Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1233 591: Testing the Waters (Part 2)

If conditions allowed, Wang Gen Sheng would have applied for a set of uniforms for the kitchen of Yunzhong Restaurant and worn them to work in the kitchen.

Seeing Wang Gen Sheng in a good state, Qin Huai knew he had already adjusted, nodded to him with a smile, and started preparing the filling for the fresh rose pastries.

Tan Wei'an provided six recipes for rose cake, three with fresh roses and three with candied roses, with the main differences lying in the filling. Each recipe had its own distinct concept for the filling: some highlighted the rose fragrance, some perfectly blended the rose flavor with other ingredients, and some chose to slightly suppress the rose flavor.

Qin Huai felt these concepts each have their own merits. That's the thing about snacks—there's no absolute good or bad; as long as they taste good, they are good.

Qin Huai made all six types of fillings in one go.

Then he started making the pastry dough.

Qin Huai seldom makes flaky pastries; more accurately, he almost never makes them.

There's no choice; making flaky pastries, a relatively advanced technique, requires hands-on teaching from a master. Despite his talent, Qin Huai couldn't learn it just by reading the Snack Encyclopedia, although he did learn a bit from it.

Most of the flaky pastries sold at Yunzhong Restaurant now are made by Pei Xing. As a graduate of Zhiwei Restaurant, Pei Xing's flaky pastries are indeed quite good. If he hadn't been so fixated on making shumai and had instead focused on flaky pastries since joining, his skills would have improved a lot by now.

Qin Huai kneaded the dough earnestly.

While kneading, all he could think about was Zhao Cheng'an's techniques.

Before his awakening, Zhao Cheng'an's snacks were textbook examples; after awakening, he added many mistakes into the textbook. Setting aside these mistakes, Zhao Cheng'an's snack-making skills are undoubtedly excellent. As Master Zhou's direct disciple, he is particularly good at making flaky pastries.

Saying Qin Huai learned how to make flaky pastries from Zhao Cheng'an wouldn't be wrong.

Qin Huai worked very slowly.

Very carefully.

He was so slow not because he was internalizing everything, but purely because he had no confidence.

At exactly 7 o'clock, the first batch of rose cakes came out of the oven.

The freshly baked rose cakes smelled incredibly fragrant. No matter which version of the filling was used, a large amount of lard and sugar had to be added. These ingredients, when baked at high temperatures, released a very sweet aroma.

The high calorie and rich greasy aroma, in a sense, were as enticing as braised pork, attracting diners with their primal taste.

Not to mention that rose petals, after baking, indeed smelled quite nice—not quite floral but different from the usual fragrance of snacks—more like an invitingly sweet and fresh aroma with high sugar content and high calories.

The employees in the kitchen all swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

An Youyou's eyes were practically glued to the oven.

Qin Huai personally took each rose cake out, let them cool down, and only after they were at a comfortable temperature did he taste one himself before letting Wang Gen Sheng try them.

The taste was unexpectedly good.

Qin Huai hadn't eaten many flower cakes before; during the New Year, he received some as gifts from relatives, but they weren't freshly baked—they were the type with luxurious packaging.

When he ate them back then, he didn't think they tasted special; they seemed like ordinary cakes with added flowers, preserved with a lot of sugar for long shelf life, which made them a bit cloying. He could only manage two pieces before stopping.

The rest of that box was finished by Qin Luo.

Moreover, Qiu County never had a trend of selling freshly baked flower cakes. Given Qiu County's prices, it was hard to be trendy since flowers were too expensive. Qin Huai always considered these cakes a local specialty.

He never had the urge to learn, make, or even eat them.

Now, tasting his freshly baked ones, he found the flavor quite good, with a unique charm.

Maybe it's because Qin Huai's skills had improved significantly, making such moderately challenging snacks seemed like child's play to him.

Although the pastry dough was a bit average due to limited skills in making flaky pastries, the filling was undeniably delicious.

It had the fresh fragrance of flowers, not just a simple mixture of sugar and oil. The texture was smooth, and chewing the petals didn't give any weird or astringent taste. The saltiness of the pastry balanced the sweetness of the filling just right.

