Al’s voice wavered with emotion toward the end, but as far as proposals went, he nailed it. Her answer was much simpler.
“Yes.”
Al slid the ring on her finger. He stood and pulled her to him, taking her face in his hands. Neither could contain their silly grins. Al studied her face as if searching for any changes he needed to memorize right away. Would he kiss her already?
Lou grew impatient. Sick of waiting for him to give her what she wanted, Lou pulled him in for a proper kiss.
• • • • •
A bit later, they sat at Otto and Gertrude’s table, neither wearing shoes, and Lou hadn’t picked up her apron from where it lay crumpled.
She took a forkful of cake and offered it to Al. With their eyes on each other, he took the bite off the fork. With his mouth full, he said, “Perfect. I’ve waited a year to taste this cake. So worth it.”
“Is that an official review?” Lou raised an eyebrow.
Al squirmed. “Um . . .”
Lou laughed, then leaned in to kiss him again. She rose, buttoned on her chef’s coat, slipped her feet into the spongy green shoes, and picked up her apron. As she retied it, settling it into the ideal spot on her hips, she looked at Al, still sitting in front of the cake, shaving slices off, then tossing them into his mouth like tequila shots.
“Do you need to get back to work?” Lou asked, twirling the new ring around her finger and chewing her lip.
Al got to his feet, looking around the empty restaurant, boxes stacked in corners, books and notebooks filling the empty tables, and pots and pans scattered among fresh vegetables and meats in the open kitchen. He stood in front of Lou, looking into her melted chocolate eyes.
“I’ll stay as long as you’ll let me. I can’t imagine a better place to spend my time. Can I do something to help? Or will I be in your way?”
Lou’s infectious smile spread to Al’s face, even though he didn’t know the reason for it yet; he was just happy he helped put it there.
“How would you like to sample some truffle and foie gras sausages?” Lou grabbed his hand, led him to the kitchen, and wrapped a crisp white apron around his waist.
“Truffles? Fantastic.”
Lou pulled the bow taut and stepped back to admire her new fiancé standing in the middle of her new kitchen, eager to taste her dishes. She noticed a bit of frosting on the edge of his lip, so she kissed it off.
Gertrude had been right. Second chances are good, and they taste like coconut cake.
• GRANDMA LUELLA’S •
COCONUT CAKE
Though Harley says to weigh the ingredients, I’m giving the instructions the way Grandma Luella gave them to me. If you prefer to weigh, you can find nifty conversions on the Internet.
Make sure to bring all the ingredients to room temperature before mixing.
5 large egg whites (save the yolks to make homemade pudding—yum)
3/4 cup cream of coconut
1/4 cup coconut milk—make sure to stir the contents very well to recombine before measuring (save the leftovers for Thai food or your coffee)
1 large egg
1 tsp coconut extract
2 tsp vanilla extract (I’ve been known to use more—make sure it’s REAL vanilla. I prefer Mexican vanilla, but use what you like)
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp table salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, cut into 12 pieces
1 recipe Coconut Frosting
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brush or rub melted butter onto two 9-inch cake pans (you can use cooking spray, but the butter will taste better), then line the pan bottoms with parchment paper (trust me, this makes cake removal so much easier). In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites, cream of coconut, coconut milk, whole egg, and extracts together until combined and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a mixer on low speed, beat in the butter, one piece at a time, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 2 to 5 minutes (about 2 minutes for a stand mixer, closer to 5 minutes with a handheld mixer).
• Increase the speed to medium-high and add 1 cup of the egg mixture. Beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds (a little longer with a hand mixer). Add the remaining egg mixture in a steady stream and continue to beat until the batter is combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and beaters as needed.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out with a few crumbs, about 30–35 minutes. All ovens vary, so be careful not to overbake. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.
• Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes on wire racks. Run a knife around the edge, then flip out onto the racks. Remove the parchment paper, flip the cakes upright, and let them cool completely before frosting.
• COCONUT FROSTING •
You can toast the coconut however you like: oven, microwave, or stovetop. I like to do it in a nonstick skillet on medium-low, stirring every few minutes. Careful once it starts to brown, as it can go from toasty goodness to burnt crud very quickly. I spread it out on paper towels to cool and save any leftovers to put on ice cream.
2 tbsp coconut milk
1 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of table salt
16 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream of coconut
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups toasted coconut
• Stir the coconut milk, extracts, and salt together until the salt dissolves.
• Beat the butter and cream of coconut in a large bowl at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth, about 2 to 5 minutes. Beat in the extract mixture. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 to 8 minutes.
• Set one layer of cake on a cake stand or plate. You can use a daub of frosting to keep it in place. Take 1 cup of frosting and spread over the bottom layer (an offset spatula works well for this). Sprinkle with toasted coconut. This gives a nice crunch in the middle of the cake.
• Set the second layer on top of the first. Scoop out the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake. Spread the frosting to the edge of the cake, working it over the sides and down, spinning the stand or plate as needed to frost all sides of the cake. Don’t worry about making it too pretty—the toasted coconut will help hide the flaws.
• Press the toasted coconut onto the sides of the cake, and sprinkle it over the top.
• Cut and hide a piece immediately because people will soon arrive to swipe your cake—I’m looking at you, Harley and Al.