Amelie bristled for a moment. ‘You can borrow them. Hire, indeed.’
‘Sorry. It’s just that… well, I wasn’t expecting to be a guest, but thank you,’ said Mina, worried that she might have offended her.
‘You are a guest in my own home, just a little more special than my other guests. And you will enjoy the cross-country skiing.’
‘I’m really looking forward to trying something new.’
‘Luke will be a good teacher. He’s very patient. And—’ she paused with a quick mischievous lift of her eyebrows ‘—easy on the eye.’
‘I hadn’t noticed,’ said Mina mildly and they both burst out laughing. He was also kind and generous.
Once they’d finished their coffees, Amelie stood up. ‘If you’re really interested in our Swiss cakes, then today, if you want to stay in the kitchen all morning, I could show you how to makeSolothurner Torte. It’s a particular favourite of mine and a real treat for the guests. I always serve it on Sundays.’
‘Of course I’d like to stay in the kitchen. I did come to see you, you know.’ She crossed and gave Amelie a big hug. ‘So what are we’re making?’
‘It’s a delicious hazelnut meringue cake, which comes from the town of Solothurn in the North West of the country, not too far from Basel. It was invented by a baker in the town in 1915, and by the following morning was a sensation. People still make special trips to the bakery to buy it today.’
‘Must be quite something. I’ve never heard of it.’ In fact, aside from fondue and rosti, she couldn’t actually think of any traditional Swiss dishes or cakes.
‘Oh, it is.’ Amelie took down the recipe and talked Mina through the components of the three-layered cake before taking the biggest bag of hazelnuts Mina had ever seen out of the tall larder cupboard. As she weighed them out, she directed Mina to whip up egg whites and make the meringues.
They worked in diligent but noisy harmony as Amelie ground the hazelnuts which pinged and bounced in the food processor liked dozens of roulette balls, while Mina beat the eggs with an electric whisk.
‘It’s nice to have someone who knows what they’re doing,’ said Amelie, when Mina turned the bowl upside down to check the egg whites and sugar were stiff enough.
‘It’s nice to be doing something completely different for a change. This recipe sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to try it.’
Once the meringue was made Amelie kept half an eye on her as Mina folded in the ground hazelnuts and she cut out four large grease paper circles. She then handed Mina a piping bag.
‘Can you pipe four coiled circles onto the paper? While you’re doing that I’m going to start making the hazelnut sponge, which goes in between the two meringue layers.’
Mina picked up the bag, filling it with mixture, determined to do the very best job she possibly could. She wanted her part of the cake to be perfect. At work her colleagues had always teased her that she was fiercely competitive when it came to cooking.
While the sponge was baking, Mina made the buttercream that would sandwich the whole sugary confection together. The amount of sugar in it had her fillings tingling.
By this time Amelie was assembling the ingredients for dinner.
‘How many does the chalet sleep?’ asked Mina, curious about to the day-to-day running of the chalet, which was a much bigger operation than she’d expected. ‘I thought you were running a small bed and breakfast from what you said in your emails.’
Amelie let out a snort of laughter. ‘That was the plan, but once I got here, it just grew. I started to build things around the needs of my guests – or rather, what I think they need.
‘There are ten rooms in total, so officially twenty people is my maximum, but I take extra bookings for dinner and for coffee and cake by arrangement only. People have to book in advance so that I know how many to cater for. On Saturday and Sunday nights I tend to do a good hearty meal, because most of people have been out all day and are starving.’ She laughed. ‘Even though they have had cake. Tonight I’m making another very simple dish.’
Mina looked at the recipe on the pinboard. ‘Benediktiner Eintopf.’
‘In English, you might call it monastery stew in one pot. Minced beef, with onions and leeks cooked in a vegetable broth, with Boursin added at the end, although any good-quality cream cheese will do. Couldn’t be simpler or tastier, and it’s served with rustic mashed potatoes and lots of bread to soak up the juices. Always goes down well. I can’t bear those people who just put their heads down and eat, eat like pigs at a trough or those fussy, picky people who don’t really like food and just push it around their plate. They are not welcome to stay again.’
‘You’re making me hungry,’ said Mina.
‘That reminds me. Help yourself to anything in the fridge for lunch. I don’t provide lunch for guests here, although they can order baguettes and some cheese and meat to take for a packed lunch. I always have plenty.’
‘Thank you. You’ve thought of everything.’
‘I try, although I’m worried I’m not being a terribly good hostess to you, not spending any time with you. But I promised Johannes I’d go over to his house later to choose some new wines. He was most insistent it had to be today.’ She rolled her eyes but her mouth curved in a slight smile. ‘I think he’s quite lonely. He seems to like floating around here a lot. Unlike you. You’ve come for a break. I don’t want you to be hanging around here with me, or expect you to be hanging on my apron strings.’ She laughed. ‘That’s rather appropriate. I don’t expect you to help in the kitchen. It’s lovely having your company but you should be out there.’ She pointed.
‘But what if I want to? I’m having a lovely time. And there are some things that Idowant to learn about.’ Mina pointed to the fondue recipe.
‘Ah, I quite often do a fondue or a raclette on a Monday, when it’s much quieter. They’re both good dishes for breaking the ice and making people talk to each other.’
