“Oh, wow, that would be great,” I said. “When is that, anyway?”

“Saturday the twentieth,” Alexis said quickly.

“You are like a walking calendar,” I said. “Is there anything you don't know?”

“Well, I don't know if this is such a good idea,” Alexis said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Yeah, it's perfect,” Emma said. “We always sell a lot of cupcakes at school events.”

Alexis started to twirl a strand of her wavy red hair. “I guess I meant that it's not a good day for me. I'm pretty sure I have a conflict.”

“Well, that's okay,” I said. “Emma and Mia and I could sell the cupcakes. As long as there're three of us, it's usually enough.”

“Sure. Right,” Alexis said. She was acting a little weird. “Yeah, I'll add it to our schedule.”

“Ooh, we could do the two-toned cupcakes in school colors,” Emma suggested.

I nodded. “Awesome,” I said. “Hey, you know what? We should show Mia.”

I cut one of the frosted cupcakes in half and took a picture on my phone. Then I sent it to Mia. She texted me back right away.

Luv it! Save one 4 me!

“So it's official,” I said. “We've got a new cupcake in our repertoire.”

“Oui! Oui!”
Emma said with a giggle, practicing her French.

“Right,” Alexis said. She wasn't acting weird anymore. “So, next Saturday we're meeting at Mia's house to make the cupcakes for the flower show. Katie, you're shopping for the ingredients?”

I nodded. “Check.”

“And you're bringing Emily,” Alexis said, typing it into our schedule.

“Check, again,” I said.

I was feeling okay about bringing Emily to the next meeting. It was nice that my friends were
cool with it (but of course they would be). And she was really sweet and helpful, and I guess Mom was right—we could always use an extra pair of hands.

But most important, it gave me a new feeling—a big-sistery kind of feeling. I've never had that feeling before, and it felt kind of . . . nice.

Weird, right?

M
onday morning I was happy to see Mia on the bus. I miss her when she's with her dad.

“How was Manhattan?” I asked.

“Nice,” Mia said. “Ava and I went to a sample sale. That's when designers sell the sample clothes they make really cheap. I got this skirt there for ten bucks.”

She looked down at her red skirt, which I could tell was shorter in the front and longer in the back. She had on a cute white shirt with it and red flats.

“It's nice,” I said. “You look like a candy cane.”

“Red and white is a clean and classic combination,” Mia informed me. “I read that in a magazine somewhere.” She's really into fashion, partly because her mom is a fashion stylist, and Mia always
looks like she could be in a magazine. The only way my picture would be in a magazine is if the magazine were called
Messy Cooking
or something.

“How's Ava?” I asked. Ava is Mia's best friend in Manhattan. I used to be a little jealous about that, until I realized that I am her best friend in Maple Grove. Besides, Ava's nice.

“She joined the soccer travel team,” Mia said. “She plays, like, all the time. So it was nice to see her. Hey, did you bring me a cupcake?”

I reached into my backpack and took out a cupcake container that perfectly fit one cupcake. “Of course!”

“Did somebody say ‘cupcake'?”

George Martinez stuck his head over the back of my seat. George is my friend who's a boy who I like, and I guess
like
like him, sometimes, if you know what I mean. And I'm pretty sure he
like
likes me, too.

“I'm so hungry,” George said.

“It's seven thirty in the morning,” I said. “Didn't you eat breakfast?”

“Eggs, bacon, oatmeal, toast, and a banana,” he replied. “But I'm still hungry.”

“Well, I
might
have brought some extras,” I said. “But I can't open the box now.”

“Aw, please?” George asked.

“Nope,” I said.

“Pretty please?” George batted his eyelashes, which made me laugh

“Lunchtime. I promise,” I told him.

George shook his head. “You're so mean!” Then he ducked back into his seat.

When I looked over at Mia, she was rolling her eyes.

“What?” I asked in a loud whisper.

“You guys are too sweet,” she said. “
You
should be the one dressed like a candy cane.”

I think I blushed a little. “We're just goofing around, that's all.”

When lunchtime came, George remembered about the cupcake. He brought his friends Ken and Aziz with him.

“Hey, Katie,” he said. “So, do you have enough cupcakes for all of us?”

The boys sat down at the extra seats at our table like it was no big deal. Mia made an
I told you so
face at me, and Emma started to giggle. Alexis was busy doing something on her tablet. She looked up, said, “Hey,” to the boys, and went back to it. She's been in love with Emma's brother Matt for, like, forever, and doesn't even notice other boys.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” I said, taking the container out of my backpack. We make test cupcakes all the time, so I end up bringing them to school a lot. Maybe for George. “Here you go.”

I took three cupcakes out of the box and handed them to the boys. Ken and Aziz starting eating theirs right away. But George did something weird.

He leaned his head back and balanced the cupcake on the end of his nose.

“Be careful!” I cried.

“So what do you think?” George asked, still balancing the cupcake.

“I think you're going to drop that cupcake,” I replied.

George took the cupcake off his nose and looked at me. “No, I mean about the trick,” he said. “I've been practicing balancing different stuff, and I was thinking of doing a balancing act for the talent show.”

“A cupcake balancing act?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, other stuff too.”

“It depends on what you're balancing,” Mia said. “Can you do, like, a long pole, with plates on top of it, and then spin them around? I saw a guy on the street do that once.”

“That's insane!” George said. “I can't do stuff
like that. But I can do a broom. And I'm working on a chair.”

Emma nodded. “A chair would be pretty impressive.”

“Yeah, but you need music or something playing behind you,” I said.

“That would be cool,” George said, thinking. “I don't know. I just want to do something, you know? Are you guys doing anything?”

“No way!” I said. “I'd be too scared to get up there.”

“I don't think I would be scared, at least not after doing my camp talent show,” Emma said. “I mean, I could play the flute, but I've already done that.”

Alexis didn't say anything; she seemed totally engrossed in whatever was on her tablet screen.

“Besides, we're selling cupcakes that night,” Mia pointed out. “That's our real talent.”

“You got that right,” Ken said. “That cupcake was really good.”

“Yeah, George. You should stop balancing yours and eat it,” Aziz said.

George unwrapped the cupcake. “I was just gonna do that.”

Then Mr. Green walked up to our table—
Mr. Green the math teacher, also known as Jeff, my mom's boyfriend. He doesn't teach any of my classes, but sometimes he has to monitor the cafeteria.

“Hello, Cupcake Club,” he said. “I see you're spreading some cupcake happiness today.”

George swallowed a bite of cupcake. “I'm definitely happy!”

“Do you want one?” I asked.

“No, thanks, Katie,” he said. “I just wanted to thank the Cupcake Club for allowing Emily to hang out with you on Saturday. She's very excited.”

“It's no problem,” Emma said with a smile.

“Great,” he said. “Enjoy the rest of your lunch.”