The Cakes of Wrath (30 page)

I started toward them, determined to intervene before this argument could get out of hand. “It's okay,” I told Edie as I came up behind her and led her a little bit away. “Sparkle's brother is in town for a few days, and I didn't think one more guest would throw everything completely off.”

Edie whipped around to face me and lowered her voice. “That's Sparkle's brother? Are you kidding me?”

I shook my head uncertainly. “No?”

She leaned in close and whispered something, but she was speaking so softly I couldn't hear her.

“What?” I whispered back.

She darted a quick glance over her shoulder. Everybody was watching us. They weren't even pretending not to. “That's
him
.”

“Him who?”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation since obviously I wasn't picking up what she was laying down. She came right up to me, so close our noses almost touched. “
Him
. The guy from the bar.”

I knew I was missing something, and I knew it was huge, but the haze of the medication along with her whispered and obviously angry hints slowed me down. “Him?”

“Oh, for God's sake, Rita. It's the guy. My one-night stand. The guy I slept with. The baby's father. And you're telling me he's Sparkle's
brother
?”

I heard a gasp. Edie spun around and I looked up to find Sparkle standing right behind us. Emotions flashed across her face too quickly for me to read them. I think both Edie and I were expecting an explosion.

“For future reference,” I muttered, “his name is River.”

Edie took a step back and put her hands over her belly. I stepped forward to put myself in harm's way one more time. If Sparkle was going to hit anybody, well, I was already drugged up so I figured it wouldn't hurt too badly. River moved a few steps closer, still looking pleased to be there—and still not seeming to realize what sort of party it was that he'd crashed. “It's really good to see you again,” he said to Edie. “I can't believe we ran into each other like this. It must be fate or something.”

“What's going on?” Miss Frankie called out. “Is there a problem?”

“No. No. Everything's fine,” I said. “Everybody . . . do something fun.”

Edie scowled at River. “I thought you were going to Afghanistan.”

“I did. Just got off the plane a couple of hours ago,” he said. “This is a kick, huh?”

I didn't take my eyes off Sparkle. I still didn't know what she was going to do. Then, without warning, she launched herself at Edie, catching me in the process of what turned out to be a group hug. Sparkle was beaming, an honest-to-goodness full-on smile. I'd never seen such a thing on her face before. Her dark eyes sparkled with delight, and for the first time since I met her, I understood why Sparkle's parents chose her name.

She released the two of us and turned on her brother, throwing her arms around his neck. I glanced at Edie, a little worried about her reaction. To my surprise, tears brimmed in her eyes. “She's happy,” Edie whispered. “She's really happy.”

River looked as confused as the rest of us, but he hugged Sparkle back and laughed softly. “I haven't seen you look like this since you were a kid. What's going on?”

She took a step back, leaving both hands on his shoulders. “The baby,” she said softly. “It's yours.”

He didn't move a muscle. “What baby?”

“Uh,” Edie said nervously, “mine.”

“I think it's time the two of you were properly introduced,” I said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Why don't we slip out for a few minutes. The two of you can chat in my office.”

Edie nodded and River managed to get one foot in front of the other. Sparkle skipped along beside him, grinning from ear to ear. “It's what we've always wanted,” she said as we left the party behind. “We're finally going to have a family.”

• • •

Sugar Plum Spice Cake

¹
/
₂
cup shortening

2
¹
/
₂
cups sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1
¹
/
₂
teaspoons baking soda

³
/
₄
teaspoon salt

³
/
₄
teaspoon cinnamon

³
/
₄
teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup granulated sugar

²
/
₃
cup packed brown sugar

1
¹
/
₄
cups buttermilk

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease two 9-by-1
¹
/
₂
-inch pans and set aside. In a large bowl, stir the shortening to soften. Add the dry ingredients. Add 1 cup buttermilk and stir until the mix is dampened, then beat with a mixer on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and remaining buttermilk and beat 1 minute.

Pour into prepared pans and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Cool on racks about 5 minutes before removing from pans.

Ice with Fluffy Boiled Frosting when cool.

• • •

Fluffy Boiled Frosting

Great with the Sugar Plum Spice Cake.

1
¹
/
₄
cups sugar

¹
/
₈
teaspoon cream of tartar

¹
/
₈
teaspoon salt

6 tablespoon water

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small (1-quart) saucepan, heat the sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and water over medium heat until boiling. Set a candy thermometer in place and boil until the temperature reaches 260ºF or until a little mixture dropped into cold water forms a hard ball. Remove from heat.

In a small mixing bowl with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

Pour the syrup in a thin stream into the egg whites, beating constantly; add the vanilla and continue beating until the mixture forms stiff peaks.

