Mariella Mystery Investigates a Cupcake Conundrum. Kate Pankhurst
AM: The Bake or Break talent spotter said Violet’s cake showed star potential! WOW.
The mysterious part of her Mystery Cake was revealed when you cut into it. Inside there was a different colored piece of cake in the shape of a question mark.
11:35 AM: Operation Bake-a-Cake is a success! Violet is through to the next audition! She is definitely going to win the competition and write a best-selling recipe book all about mysterious cakes. It could have recipes in it like the Truffles of Doom, or the Disappearing Cupcake, or something like that. I feel so proud of her.
PART ONE OF MISSION: COMPLETE!
6:30 PM
MYSTERY GIRLS HQ
Violet had the day off from school today to go to the next round of auditions and she was just here with some AMAZING NEWS! She is through to the finals of Bake or Break, on actual TV! And extra amazingness – the TV company has chosen our school field as the location for the Bake or Break tent! Poppy and I are going to be there to support Violet through the whole thing. (I hope there are loads of free cake.)
So, instead of Mystery Girl team meetings, Poppy says we need to cover every aspect of Coping at an Extreme Baking Competition in Intensive Preparation Sessions.
Tonight we’ve been recreating conditions Violet might experience in the Bake or Break kitchens. I created extreme heat by blasting hot air into HQ from Mom’s travel blow dryer and Poppy banged some pans together to represent distracting “sounds of the kitchen.” Violet coped really well in Mystery Girls HQ but she’s still worried about what it will actually be like in the competition.
Violet worries about stuff all the time. It’s our job to make sure she keeps calm. (I’ve had loads of practice at this – detectives need to be calm and level-headed in all sorts of tricky situations.)
“I feel so nervous,” said Violet. “What if my baking is terrible compared to the other contestants?”
“They might be talented, but I’m sure none of them will have the same mysterious edge as you,” I said. (Auditions have been held all around the country so we won’t know who the other four contestants are until the competition starts next week, but I’m sure this is true.)
Violet learned to bake with her Grandma Maple.
Grandma Maple is really well known in Puddleford as the only person to ever win the Puddleford Summer Festival’s “Best Bake in Show” award ten years in a row.
One of her recipes, the Maple Marvel, became famous after it received the highest score EVER.
Lots of people asked Grandma Maple for the recipe but she said it was absolutely top secret.
Grandma Maple is away at the moment on a cooking cruise, tasting cakes from other countries.
She mailed her recipe book to Violet, saying she hoped it would bring her luck in the competition. It definitely has so far!
Violet has come up with loads of cake ideas that she’s been adding to the recipe book for Grandma Maple to read when she gets back.
“Just remember Grandma Maple’s advice,” I said to Violet. (Grandma Maple has written lots of good baking advice in the recipe book.) “Keep calm and concentrate on the cakes!” That’s my favorite one.
5:30 PM
MYSTERY GIRLS HQ (2 DAYS UNTIL THE BAKE OR BREAK FINALS START!)
We’ve been watching past shows of Bake or Break after school and I’m starting to see why Violet is so nervous. She is going to face four different baking challenges over four days, and they don’t look easy.
1. THE CUPCAKE CHALLENGE: Bake the most exciting and unique cupcake you possibly can. One past contestant actually managed to bake hovering cupcakes with little jet packs in them.
That’s just crazy.
2. THE PICNIC BASKET CHALLENGE: The judges pull a random type of picnic food from a picnic basket that the contestants must bake. In the episodes we watched, this was where loads of contestants experienced “breaking.” One girl realized she’d forgotten the jelly layer in her trifle. Trying to block out the extreme embarrassment of the incident, she stuck her head in a bowl of whipped cream and refused to move. (It sounds funny but it was really serious – she almost suffocated!)
3. THE CHILDREN’S PARTY CHALLENGE: The judges will be looking for a really complicated birthday cake. If it’s not exciting enough, contestants get cream pies thrown at them while they bake.
Pressure!
4. THE SHOW-STOPPER CHALLENGE: This is a chance for contestants to bake a cake that shows off their talents. Violet told us she is planning a new take on the award-winning and famous Maple Marvel cake (with a secret and mysterious edge).
“How am I going to find time to practice making my Show-Stopper recipe on top of everything else?” said Violet, biting her fingernails.
“Relax,” said Poppy. “The Show-Stopper Challenge is the last in the competition – you’ve got a lot of time.”
“But what if the judges hate it? What if they think I can’t bake? What if … what if …”
“Violet, pull yourself together. The judges are going to love you,” said Poppy, shooting me a worried look.
I know why Poppy is worried. After watching Bake or Break, I’ve realized the judges are tough – very tough.
HARRIET BLYTHINGTON: Has been a Bake or Break judge for years and years. She’s hard to please and is famous around the world for her meringue-whipping.
She insists on whisking by hand and thinks electric mixers are for wimps. One year she banned them from Bake or Break, but nearly all the contestants ended up “breaking” due to severe arm cramps. She is one of Violet’s