NICKA FATIMA

                                                   "STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE"
                                                          Berry Bitty Bakers
                                                            Amy Ackelsberg
Strawberry ShortcakeTM and related trademarks © 2013 Those Characters From   Cleveland, Inc.
Used Under license by Penerbit Erlangga. American Greetings with rose logo is a trademark of AGC, LLC.
                                                          All Right Reserved.
                                              Setting and Layout: EFK Group


                                                           Berry Bitty Bakers

            It was the day before the Berry Bitty Baking Contest. Strawberry Shortcake and her friends were excited to see who could bake the berry best treats.
            “I’m going to make a strawberry cheesecake !” said Strawberry Shortcake.
            “I want to make a plum tart,” added Plum Pudding.
            “I think I’ll make Lemon bars,” said Lemon Meringue.
Orage Blossom, Blueberry Muffin and Raspberry Tortle said they’d rather taste treats than bake them.
            “It’s going to take a lot of work to make our recipes the berry best they can be,” said Strawberry Shortcake. “We should start baking at the cafe right away.”
            “I’ll come over later,” said Lemon Meringue. “I have some things to do first.”
At cafe, Plum Pudding and Strawberry shortcake measured and mixed their ingredients. Then they put their treats in the oven to bake. Soon the kitchen was filled with sweet smells. A little while later, Strawberry Shortcake took her cheesecake out of the oven. But the top was burned ! “Oh bitterberries !” exclaimed Strawberry Shortcake. “I need to try again.”
When Plum Pudding tasted her tart, she thought it was too sour. “Looks like I’ll have to make another one if I want to win !” she said. Meanwhile, Lemon meringue went on a  scooter ride with Orange Blossom and Raspberry Tortle. “The baking contest is tomorrow,” said Orange Blossom. “I cann’t wait !”
            “How did your Lemon Bars come out ?” Raspberry Tortle asked Lemon Meringue.
            “I haven’t started them yet,” said Lemon Meringue. “But they won’t take long to make.”
Later Lemon Meringue visited Blueberry Muffin’s bookstore. “Hi, Lemon Meringue,” siad Blueberry Muffin. “Are you ready for the baking contest ?”
            “Not yet,” replied Lemon Meringue. “I’ll make my Lemon Bars later.”
By the time Lemon Meringue arrived at Strawberry Shortcake’s cafe, it was berry late. “ How did the bakong go ?” Lemon Meringue asked Strawberry Shortcake. “It took a few tries, but we got our recipes just right,” said Strawberry Shortcake. “Good luck baking. See you in the morning.” Lemon Meringue rushed around the cafe gathering the ingredients for her lemon bars. Soon the kitchen was a mess! There was flour on the counter and an eeg splattered on the floor. “I hope I can finish in time!” cried Lemon Meringue.
            In the morning, everyone in town gathered for the contest. Besides Plum Pudding, Lemon Meringue and Strawberry Shortcake, the other contestants were Jadeyburg, Berrykin Bloom and Postmaster Bumblebee. Everyone watched as Mr. Longface, the judge, tasted all the treats. Mr. Longface smiled when he tasted most of the entires. But he made a funny face when he tried Lemon Meringue’s lemon bars.
            “The result are in!” announced Mr. Longface. “And the winner is . . .”
            “. . . Plum Pudding!” exclaimed Mr. Longface.
            “Thank you!” cried Plum.
            “Mr. Longface, why didn’t you like my lemon bars?” asked Lemon Meringue.
            “I’m sorry, Lemon Meringue. But they were too salty,” said Mr. Longface.
            “Salty? How did that happend?” cried Lemon Meringue. Lemon Meringue looked at Plum Pudding and thought, “Plum Pudding really wated to win. Maybe she sprinkled salt on my lemon bars!”. Then Lemon Meringue said, “Plum Pudding, did you do something to ruin my lemon bars?”. “That’s not berry nice!” Plum Pudding exclaimed. “I would never do something like that.” Plum Pudding was so upset that she ran straight home. Blueberry Muffin and Raspberry Tortle hurried after her. “I don’t think Plum Pudding would ruin your lemon bars,” Orange Blossom explained to Lemon Meringue. “Hmm . . . there must be another explanation,” said Strawberry Shortcake “Let’s go to my cafe. Maybe we can figure out what happened.” At cafe, Lemon Meringue started to clean up the mess she had made the night before. “Lemon Meringue, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Strawberry Shortcake told her. “There’s no proof that Plum Pudding did anything wrong. She’s your friend.” “I know,” Lemon Meringue replied, “but . . . oh no!” Lemon Meringue cried suddenly. She saw that she had left a box of salt next to her mixing bowl. “I must have added salt instead of sugar!” said Lemon Meringue. “it was my fault, not Plum Pudding’s!” Lemon Meringue felt terrible that she had blamed Plum Pudding for her mistake. Then Lemon Meringue had an idea. She got out the sugar and started to make a new batch of lemon bars. When Lemon Meringue was finished baking, she went to Plum Pudding’s dance studio. Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Blossom went, too. “Plum Pudding, I’m sorry that I blamed you for running my lemon bars. It was my own fault that I didn’t win,” Lemon Meringue said. “I was rushing to finish and not being careful.” Then Lemon Meringue gave Plum Pudding the new batch of lemon bars. “Lemon Meringue, you really hurt my feelings,” said Plum Pudding. “But I accept your apology.” “Thank you,” said Lemon Meringue. “You worked hard to make your tart the berry best! You deserved to win.” Plum Pudding shared the lemon bars with all her friends. “Lemon Meringue, these are delicious!” said Plum Pudding. “What a sweet treat!” “Thank you,” Lemon Meringue replied. “But sharing them with my berry best friends is the sweetest treat of all.”