Sweets Garden (4)

Chapter 66: Episode 31 - Sweets Garden (4)

"I see you still enjoy my cake," Mr. Hisashi appeared from behind us with a bright smile. "Do you mind if I sit down with you guys?"

We nodded our heads willingly and he pulled up a chair and sat next to us.

"I see that Keiko is looking a bit too skinny now…" Mr. Hisashi pointed out to me, looking at my tired and thin body.

"School has been stressful," I covered up, continuing to eat the cake.

"Are you guys St. Marie Academy students?" He asked us with a grin and we nodded.

"How'd you figure out?" Andou asked confusedly.

"Well, when Keiko came here often when she was younger, she'd always talk about going to the St. Marie Academy, especially the one in France. I can see all of you are working towards that goal along with your sweets spirits." Mr. Hisashi pointed to all of our sweets spirits with a grin.

"You can see them?" Kashino asked him in shock.

"Of course. I have one as well, though he's busy helping out in the kitchen. Met him at the St. Marie Academy nearby a long time ago," he explained, his arms folded coolly.

"You went to the St. Marie Academy in Japan?" Hanabusa asked excitedly, his eyes brightening wide.

"Yeah, I graduated from there and was able to find jobs at patisseries and get a kickstart to my career. The late founder of this shop, Ella Fournier, hired me and I started training here. She taught me a lot about plating desserts and I worked my ass off, rising in the ranks. Due to her help, I became successful as the manager of this shop and well-known for my plated desserts," Mr. Hisashi said inspiringly.

"Actually, could you tell us more about plated desserts? It'd be helpful to learn from a professional like you since we're in the academy's Cake Grand Prix," Andou explained to him and Mr. Hisashi's eyes widened in shock.

"The Cake Grand Prix? You guys only look like you're in middle school but you're in the Cake Grand Prix?" Mr. Hisashi expressed with much surprise.

"Yeah, we made it to the second round and beat a whole bunch of high school pricks," Kashino said coldly, folding his arms.

"Hahaha! You kids are quite special to have defeated high schoolers! I say the whole thing is rigged because the high school division always wins the Grand Prix while the middle schoolers don't stand a chance. Actually… now that I think about it, I was judging one of the rounds last year at the academy and heard that only one middle school group made it past the 1st round but somebody on their team dropped their dessert which caused them to lose, hahaha!" Mr. Hisashi told through pained expressions formed on the Sweets Princes and their spirits' faces.

"Actually… they so happened to be that middle school group that passed the 1st round last year," I confessed nervously, pointing to the Sweets Princes and Mr. Hisashi froze in place.

"Hahaha…" Mr. Hisashi scratched his head nervously, looking at the Sweets Princes. "Sorry for bringing that up… Though, Keiko, did you attend the academy last year? I don't remember seeing you…"

I shook my head to explain further.

"No, I didn't want to have anything to do with sweets once my mother died so I gave up on my dream to become a patissiere, but then… my dad offered me to try and enter the St. Marie Academy to keep going, so I passed the entrance exam and transferred to the school in the middle of the school year, continuing to pursue my dream."

Mr. Hisashi looked at me sadly with the mention of my mother dying but he tried to play it off.

"Well, since you guys are here, I could give you tips on how to professionally plate desserts," Mr. Hisashi said, smiling and giving us a wink. Once he made this offer we all agreed to learn from him since this could help us during the 2nd round of the Grand Prix.

"Okay, first off, you gotta go wild with color but not too much to where it hurts your eyes. Mix up textures to differentiate and create balance. Remember, the plate is your canvas, so decorate it how you would with a painting. Also, create a focal point that draws in the consumer, this way they'll be more prone to buy it. Finally, garnish with care and remain consistent. If not every dish turns out the same, there will be no consistency and it downgrades the quality," Mr. Hisashi explained as we took mental notes.

He let us take a peek at the different types of plated desserts they served and we were in awe at how elegant and neatly plated the desserts were. Mr. Hisashi explained the plated desserts exactly how they were shown to us.

"Well, I hope I was of help to you guys! Good luck at the Grand Prix! I really hope to see you guys win it!" Mr. Hisashi encouraged us but I furrowed my eyebrows at his last claim.

"See it?" I questioned confusedly and a grin appeared on his face.

"Of course! The academy had already asked for me to judge the semi-finals and I agreed! So I hope to see what you guys pull off and if a middle school team can win for once," Mr. Hisashi admitted and all of our eyes widened in shock.

'Mr. Hisashi is going to be judging the semi-finals?'