style="font-size:15px;"> Hannah’s Trick: I’ve found it’s a lot easier to use the disposable foil pot pie tins you can buy at the grocery store. With those you can just flip them over on the dessert plate or bowl, press down on the foil bottoms with a potholder, and the cakes will flop right out. (Yes, the pot pie tins are an extra expense, but removing the cakes will go much faster and the tins can be washed several times by hand or in the dishwasher before you’ll have to throw them away.)
Grease and flour the insides of the pans you’ve chosen. As an alternative to that messy procedure, you can spray them with nonstick BAKING spray (the kind with flour added).
Place the butter and the chips in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl. Heat the contents for 90 seconds on HIGH. Take the bowl out of the microwave and try to stir the contents smooth. (Chocolate chips sometimes maintain their shape even when they’re melted.) If you’re able to stir the mixture smooth, set it on the counter and let it cool. If the chips aren’t melted yet, microwave them in 20-second intervals on HIGH until they are.
When you’re able to cup your hands around the bowl comfortably and you don’t think the chocolate mixture is so hot it’ll cook the eggs you’re about to add, separate 4 eggs into yolks and whites. Put the whites in the refrigerator to add to scrambled eggs the next morning, and whisk the yolks until they’re thoroughly mixed. Then slowly add them to your bowl with the chocolate mixture, stirring all the while.
Add 5 more whole eggs to your mixture one at a time, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
Blend in the white sugar, stirring until it’s thoroughly incorporated.
Mix in the flour and stir until the batter is smooth and free from lumps.
Transfer the batter to the pans you’ve selected, dividing it up between 9 large muffin tins, 6 large popover tins, 8 small soufflé dishes, 6 large soufflé dishes, or 6 disposable foil pot pie tins. Place the pans you used on a baking sheet and slip them in the oven.
Bake at 500 degrees F. for EXACTLY 7 minutes. Set the oven timer and don’t open the oven door while they’re baking. The success of this recipe depends on high even heat for a limited amount of time. You want to bake the outside and leave the inside filled with hot molten chocolate.
When your timer rings, immediately take the cakes from the oven and place them on a wire rack. The damp center of each cake will be barely visible and they may jiggle a bit when you move them to the cooling rack. Don’t worry. That’s the way they’re supposed to be.
Give the cakes 2 minutes to set up slightly. Then upend them on dessert plates or bowls. Use two forks to pull apart the tops to expose the chocolate sauce in the center.
Use a small ice cream scoop to drop vanilla ice cream in the center of the rich molten chocolate.
Serve immediately to rave reviews.
Yield: 9 cakes in large muffin tins, 6 cakes in large removable popover tins, 8 cakes in small soufflé dishes, 6 cakes in large soufflé dishes, or 6 cakes in disposable foil pot pie tins.
If you have leftover cakes, they can be reheated in the microwave, but they won’t be the same. They’ll still be tasty, but the centers will turn into moist cake rather than hot fudge sauce.
Hannah’s Note: If I want my dessert to be extra fancy, I make up some of the fruit sauce I use on potato pancakes and create little designs around the edge of large dessert plates while the Hot Fudge Sundae Cakes are baking. Mother prefers it that way. My sisters like it with their choice of ice cream. Andrea prefers chocolate, Michelle likes butterbrickle, and I think it tastes best with coffee ice cream.
Chapter Five
When Norman pulled into the crowded parking lot, Hannah saw her sister standing in the center of a parking space right next to the entrance, waving her arms frantically. Andrea’s green Volvo was parked next to the spot and it didn’t take an expert on string theory to surmise that she was standing there to save the parking place for them.
The first thing Hannah heard when she emerged from Norman’s car was a tinny version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing played at earsplitting volume. She glanced across the street at the houses nearby, and wondered whether any of the homeowners had filed nuisance complaints.
Hannah covered her ears and gave a little groan. And then she greeted her sister. “Hi, Andrea.”
“Hi, Hannah.” Andrea turned to Norman. “I’m really glad you came along. Three opinions are better than two.”
“And four opinions are even better,” Hannah told her. “Mike should be here any minute, and before he gets here I need to warn you about standing in the middle of parking spots to save them. That really wasn’t smart, Andrea. What if someone had pulled in too fast? They could have plowed right into you.”
“But nobody would do that! Everybody knows I’m the sheriff’s wife!”
“True, but what if they didn’t see you in time? It’s not exactly daylight out here.”
Andrea thought about that for a moment and Hannah could tell from her sister’s set expression that she wasn’t willing to give up the argument quite yet. “Norman saw me in plenty of time. He slowed down.”
“Norman’s a good driver. But what if someone else had been driving, someone who’d stopped at the Lake Eden Municipal Liquor Store to have a couple of hot toddies before coming here to buy a tree?”
“Well…” Andrea sighed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have been standing there in the middle of the space.” She turned to Norman. “Don’t tell Bill, okay?”
Norman smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I know what can happen to a messenger who delivers bad news.”
“What’s that?” Andrea asked.
“Sometimes they’re killed. Sophocles’ messenger in Antigone starts right off by saying, Don’t kill the messenger.”
“That’s awful!” Andrea was clearly appalled. “You can’t just go around murdering people because you don’t like the news they give you. Did the killers get life sentences? Or did this happen in a state with capital punishment?”
Hannah was used to her sister’s hit or miss brush with literature and history and she hurried to explain. “This happened a long time ago in a different part of the world, and nobody really knows what happened. But the phrase stuck with us. Shakespeare used it in Henry IV, Part 2, and some people say that Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain used it, too.”
“Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Clemens,” Andrea announced, clearly proud of herself for remembering. She turned to look as a car entered the parking lot and gave a smile. “Oh, good! Here comes Mike. But there’s no space left. I wonder where he’s going to park.”
“Anywhere he wants to,” Hannah replied, watching as Mike turned on the flashing red lights on top of his cruiser and pulled up horizontally behind Norman’s sedan and Andrea’s Volvo.
Once Mike had joined them, Andrea gave them the note Tracey had brought home from her teacher. The tree should be between four and five feet tall, it should have short needles, and the branches should have space
