Katie Sprinkles and Surprises Read Free

in the Crock-Pot that morning, so we could all eat dinner after our meeting. We got started baking right away. My friends and I have gotten pretty good at baking together. Usually two of us work on the batter while the other two do the icing. Alexis knew the strawberry cake recipe by heart from studying it, so she and I did the batter together.
    â€œIt’s not easy to get cake to taste like strawberrywithout using artificial flavor,” Alexis remarked. “But I think the jam in this batter is going to be nice.”
    â€œAnd using homemade strawberry syrup to flavor the icing will really taste good,” I added.
    Mia was stirring the strawberries, water, and sugar on top of the stove while Mom supervised.
    â€œIt smells awesome,” Mia reported.
    The strawberry syrup cooled while we baked the cupcakes in the oven. Then Mia and Emma mixed the syrup in the blender with butter and powdered sugar to make the frosting. When the cupcakes were done, we had to wait for them to cool before we iced them, so Mom spooned us bowls of veggie chili. Mia and I put sliced jalapeños on top of ours, because we like things spicy. After the chili, we iced the cupcakes.
    â€œThey look so pretty,” Emma said admiringly.
    â€œThe client wants pink flowers on top, but you can work on that, right, Mia?” Alexis asked.
    Mia nodded. “No problem.” She designs most of our cupcake decorations.
    â€œThese look great, but they’re kind of boring for ‘Nice to meet you’ cupcakes,” I said.
    Mom smiled. “Oh? Who are these for?”
    â€œWe thought we could use some for our dinnerwith Jeff,” I said, and Mom looked like she might burst with happiness.
    â€œOh, that’s so sweet of all of you,” she said, beaming. “Thank you! He will love them.”
    â€œI hope he likes pink,” Alexis said.
    â€œIf he doesn’t like pink, then he’s just not a good boyfriend,” I announced, which made no sense at all if you think about it. But Mom didn’t look worried. “Anyway, I still think they look boring.”
    Then I remembered the sleepover with Mia and had an idea. I ran into the kitchen closet and came out with a container of rainbow sprinkles.
    â€œThese make everything better,” I said with a grin, and I grabbed a spoon and started sprinkling the cupcakes.
    Alexis shook her head. “You are rainbow crazy.”
    â€œSprinkles are great,” Mia said. “They cover up any mess you make with the icing.”
    â€œAnd they’re pretty besides!” I added.
    When we were done, we had a plate of very cheerful cupcakes. We stood back and admired our work.
    â€œIf Jeff doesn’t like these, then he has no soul!” I said.

CHAPTER 3
Olivia, the Lovesick Puppy
    T he next day I brought four of the “Nice to meet you” cupcakes to school for our Friday Cupcake Club meeting. It’s been a tradition since we started—every Friday is Cupcake Friday! (Although Mia has often suggested we move it to Monday, since she hates Mondays and she thinks cupcakes would make them better—which they would. But it’s hard to break a tradition once you start it.)
    Sometimes it’s tempting to dig in to the cupcakes before we eat lunch, but we have learned to restrain ourselves. Besides it’s more fun to “save the best for last.” So as we ate our lunches, Alexis went over cupcake business with us.
    â€œI have some exciting news,” she announced. “I got an e-mail last night from a brand-newclient. The director of the Maple Grove Children’s Museum wants us to bake cupcakes for the opening of a space exhibit there next month.”
    â€œOuter space?” I asked. “Cool! We could do cupcakes with alien faces.”
    â€œOr cupcakes that look like planets,” Mia suggested.
    Emma looked thoughtful. “What kinds of flavors can you do for outer space?” she wondered out