Optional: Add 1 cup cooked prunes, cut into
¹
/
₂
-inch pieces, well drained. Spread between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.

• • •

Rubio's Famous Smoked Pork Ribs

Serves 6 to 12

6 racks pork ribs (this will be 4 to 5 pounds if using baby back ribs or 6 to 8 pounds if using spareribs)*

Rubio's Dry Rub Seasoning (see recipe below), or you can use your favorite barbecue sauce or other dry rub.

* Note: Baby back ribs are cut from the lower back rib section of a pig's loin. Each rack usually contains 10 to 13 ribs and weighs roughly 2 pounds. Baby back ribs are meatier and leaner than spare ribs, which come from the pig's belly section.

Preheat your smoker to 200ºF to 225ºF. Pork ribs can be smoked with about any kind of smoking wood. Oak and hickory are the most popular, and Rubio prefers hickory.

Prepare Rubio's Dry Rub Seasoning or use your favorite recipe.

• • •

Rubio's Dry Rub Seasoning

You can find many dry jerk seasonings widely available to buy in any grocery store, but here's Rubio's favorite recipe that you can make at home:

3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 to 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper or chili powder (This is an approximate measure. Use an amount that will please your personal taste and your family's.)

Combine the ingredients in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake until the ingredients are well blended. Store the mixture in an airtight container in a cool, dark place until ready to use.

Rinse the ribs in cold water and pat dry.

Remove the membrane. This is the thin, paper-like skin you find on the back of each rack of ribs. Some people swear by removing the membrane. Some leave it on. Rubio takes it off because the membrane prevents the meat from taking in the smoke, so it creates a barrier to the seasoning.

To remove the membrane, lay the ribs on a flat surface meat side down. Using a sharp knife, begin peeling the membrane at one corner of the rack near the bone and work across to the other end. You'll probably want to trim and toss any excess fat, but don't remove it all, because the fat gives your meat flavor.

Rinse the ribs again and pat dry.

Generously rub the ribs with the seasoning of your choice. Use your hands and rub it in thoroughly. Cover the ribs in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight) to let the dry rub work into the meat. Remember that the longer it sits, the spicier the meat will be.

Remove the ribs from the refrigerator approximately 1 hour before cooking.

Cook low and slow: Like traditional barbecue, smoked ribs should be cooked on a low heat for a long time. Maintain your temperature at 200ºF to 225ºF for maximum flavor.

Plan on 1 hour of smoking per pound of ribs. You can smoke each full rack for around 4 hours, or even more. Don't try to rush the results by raising the temperature to speed up the cooking time. Cooking your pork on a higher temperature will result in tough, chewy meat.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking, you can begin to brush the ribs with a glaze or sauce—but Rubio doesn't know why you'd want to.

Your ribs are done when you can easily pull the meat from the bones. The internal temperature should register at least 165ºF. Remove the meat from the smoker and let the ribs rest as you would any meat. Wait at least 10 to 15 minutes before cutting in.

To serve: Cut down the middle of each strip of meat between each rib bone. Serve the smoked ribs plain (delicious) or with your choice of sauce.

• • •

Rita's Blueberry Muffins

This recipe produces 8 deli-sized muffins topped with a cinnamon-sugar crumb topping. Fill the muffins cups to the top edge for the oversized muffins. You can change it up by adding extra blueberries if you're a real blueberry fan.

MUFFINS

1
¹
/
₂
cups all-purpose flour

³
/
₄
cup sugar

¹
/
₂
teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

¹
/
₃
cup vegetable oil

1 egg

¹
/
₃
cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

TOPPING

¹
/
₂
cup white sugar

¹
/
₃
cup all-purpose flour

¹
/
₄
cup butter, cubed

1
¹
/
₂
teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Make the muffin batter by combining flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Measure the
¹
/
₃
cup vegetable oil in a 1-cup measure. Add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix the liquid ingredients with the flour mixture and then gently fold in the blueberries.

To make the topping, combine all the topping ingredients and mix with a fork. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle evenly with the crumb topping mixture before baking. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done.

• • •

Pecan Balls

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

They'll go fast, so you may want to double the recipe.

¹
/
₂
pound butter (As always, use real butter instead of margarine for the best flavor.)

4 tablespoons sugar

2 cups flour

¹
/
₂
teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Real vanilla has a much better flavor than vanilla flavoring.)

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cream together all the ingredients except the powdered sugar. Roll into small balls about the size of a walnut and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. While still warm (not hot), roll in the powdered sugar. Roll again when the cookies are completely cooled.