A Hidden Test (3)

Chapter 7: Episode 3 - A Hidden Test (3)

"What do you think she's going to make, Mr. Henri?" The chairman asked, glancing at the ingredients she had at her station.

"Since she's mixing in the melted butter with the batter, I can only assume that she's making a genoise. She made a creme patissiere with milk, vanilla, egg yolks, caster sugar, gelatine, and flour. She also has more strawberries, a strawberry puree, and a square entremet ring. We can only assume that she's making a Fraisier cake," Henri Lucas pointed out and the chairman nodded, acknowledging his observation.

"I see, but aren't those cakes more complex than a regular strawberry shortcake?"

"Yes, fraisier cakes are more technical and trickier than regular strawberry shortcakes. I just hope that she completes it before the time is up while it also looks and tastes appealing."

Keiko continued to move quickly. There were no unnecessary moves to her actions.

Her long, brown hair that was up in a ponytail moved along with her gracefully, as her bright blue eyes focused only on what had to be done.

Her multi-tasking abilities were great at such a young age that they could almost mistake her as an experienced pastry chef.

It was hard to turn their heads away from a young girl who moved so elegantly and easily in a kitchen. Also, it was hard to distinguish whether she had a teacher in the past who taught her, or whether she truly learned how to bake like this herself.

To them, she seemed like a quiet girl who didn't like to talk much. Although she's quiet, she may have found some time to learn different techniques from videos online showing other patissiere chefs, but something seemed strange to them.

Her moves are almost exactly how other patissier chefs move. This thought can only lead to that she was taught by someone with high skills.

* * *

"I'm done!" Keiko exclaimed and just like that, 2 hours had already passed by.

When it came to observing students for 2 hours, time usually seemed to drag on and on, but not this time. The two judges were so encaptivated by her movements that even they hadn't realized that time flew so quickly.

Usually, making fraisier cakes takes more than 2 hours but Keiko managed to meet the time limit. Instead of making a cake that could yield more than 8 servings, she made a smaller-sized fraisier cake that could yield about 6 so that it wouldn't go to waste.

The two judges walked over to where Keiko stood at her station. On the cake platter was a beautifully designed square fraisier cake.

The red fruit compote of the cake jumped out to them as the strawberries aligned the cake at the bottom.

The genoise was layered at the bottom of the cake with a silky strawberry syrup just above it while being layered on top with the strawberries and creme patissiere. The beautiful decorations on top with cut strawberries, chocolate curls, and a gold leaf seemed like a piece of artwork out of a painting. The cake shined brilliantly under the light.

"Stunning…" the chairman was at a loss for words while Henri continued to gaze at the fraisier cake.

"You made a fraisier cake… how come?" Henri directed at Keiko who kept a straight face.

With the question he asked, she only knew that it was the right decision to change up her plan immediately. She knew that she hadn't played into their game like they'd wanted her to.

'It would be too obvious if I said that I didn't like my original idea so I switched to a new one,' Keiko thought to herself. 'It also wouldn't make sense to say that my original idea was bad, which was why I moved to a much more complex one.'

Both Henri Lucas and the chairman anticipated hearing her answer because she'd been the only one who succeeded in making a dessert different from what she'd planned.

"The reason why I decided to change my idea to something else is that I knew that getting into this school would be hard. It would've been too easy to have made something that I had planned a week before, so I noticed that the ingredients that I needed to make my original cake were already here. I also assumed that my father and stepmother played a part in providing you information about what I was going to make. Then, it hit me that you sirs weren't looking for something that I had planned a week before, instead, you were looking for whether I could quickly come up with an idea and surprise you," Keiko stated seriously.

There was no hint of nervousness when facing the two judges as she voiced her thought process.

"Amazingly, you could come up with all of that in just mere seconds," the chairman lightly praised and she gave a small nod.

"I had already assumed something was up when I was told to come up with whatever I wanted," Keiko revealed and both of their eyes widened.

"Even when you were given this task, you began to become suspicious?" Henri Lucas questioned and Keiko nodded.

"Interesting… But, although it looks nice, does it taste as good as it looks?" Henri Lucas asked and Keiko knew what she had to do.

She cut them an even slice of her fraisier cake so that they could judge its taste.

Both judges took a small bite of the cake, closing their eyes to envision the flavors it had.

"Amazing… the genoise is light and fluffy like the clouds and the creme patissiere is soft and silky. The simple syrup as well as a perfect syrup that combines a silky texture, rich color, and unforgettable taste," the chairman acknowledged, divulging into the cake.

"This is an overall, well-structured cake with a nice flavor profile, silky texture, and a complex and harmonious taste. The creme patissiere isn't lumpy or over whipped, instead, it's smooth and delicate. The genoise isn't too sweet so it's more palatable than a sugary cake. And the strawberries, although out of season, aren't sour but sweet, making up for the genoise layer. This is truly unbelievable…" Henri said in great shock. "As I watched your movements, you moved gracefully without any unneeded steps, as if somebody with high experience had taken over you."

Keiko bowed her head to the two judges, thanking them for their praise.

"Thank you," she said to them, keeping a serious look on her face.

They finished up their slices and they looked at each other assuringly, nodding their heads.

"Well, if there's one thing we can both agree on…" the chairman began.

Henri Lucas stepped forward towards Keiko.

"Congratulations, Miss Michiko Keiko. You have made it into the St. Marie Academy."