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Chapter One
‘Hello, everyone, and welcome to Claudia Croft’s Paradise Cookery School here on the gorgeous island of St Lucia. I’m Amelia Harper and this week, along with my co-presenter, Ella Johnson, I’ll be demonstrating a whole host of delicious recipes before giving you all the opportunity to try them out for yourselves under our supervision.’
Millie inhaled a deep breath to steady her rampaging nerves, but her heart continued to hammer out a symphony of fear, sending spasms of electricity out to her fingertips. How had she got herself into this? Overseeing the kitchen renovations for celebrity cookery book writer and chef Claudia Croft was one thing, but presenting one of her prestigious courses was quite another. As she stared at the eager faces in front of her, she chastised herself for her lack of confidence and pulled herself together.
What was she so worried about? She could do this!
‘At the request of Imogen, our fabulous bride-to-be, Claudia has designed a week of personalised tutorials that she’s calledChocolate & Confetti, crammed with mouth-watering chocolate-inspired recipes, all of which you’ll be able to taste-test at the end of each day.’
‘Yay!’ squealed Gracie, the youngest member of the pre-wedding hen party at eight years old, clapping her hands and pogoing up and down on the spot in her two-sizes-too-big-for-her apron. A wave of laughter rippled around the room as Imogen patted her niece’s blonde curls affectionately.
‘Also, as a special treat, a good friend of ours, Lottie Bedford, has designed a range of delicious cocktails made from locally sourced ingredients, including a really delicious recipe that contains the flesh of the cocoa pods you see growing in the villa’s grounds.’
‘Mmm!’
This time the sigh of pleasure came from the adult members of the group, particularly Imogen’s sister, Karen, and her bridesmaids, Carla and Harriet, whilst her mother, Julia, shook her head and rolled her eyes at them.
‘Don’t worry, there’ll be a few alcohol-free versions to choose from, too. Lottie really is a maestro at mixing exotic flavours. Ella and I had hoped that she would be with us this week, but she’s been promoted to manager of the Purple Parrot bar in Soufrière after the proprietor had a run-in with the local police. So, shaking cocktails will be a new skill that we can learn together.’
Millie glanced around at the six chocoholics who had chosen to spend the week before Imogen’s glamourous nuptials learning how to create all-things cocoa-related instead of indulging in the more traditional exploits of raucous hen parties down in the bars and restaurants in Soufrière, the former St Lucian capital at the bottom of the hill.
Not only would they be turning their hands to producing desserts, cakes and patisserie containing their beloved bean, but Millie also intended to explain how the chocolate they were using was produced from the tiny nibs found inside the weird purple-brown pods that grew on the trees in the villa’s extensive grounds.
‘So, I hope you all have a fun and productive week but that you also leave the Paradise Cookery School with a treasure trove of new recipes in your repertoire with which to impress your friends when you return home.’
‘If you can teach Imogen to bake anything that isn’t tinged with the aroma of burnt tyres, or completely caramelised to a crisp, then I’ll be happy!’ laughed Julia, smirking at her daughter, her affection apparent for all to see.
‘Hey! Is it my fault that I prefer to support the products made by our friends at our local patisserie?’ Imogen retaliated, a wide grin splitting her cheeks. ‘Nicole’spain aux chocolatare to die for, not to mention her white chocolate éclairs.’
‘Okay, so I thought I would start by demonstrating a couple of my favourite childhood recipes passed down from my French grandmother – chocolate truffle tortes with hazelnut brittle and chocolate and cherry madeleines.’
Millie smoothed her trembling palms over the front of the pale lemon apron that had been embroidered with Claudia’s famous CC logo. Her knees shook a little and she was grateful she’d had the good sense to ditch her heels for a pair of sequinned flip-flops. However, as soon as she began to weigh out the ingredients, her anxiety vanished, and the next three hours passed in a whirl of frenzied activity. She even had to admit that she was enjoying herself; after all, baking had always been her go-to activity to escape the grenades that life had thrown in her path.
When Claudia had asked her to step into her shoes at the last minute, Millie’s first reaction had been to panic. She had been more than happy to temporarily swap her job as a pastry chef in a tiny patisserie in London to oversee the upgrade of the villa’s kitchen after Claudia broke her leg in a horse riding accident. It had been the perfect opportunity to escape the heartache caused by the breakdown of her relationship with Luke and spend some time in the Caribbean sunshine.
However, she had never in her wildest dreams thought she would still be there two weeks later, wearing the course presenter badge!
So, here she was, standing in front of six well-heeled women – in both senses of the word – all of whom were expecting to be guided through the labyrinth of culinary excellence by the celebrated TV chef and cookery writer. She had tried to refuse, but by the time Claudia’s doctors had forbidden her to travel, the hen party guests had already arrived at the luxury boutique hotel where the wedding of the year was taking place at the end of the week, and it was too late to cancel. Millie didn’t want to let Claudia down – or to disappoint the bridal party – so, against her better judgment, she had reluctantly agreed to step into the breach.
As the proud owner of a Michelin star, shedidhave the necessary culinary qualifications to deliver the course, and she and Ellahadspent the previous two weeks triple-testing every single recipe on the itinerary. Even so, she was terrified that Claudia’s very firstChocolate & Confetticourse would be a flop, that the Paradise Cookery School would receive dreadful reviews, which in turn would jeopardise any plans Claudia had for future courses.
Whilst that scenario would be upsetting for Claudia who adored her Caribbean home, because her main place of business was located in a manor house in the Cotswolds, it wouldn’t affect her business too much. What Millie was most concerned about was how the failure would affect Ella, her co-host and newfound friend, whose long-held dream to run a cookery school was about to come true.
Everything rested on Millie and she had to give it her best shot.
At lunchtime, the group broke from their activities to gather on the veranda and feast on a kaleidoscope of Caribbean-inspired salads prepared by Ella before resuming their positions behind their respective workstations for the afternoon tutorial.
‘I’ll now pass the culinary baton over to Ella who is going to demonstrate how to make mini chocolate-orange roulades filled with marmalade made from the oranges that are grown right here on the Croft estate. Then, to end the day with a sizzle, we’ll make one of Ella’s signature recipes that her son, Henri, swears are the best he’s ever tasted – chilli-chocolate brownies.’
‘Yay!’ squealed Gracie. ‘I love chocolate brownies!’
‘You might want to add a little less chilli to your own recipe!’ Ella laughed, taking Millie’s place at the marble-topped demonstration bench, every inch the Caribbean cook extraordinaire.
That day, in honour of the occasion, Ella’s ample proportions were enhanced by a tropically-inspired kaftan scattered with sequin and gemstone embellishments, and a necklace made of hand-crafted wooden beads the size of quail’s eggs with matching earrings. Millie smiled, her co-presenter clearly lived by the mantra that excess was better when it came to technicoloured wardrobe choices.
Listening to Ella’s melodic Caribbean lilt as she explained the importance of lightness of touch when it came to making sponge cake, Millie’s heart gave a squeeze of gratitude for her friend’s expertise and calm professionalism in contrast to her own tendency towards culinary clutter.
She adored Ella – with her penchant for exotic spices and habit of dispensing blunt, yet level-headed advice. Her knowledge of Caribbean cookery was extensive, embroidered over the years with a variety of influences from Creole to French, from Spanish to American. Millie knew she couldn’t have done any of this without her support.
