Chef Maurice and the Bunny-Boiler Bake Off (Chef Maurice Cotswold Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

in a flash of pink stiletto.
    “Hello there! First, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for coming all the way here to see me today. I’ve got some real treats lined up for you this session. I’ll be showing you how to make my signature vanilla-and-chocolate lava cake—”
    “ Pah! She simply takes a packet of cake mix and undercooks it —”
    “—and I’ll also be demonstrating a recipe for a banana-and-yoghurt smoothie from my new book, Blend It Right! , which I’ll be signing copies of later this afternoon, after the Bake Off—”
    “ How does she call that a recipe? When I pour cream into my coffee and mix it with a teaspoon, I do not go away and write a book about it! ”
    “—and finally, I’ll be showing you a brand-new celebration cake recipe I’ve been developing, using everyone’s favourite chocolate sweet!” Miranda stretched out her hands in a big tada motion towards a giant glass jar of multicoloured Smarties sitting on the counter.
    The crowd whispered excitedly to each other. Patrick looked over to Chef Maurice, but his boss was apparently too dumbstruck to comment on this latest revelation.
    “In fact”—Miranda paused, then gave her audience a radiant smile—“I was going to start with the lava cake, but I can see you’re all really excited to see my latest creation. So let’s go ahead and start with the Smarties recipe. After all, isn’t that the joy of cooking? You always get to start with a blank slate!”
    Patrick saw Miranda’s two assistants, who were standing half-hidden behind the tent flap, give each other a look of mutual horror, as they threw aside the cake mix boxes they were holding and scrambled to assemble the necessary trays for this sudden change of schedule.
    “Aren’t they just beautiful?” said Miranda, scooping a handful of Smarties out of the jar and letting them clatter into a bowl in a rainbow of sugar-covered chocolate. “I got my inspiration for this recipe when I took a short trip to India last month. I happened to be in Delhi during the festival of Holi, which”—she nodded at her third assistant, who was standing by the projector screen at the back of the stage—“you might also have heard of as the Festival of Colours.”
    The screen lit up, though rather dimly due to the bright spring light outside, with photographs of revellers in front of a white-domed temple, their faces and bodies splashed with a riot of colours, with puffs of vivid-hued powder shooting up above their heads. The slideshow ended with a shot of Miranda, free of paint and wearing a white kaftan, leaning over a flower-clad balcony high above the street, smiling beatifically at the tumultuous scene below her. She held a tall glass of smoothie in one hand, and on the little table beside her stood a shiny-new retro-style blender.
    “Right! First things first, we’ll need something to put these gorgeous Smarties onto. You can make a basic sponge base—there’s a recipe for my favourite sponge in Bake It Right! (Volume 1 of 16) —but really, the most important part of any celebration cake is the outside, so I won’t tell on you if you’re skimped for time and use a shop-bought Victoria sponge instead.” She aimed a naughty wink at the audience.
    Patrick sneaked a glance over at Chef Maurice, who was furiously patting down his pockets and muttering something about ‘a special type of hell’ for television chefs.
    “Ah, and here we are! Thank you, girls,” cooed Miranda, graciously accepting a very handsome Victoria sponge cake, oozing with jam and cream, from one of her assistants. She then proceeded to trowel on a thick layer of chocolate icing, pausing occasionally to lick her fingers with a look of lascivious delight.
    She was just proceeding to cover the whole thing in careful rows of colour-coordinated Smarties when Patrick’s phone alarm buzzed in his pocket. He nudged Chef Maurice, who was busy buffing a tomato on his sleeve.
    “We better go get set up,