The Nearly Complete Puzzle
Miyoko Miyazawa, at the age of 28, already carries the prestigious title of a WGO three-star pastry chef.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she is the most famous and possibly the strongest pastry chef in Japan.
She graduated from a world-renowned culinary academy, earning a diploma in culinary management, along with a Level 3 Food Safety Supervisor Award and a food allergy certification.
Afterward, she joined the famous WGO three-star French restaurant, Hedone.
There, she worked tirelessly under the guidance of the world-renowned three-star French chef Eric Pras, continuously refining her pastry skills.
Now, she herself has become the head pastry chef of the three-star vegetarian restaurant, Jingzhongyin.
Yes, her personality is lively and innocent.
Growing up in a family steeped in the culinary arts, she developed a love for animals and initially dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
Later, under her father's guidance, she became interested in combining organic vegetarian food with Western pastries. She explored the art of creating healthy vegetarian desserts, focusing on organic, natural, and nutritious ingredients.
This philosophy helped her restaurant, Jingzhongyin, earn recognition from the WGO and become the only three-star dessert shop in Japan.
...
When people think of dessert shops, the first thought that comes to mind for many is:
Profits!
A simple fruit dessert made with fruit and shaved ice or yogurt, costing less than five yen, can be sold for tens or even hundreds of yen!
Honestly, it's like making money hand over fist.
Of course, many desserts rely on fresh fruits as the main ingredient.
Even if the fruit in dessert shops is of high quality and not cheap, fresh fruit has a short shelf life and can spoil easily, leading to significant daily waste, which is one of the main reasons that cut into profits.
However, this doesn't stop desserts from being highly profitable!
And in this Midnight Chef incident, Miyoko Miyazawa also received a Shokugeki challenge letter.
...
"Director."
"A-Are you sure this is okay?"
Early in the morning, just as her shop was opening, Miyoko nervously asked Erina.
"Don't worry!"
"As long as I'm here, I won't let your dessert shop close."
Erina promised confidently.
She then turned to Hisako and Alice, saying, "No time to waste; let's get started!"
A dessert usually involves a few key ingredients:
Flour, cream, sugar, dairy products, cookies, choux pastry...
Flour needs no further explanation.
Sugar is a bit more complicated, with different types like caster sugar, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar, with prices varying slightly.
In terms of granularity, powdered sugar is the finest, and granulated sugar is the coarsest.
For making bread or cake, any sugar will do, but the finer the sugar, the quicker it dissolves.
Cookies, because they require a dough that doesn't develop gluten, are best made with powdered sugar, though granulated or caster sugar can be used with slight differences in the final texture.
Oil is generally used for creating a flaky texture, and options include butter, vegetable oil, and lard.
For cookies or choux pastry, butter is best; for cakes, vegetable oil works, and for some traditional pastries like mooncakes, lard is preferred.
As for dairy, whether it's milk, cream, or cheese, each type has specific uses, like using mozzarella for pizza or mascarpone for tiramisu.
Eggs... are essential.
You might skip them for bread, but for cakes, you'll use so many you'll question reality.
...
In short, making desserts is no easy task.
Choosing the right ingredients alone is enough to give anyone a headache.
At this moment, in this beautifully decorated three-star dessert shop, customers could choose from a large menu of visually appealing desserts.
From mango crepes, durian crepes, yogurt mousse cakes, and mango mousse to many other desserts with names you might not recognize.
Customers could see these desserts displayed in pictures above the counter.
The fruit in the glass display cases looked fresh and juicy, almost as if inviting you to taste their sweetness.
The solid wood tables and chairs and the bookshelves with an American industrial design along the walls provided a cozy atmosphere where customers could even watch some TV while waiting for their desserts.
Though, in this digital age, it's mostly children and the elderly who watch TV, but it didn't stop this dessert shop from being incredibly popular!
"Is this... is this the power of the Totsuki Director?"
Miyoko, who was stunned by the customers' constant praise for the desserts Erina and the others were making, couldn't help but feel amazed!
...
Click, click, click~
Alice Nakiri was quickly beating eggs with a whisk!
Meanwhile, Hisako was busy attending to the customers.
As for Erina, she was meticulously preparing various desserts based on the customers' requests. Among the three of them, Erina was undoubtedly the most skilled.
Moreover, Erina's God Tongue ability gave her an unmatched understanding of flavors, especially in desserts.
The reason for bringing Alice along was her expertise in molecular gastronomy, which gave her a unique edge in improving and creating desserts.
"Wow!"
"This dessert is so soft!"
"A light touch with the spoon makes it bounce back instantly. Is this really a mousse cake?"
"Mm~"
"So sweet!"
In no time, many customers were lost in the deliciousness of the desserts, completely captivated by their flavors.
As time quietly passed, more and more customers flocked to the dessert shop. Despite the cold weather, a refreshing and delicious dessert seemed to warm everyone's hearts!
Freshly made mousse looks beautiful, with a softness that heals the soul just by tapping it with a spoon.
The happiness it brings when it melts in your mouth is irresistible, with the jelly on top locking in the fresh taste. Just a light scoop reveals its rich, dense texture that melts instantly in your mouth.
Such a gentle and beautiful dessert is impossible to resist, and the taste of this marvelous dessert could likely make for some sweet dreams tonight.
...
Erina continued working diligently.
First, she crushed 140g of digestive biscuits with a rolling pin and set them aside in a bowl.
Next, she mixed 70g of melted butter with the crushed biscuits, stirring until evenly combined. She then cut 30g of gelatin sheets into pieces, soaking them in cold water for 10 minutes until softened.
She prepared two six-inch round springform cake pans—one for mango mousse and the other for plain mousse.
She lined the bottoms of the pans with round parchment paper.
