Chapter 9
I promptly begin the preparation .
The first ingredient that I take to my hand is the fresh cream, made from the freshly squeezed milk that has just arrived .
“Kurt-sama, what are you making?” Tina, endlessly excited, is peering into my hand’s movements .
“It’s butter . That’s right, I’ve never shown you how to make butter, haven’t I?”
I pour the fresh cream into a metal bowl, and whisk it fast . I’ve asked Tina to make ice with her magic*, adding ice cold water to it . By doing that, the fat layer gets solidified and becomes butter . To bake cookies, unsalted butter without any salt at all is the best . Adding salt will turn the butter’s color muddy . However, not adding salt will make it easily spoiled, so it’s a luxury item for ordinary lifestyle .
The fresh creamy milk from this morning turns into butter right now . It’s the best possible butter ever .
“Awesome, really, white and smoky and it becomes butter . It’s just like magic . ”
“Cooking is magic . Taste it, fresh butter is just the best . ”
I scoop the fresh butter with spoon, turning it to Tina’s mouth, which she chomps on at once . Tina’s face melts happily .
“Wooow, it melts instantly, so mellow . ”
The new butter is light, but the flavor is strong and rich . Spreading it to some bread and eating as is will make a great breakfast . Fresh butter tastes a whole different level if eaten in thirty minutes from when it’s done .
“The butter is done, I’m going to start the dough . ”
“Kurt-sama, it’s cookies this time, right? Why did you prepare four bowls?”
“To let the rose flower blooms, I need to make four different dough . ”
While chopping the almonds that Marquis Fernandes arranged for me, I put rose-dipped whiskey, eggs, butter, and brown sugar . As I bake them, the dough will turn dark, deeper flavour…… This is separated into two parts of different ratio .
After that, I knead wheat flour, rose petal honey, then walnut oil that I brought from the village . As they’re baked, the dough will turn white, light flavored and brittle . Without using the eggs, they’ll taste as fresh as they can be . ……I also separate split them halves with different ratio .
I’ve made four different dough .
“The contrast between the white and black dough is really interesting . ”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, it’ll start getting exciting now . ”
I divide the well-kneaded dough into several parts, then press them each until thin . I made all the white and black dough into thick and thin rectangles .
“Tina, freeze all the dough . Carefully, okay?”
“Yes, Kurt-sama . ”
The dough are getting frozen by Tina’s hand . And then, I cut those frozen dough .
“Okay then, let’s put the finishing touches . ”
I stack those thin rectangle dough in different sizes one on top of the other, layered up and gets rounder . And then, with the remarkably large white dough layer, I roll them up to complete the dough .
“Kurt-sama, what is this?”
“You’ll understand when you see it . ”
I’ve layered the dough one on top of another again and again into a cylindrical shape, then with my cake knife, I slice it evenly . The result is a round-cut cookies .
“Is that, rose?” Tina’s voice went a pitch higher in surprise as she looked at the cut cylindrical dough .
“You’re right, it’s a rose . ”
“The cut surface turns into rose pattern! So you can do it this way . But I’m a bummed, it lacks a tiny bit of something, how regretful . ”
‘It’s all good . The roses aren’t in full bloom yet . When they’re baked, they’ll start blooming then . ”
Laying the round cut cookies, I insert them into the oven . Then, at roughly the same time as they’re baked, I arrange the remaining batch by stacking them up to the very end . This time, the black dough acts as the wrap instead .
“The last one was black rose on a white canvas, but this time, it’s white rose on a black canvas! This is so pretty too . ”
That’s right, the reason I divided the dough wasn’t for being eccentric or showing off . I was stacking the white and black layers of dough alternatively in order to draw the rose . It’s the same technique as Kintarou candy . By stacking rectangle shaped ingredients and turn them round, a drawing will be made . With this, no matter how many times I cut them, I can make the exact same drawing .
“But why did you divide it into four? You can make the rose pattern just by dividing it to two, right?”
“That’s no good . The rose’s deliciousness comes from the harmony between the white dough and the black dough . Drawing the black pattern and the white pattern will result in different ratio of black and white . Which ingredients to use, how much should I mix them together, their most suitable solution will be different . That’s why, the dough to make white rose and to make black rose, even though they look the same color, they actually are properly separated . ”
“You’ve considered that far……”
“Doing it that far is the reason why it will become a superb pastry . ” I grin . A pastry’s look is important, but the taste is also important . A pâtissier’s job is to make sure they both bloom . A compromise is unforgivable .
“It’ll finish baking soon . Tina felt bummed before that the rose didn’t look good, right?”
“I- I’m really sorry . That, uhm, I think they’re pretty, but I thought that something that looked like a drawing was not enough after all . ”
“It’s all right, that impression is correct . But, you know . My cookies has magic laid in them . You’ll see what magic as soon as they’re baked . ”
I take the cookies out of the hearth . The smoke that blows out of it brought the scent of butter and roses in the air .
“Kurt-sama, I can smell the rose’s fragrance!”
“So the smell is a success . Next is the look . Now, look at this cookie . I won’t let you say that they’re awkward . ”
The smoke starts clearing out, and reveals what I’ve taken out of the oven, which are……
“Such a beautiful rose pattern! In a lustrous light brown body as the background, there’s a black rose! I’m not bummed at all! It’s like a picture painted by the most famous artist!”
“Cookies change form once they’re baked . I made the dough that will make you anticipate if the change will occur when the dough is baked, as well as what the shape and color change will be . ”
That’s exactly my rose cookies’ magic . The required skill for an artisan cookies .
“How did you find out what was going to happen after they were baked?”
“It comes from my years of experience, and also intuition . You’ve praised its appearance, but I’m confident about the cookies’ taste too, you know?”
My words make Tina’s eyes sparkling as she looks at me . Her whole body conveys that she really wants to eat the cookie .
“Tina, after we’ve baked the second batch, shall we have some tea?”
“That’s, something so delicious-looking being entrusted to me for later, that’s just……”
While looking at Tina’s entirely downhearted flatly pressed fox ears, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry . However, this is a pastry that has the value to wait for . I’m sure she’ll be happy .
A few minutes later, the two parts rose cookies, the white rose and black rose cookies, are completed . Tina and I take a sample . It gets a huge success rating from me, as well as from Tina . The last thing to do is to present this pastry to Marquis Fernandes and get him interested .
I told Marquis Fernandes’ servant that the pastry gift for the duchess is done, and to tell his master that I wish he would taste the cookies soon .
With this, we’ve arrived at the real deal .
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