Ten minutes passed, and the puffs were still high and golden. The baking powder had worked! She was about to go out and get Lisa when her partner stuck her head into the kitchen.

“Look at these, Lisa,” Hannah fairly crowed.

“They’re beautiful. I’m almost sure they rose higher than Mom’s ever did.”

“Really?”

“I think so. Did you change the recipe?”

“Just a little. I added baking powder and sugar. And I pierced them to let out the steam when they came out of the oven. Your mother’s recipe is a good one, Lisa. I’m going to call them Emmy’s Cream Puffs.”

Lisa shook her head. “I think you should name them something else, Hannah. Mom’s recipe was just a jumping-off place for you.”

“Well…maybe you’re right,” Hannah conceded. “But I made a batch of your mother’s vanilla custard, and I didn’t change a thing. I’ll name that Emmy’s Vanilla Custard if it’s okay with you.”

“It’s fine with me,” Lisa said with a smile.

“I thought we could have a taste test with different fillings if we have enough customers willing to sample them for us.”

Lisa laughed. “Are you kidding?! Get busy and fill them. It’s just about time for the midafternoon rush, and I can guarantee we’ll have plenty of customers ready to taste them.”

Hannah didn’t know when she’d felt so good. Delores and Carrie had come in, and both of them had gone into raptures over the cream puffs. Her mother had pronounced them even better than the ones her Aunt Bertha had baked. Now Hannah was in the kitchen making a third test batch. They were mini cream puffs, the bite-size kind she wanted to serve at her mother’s book launch party. She’d just opened the three cans of pie filling Florence had hand-delivered from the Red Owl in return for a dozen Walnuttoes, when Lisa appeared in the doorway.

“Mike’s here,” she said. “Do you want me to send him back?”

“Sure.” Hannah sliced the top from a mini puff and spooned in strawberry pie filling. She alternated between the three flavors, strawberry, lemon, and blueberry, placing them on a platter with the ones she’d already filled with Emmy’s vanilla custard and the rich, homemade chocolate pudding that her great-grandmother had made. Hannah had just replaced the tops like jaunty berets on top of the cream puffs and dusted them with powdered sugar when Mike walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, Hannah. What are those?”

“Mini Cream Puffs. I’m testing them out for Mother’s book launch party.”

“Need any help?”

Mike looked hopeful, and Hannah gave a little laugh. “Sure. Which do you like best, strawberry or blueberry?”

“Blueberry.”

“Okay.” Hannah picked up a blueberry mini cream puff and set it on a plate. “Now choose between lemon and vanilla.”