Then, she pressed the buttered biscuit crumbs into the pans with a spoon and placed them in the freezer for 20 minutes.
She peeled and pitted the mangoes, cutting them into 1.5 cm cubes.
These mango cubes were blended with yogurt in a blender until smooth, creating a creamy mango yogurt puree.
Next, she squeezed out the excess water from the softened gelatin, melted it in a saucepan over low heat, and let it cool slightly before mixing it with the mango yogurt puree.
She whipped the cream with sugar until it reached soft peaks, with a light texture like a whipped topping.
She combined half of the whipped cream with the mango yogurt puree, folded them together, then poured the mixture into the chilled biscuit base, lightly tapping out any air bubbles before refrigerating it for 3 hours.
Then, she softened more gelatin sheets in cold water, melted them with water in a pot, and stirred until dissolved.
Once cooled, she took the chilled mousse out of the fridge.
She decorated the top with mango slices, poured the gelatin mixture over it, and chilled it in the fridge for a little longer.
Finally, she unmolded the mango yogurt mousse cake!
...
"Alice!"
"You're falling behind."
"If you can't keep up with me, you might as well go home."
Erina, having just completed the mango yogurt mousse, took a deep breath, turned around, and noticed Alice still busy at work. She gave her a look of mild frustration.
"Hmph!"
"As if I wanted to be here."
"If it weren't for you being the Director, I wouldn't bother with this Midnight Chef nonsense!"
Alice Nakiri grumbled as she squeezed out the excess water from softened gelatin, melted it over low heat, let it cool, then mixed it with yogurt.
She poured the mixture into the chilled biscuit base, lightly tapping out any air bubbles before refrigerating it for a short while.
Next, she unmolded it.
She topped it with her favorite fruits to decorate it, and the plain yogurt mousse was complete!
After finishing the plain yogurt mousse, Alice couldn't help but respond to Erina's complaint with a few words of her own.
"Wow!"
"That's beautiful!"
"I've never seen a yogurt mousse like this before~"
"And it's so sweet and not too rich!"
"Quick, quick!"
"We'll take three mousse cakes too."
"Yeah, I'll have another one!"
...
Slicing a piece of mousse cake brings instant joy, etching a deep memory into people's hearts.
The delightful texture that melts in your mouth, along with the sweet and tart balance, paired with a pot of fragrant, chilled rose tea, is simply...
Refreshing!
Satisfying!
Alice was merely venting her frustration in the end.
She then grabbed a small gadget that looked like an electric kettle—well, it was actually a Westinghouse Mini Blender.
She used the Westinghouse Mini Blender to blend the mango flesh, resulting in a smooth puree that didn't need straining, making the mousse cake easier to prepare, and every bite a delight.
The blender could even brew tea!
Just plug
it in, press a button, and it does the job. It's easy to clean, too, with self-cleaning and drying functions.
Honestly.
With such a device, putting together a complete afternoon tea set with desserts is a breeze, especially for convenience!
"Darn it, even with this super convenient, time-saving Westinghouse Mini Blender, I still couldn't make a mango mousse cake faster than Erina Nakiri?"
Alice Nakiri was now more in awe of Erina's impressive skills than ever.
...
To the average person, any dessert can seem incredibly sophisticated!
Especially French desserts, which often leave people in awe, thinking they're quite high-class.
With many books and food media outlets tasting, analyzing, and reporting on these desserts, it can all sound very profound.
However.
Although a dessert might have high-end elements like various sugar decorations, Madeleine batter, chocolate shards, or macarons!
The process of making a dessert is still quite straightforward.
"A dessert like this is really fascinating. One slice reveals its true nature. Making desserts requires fundamental skills, and creating this layered mousse, where every bite reveals all its levels, is just too delicious!"
"From top to bottom, it's pistachio mousse, pineapple jelly, pineapple cream, hazelnut cookie crunch, and a cookie base, all wrapped in a green glaze."
"So, that's how it is!"
"It turns out the mousse technique involves layering."
"Each layer must be made first, frozen, and then assembled in order, with sweetness, tartness, crunchiness, and softness all carefully balanced."
"A good mousse should be easy to scoop through, combining all the layers in one bite, so every flavor is experienced, along with a wonderfully complex texture."
...
Among the many customers, a masked figure bought a French mousse cake. After taking a careful bite, he couldn't help but marvel at it, praising it repeatedly.
He then continued to nibble on another treat, a small scoop of ice cream!
A tiny sphere packed with the perfect flavor combination.
Orange was the understated constant, with carrot leading the flavor and ginger coming in as the aftertaste. It wasn't overpowering or flashy, just full of surprises.
This made Asahi Saiba's eyes light up. He used to think only wine, chocolate, and coffee could deliver such complex flavors, but this ice cream showed him that ice cream could do the same.
And he had to admit:
This ice cream was a revelation, shattering his previous perceptions of desserts. It also reinforced his belief that the pursuit of deliciousness truly knows no bounds.
"Ha!"
"How interesting."
"This thing that looks like a lemon tastes exactly like a lemon but isn't a lemon at all... It's made so realistically that I thought it was a lemon at first!"
Cutting open the lemon revealed that the outer layer was chocolate, with lemon mousse and candied lemon peel inside. The balance of the lemon's tartness and the chocolate's sweetness was just perfect, leaving Asahi Saiba completely enamored!
He personally enjoyed using sour or bitter notes to balance dessert flavors, so this dessert was right up his alley.
However, it might be too tart for those who aren't fans of sour flavors.
"As expected of Alice Nakiri."
"Only someone as skilled in molecular gastronomy as she could make a lemon dessert like this!"
Finally, Asahi Saiba could only sigh, saying, "It's time to put an end to this outdated culinary era!"
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