The flakiness—not overly crumbly, not dropping crumbs everywhere—didn't count as exceptionally good, yet it wasn't bad either.

If he had to rate this flower cake, Qin Huai thought it deserved between 75 and 80 points.

Rating… should be at Level B.

Qin Huai handed the flower cake to Wang Gen Sheng, then turned his head and saw An Youyou eagerly eyeing them, gesturing for her to take a break from work and come over to taste a piece before returning to her duties.

Perfect timing as Ouyang and Shi Dadan were not up yet, and having only Wang Gen Sheng taste it would be somewhat too lonely, so having An Youyou join in was a great idea.

An Youyou happily ran to the small table, naturally plopped down, poured herself a cup of tea, and then poured one for Qin Huai.

Good, she knew how to eat, understanding that when having these sweet-filled flaky pastries, especially in large quantities, tea is essential.

"Uncle Wang, since I'm not sure exactly what flavor or filling you want for the Red Silk Cake, I made some with rose filling for you first."

"These six cakes are flavored differently. You don't have to eat them all; it's easy to get cloyed, and you'll feel too full. Just break them open and try half or a quarter of each. The rest can go to Youyou."

An Youyou nodded enthusiastically, indicating she could eat them.

"I'll wait here for your feedback. You can tell me after each one whether it resembles the Red Silk Cake you remember, and what the differences are. Or after trying them all, let me know which one is closest and where it falls short."

Wang Gen Sheng listened to Qin Huai's instructions carefully, nodded to indicate he understood, and began the tasting.

With the first bite, Qin Huai sensed that Wang Gen Sheng wanted to say something but held back, taking a sip of tea before continuing.

Wang Gen Sheng took a sip of tea after each piece, also knowing that clearing the palate was necessary during tastings.

Since each piece of cake was only partially eaten, and he remained silent throughout the process, just eating without comment, it was a brief tasting session.

Qin Huai watched Wang Gen Sheng expectantly.

Feeling the pressure, Wang Gen Sheng looked up at Qin Huai. Their eyes met; Wang Gen Sheng seemed a bit nervous, swallowed a gulp, and offered a tactical compliment, "Master Qin, these… Red Silk Cakes you've made, they all taste very good."

"Much better than the freshly baked flower cakes my wife and I had in Spring City."

"But…"

"These seem to be flower cakes."

Qin Huai: …

How did Wang Gen Sheng become so discerning? He pinpointed the crux of the matter immediately.

"That's right," Qin Huai nodded, "I made them following the flower cake concept. Why? Is it completely off the mark?"

Yesterday, when Qin Huai listened, he thought that what Wang Gen Sheng called Red Silk Cake was an upgraded, tastier version of flower cake.

Qin Huai had encountered many similar tasks, like the dried tangerine peel tea, potato dumplings, apple dough balls—where the content didn't match the name.

Could it be that this time it's different?

Does Xu Nuo actually know how to make Red Silk Cake, and wasn't just passing off flower cake as Red Silk Cake to pull one over his good friend?

Qin Huai felt a little panicked. If Xu Nuo truly knew how to make Red Silk Cake, it would be a tough situation because Qin Huai really didn't know how to make it.

"You can't quite say that," Wang Gen Sheng said somewhat conflictedly, trying hard to organize his words, "Master Qin, your flower cakes taste better than those we had in Spring City—and are somewhat like Red Silk Cake."

"But they're not the same."

"Red Silk Cake is Red Silk Cake; flower cake is flower cake—they're not the same thing."

"If I had to say where exactly they differ…"

"Red Silk Cake is sweeter, more aromatic, and more long-lasting."

This remark from Wang Gen Sheng reminded Qin Huai of a crucial piece of information Wang Gen Sheng had mentioned long ago but Qin Huai had overlooked.

Xu Nuo's Red Silk Cakes could be stored for a long time. Wang Gen Sheng had originally planned to keep them until the New Year, but he gave in to temptation and secretly ate a small piece.

If a cake is meant to be stored for a long time, it indeed requires a different method.

But that method entails heavy oil and sugar, with the crust baked to a dry, undesirable level.

Does Wang Gen Sheng prefer this version of flower cakes?

Qin Huai pondered deeply.