In his slightly fuddled state, he couldn’t believe it. The smell. He’d just been thinking about Issy, and suddenly, out of nowhere, he’d smelled her. He followed his nose off down a side street. And sure enough, right there on the corner was the most adorable, charming, perfect little cupcake café he’d ever seen in his life.

Outside, the little corner building was painted pink. It was completely covered top to toe in little white fairy lights, with more lights strung inside visible through the windows. Mismatched dark-coloured sofas – greens and burgundies – were dotted around, covered in tartan rugs, and the walls and the floor were dark mahogany. The smell of coffee and baking cakes made Austin nearly tearful with homesickness. He pushed open the door, and it clanged just like Issy’s did.

‘Well, hello there,’ said a friendly voice from behind the counter. The back wall was entirely lined with red and green twisted candy canes. ‘What can I get you today?’

Chapter Five

Polar Bear Cupcakes

These little cakes are irresistible. Cut the liquorice into tiny eyes and a little nose, and use white buttons for the ears. Or if, like me, you hate liquorice, use chocolate chips. Try not to feel too sad when you bite into them; let’s face it, anyone who can eat a jelly baby can eat a coconut baby polar bear.

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature

125g caster sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

125g sifted self-raising flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp milk

For this recipe you need two different sizes of cupcake tin, one smaller than the other.

Preheat oven to 190°C/gas mark 5, and put paper cases in the tins.

Beat butter and sugar together, then add eggs, flour, vanilla and milk and beat until the mix drops slowly off the spoon (add more milk if it won’t).

Spoon into paper cases, put in oven. Check with a toothpick after 12 minutes – if it comes out clean, we’re ready.

For the topping

125g unsalted butter

250g icing sugar, sifted

1tsp coconut extract (you can also use Malibu, if you’re feeling frisky!)

splash of milk

desiccated coconut

chocolate chips, large and small

white chocolate buttons

Beat the butter and add the icing sugar, then add the coconut extract and the milk until you have a light frosting.

Spread the frosting all over one small and one large cupcake, then stick them together so the little cake makes the polar bear’s head. Carefully roll the bear in the desiccated coconut.

Add chocolate chips to make the eyes and the nose, and the white chocolate buttons to make the ears – and voilà! Polar bear cupcakes!!!!

Merry Christmas!

‘So we’re going full Christmas,’ said Pearl in a resigned tone of voice.

‘They’re polar bears,’ said Issy. ‘Polar bears are for life, Pearl, not just Christmas. Anyway,’ she added, ‘it’s the first of December today! It’s Advent! It’s all official! Ta-dah!’

She unveiled her pièce de résistance from her shoulder bag: a huge Advent calendar. It was in the shape of a traditional snow-coloured village, and the brightly coloured windows of the houses formed the numbers of the calendar.

‘First child every morning gets to open a door. Except for Louis.’

Louis looked up from where he was sitting engrossed in a book about frogs.

‘Do you have your own calendar?’ she asked.

Louis nodded gravely.

‘Grammy did give me one. It has sweeties. I get chocolate every day! And Daddy gave me one too.’

Issy looked at Pearl.

‘Don’t look at me,’ said Pearl, who had some trouble watching Louis’ weight. ‘I told them both,’ she said. ‘I took one of them away.’

‘For the poor children,’ said Louis gravely. ‘Poor, poor children. I kept Grammy’s because I ate that first.’

‘OK, good,’ said Issy. ‘Don’t open this one, if you don’t mind. You can open the big doors on Christmas Eve.’

Louis studied it carefully. ‘Issy!’ he said urgently. ‘It has no chocolate left, Issy!’

‘Not all Advent calendars have chocolate, Louis.’

‘Yes! They do!’ said Louis. ‘I think a robber came.’

‘Well, I’m glad I’m not going to have too much trouble keeping you away from it,’ said Issy.

She unfolded the calendar on top of the fireplace. It looked lovely, but wouldn’t stay up.

‘Hmm, I wonder what would keep that up?’ she said. ‘Oh, I know. Perhaps this long rope of holly I just happen to have in my bag.’

Pearl snorted. ‘Yeah, all right,’ she said. ‘You’ve made your point.’

‘Did you know who started with the holly and the ivy?’ said Issy cheerfully.

‘Baby Jesus!’ hollered Louis.

‘Well, yes,’ said Issy. ‘But also the Romans. And mistletoe is from even further back, from the Druids, their midwinter festival.’

Pearl sold another six polar bear cakes and didn’t say anything. Caroline turned up to let Issy get back downstairs to the baking. Her face fell when she saw the holly on the fireplace.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘You’ve decided to go with red and green, have you?’

‘At Christmas?’ said Issy. ‘Well. Yes, funnily enough.’

‘But there’s so many more chic ways to do it!’ said Caroline. ‘I was thinking maybe an all-silver motif, or those clear plastic trees they do in the Conran shop? So stylish.’

‘If I wanted to be stylish, I wouldn’t wear clothes from a catalogue,’ said Issy. ‘I want it to be nice and cosy and comfortable, not scary like those posh places where they make you sit on jaggedy chairs and everyone is blonde and skinny and wears leather trousers …’

Realising she was exactly describing Caroline, Issy fell silent. Fortunately Caroline, despite having zero body fat, managed to be very thick-skinned.

‘We’ll never make it into the Super Secret London Guide,’ she said. ‘They choose the most select hidden shops of the year and run a special issue. There’s a prize for the most stylishly decorated.’

‘We will not,’ said Issy. ‘I will try and get through it as stoically as I can.’

Caroline pouted. ‘Don’t you want to at least make the effort? They run a special supplement in January.’