I Was Reincarnated as a Commoner. I Can’t Stand Living Like This, so I’ll Become an Aristocrat! C138

138, How to make a cake

After a lively lunch and tasting of sweets, I returned to the kitchen. From here on out, it's difficult because I don't really know the recipe either. But I'm sure Yoan will do it! 

First of all, I want to make a cake. After all, when it comes to sweets specialty stores, it's all about cakes. There are a wide variety of cakes, such as shortcake, chocolate cake, cheesecake, and fruit tarts, but I want to start by making the most basic shortcake. 

It's strawberry shortcake after all! I think it would be impressive if something like that could be created in this world. Fortunately, fruits are cultivated in this world, and you can buy fruits similar to those in Japan. So you can get strawberries. 

Well, it's quite expensive though. But it's not like you have to improve the breed, and I'm really grateful that you can get it if you spend a lot of money. 

So I should be able to make strawberry shortcake. 

So, first let's make a shortcake! All you need for shortcake is sponge cake and fresh cream. For now, this should make a cake. 

The biggest problem is the sponge cake. It's similar to bread, but it's fluffier, meltier, sweeter, and more delicious than bread. I wonder how to make that... 

Hmm... I've made pancakes, so the method should be similar. Eggs, flour, milk, sugar and maybe butter too. If you somehow mix these parts together and bake them, you should be able to make a sponge cake...maybe... Maybe there was something more special in there? 

 Ahh~! Why wasn't cooking my hobby? ! I was only doing the bare minimum of cooking! I lived alone after entering university, but I had convenient lunch boxes from convenience stores and side dishes from supermarkets. When making food, you just grill the meat with yakiniku sauce, or boil pasta and mix it with store-bought sauce...Japan was truly a wonderful country. 

You could buy a cake at a supermarket for a few hundred yen. There were a lot of them at convenience stores, and I was buying new sweets from convenience stores... In a world so convenient, it's only natural that I wouldn't make them myself. 

Anyway, it brings back memories of my mom making sweets sometimes! 

I'm sure... it's vague, but something was mixed in after all. The same goes for fresh cream, but I feel like I mixed something in when making the dough before that. I was using a hand mixer, the name of which I just remembered. 

I must have helped out when I was little... At that time, I'm sure there was something white. 

So you mix flour with that white stuff and bake it? It's probably like that... 

``Yoan, I don't have a recipe yet, so I'll have to do some research, but I think if you make a dough using flour, milk, sugar, eggs, and butter, and then bake it in the oven, you'll end up with something delicious. It's like a pancake you make, but it's fluffier, melts in your mouth, lighter, moister, and sweeter than a pancake.In my opinion, it should be possible to make something like that, but I haven't succeeded yet. is……"

"Based on the pancakes from earlier, I'd like something fluffier, lighter, moister, and sweeter..."

"That's right. And to achieve that fluffy, light feeling, I want to mix something light and fluffy with the flour, but I don't know how to make it."

"A light and fluffy thing to mix with flour..."

"Yes, it's something like the fresh cream from earlier."

When I said that, Yoan seemed to be seriously thinking about something. After a while, he spoke again. 

“Certainly, if you mix something fluffy with the pancakes you made earlier and bake them, the texture will change.For now, would it be okay to mix in some fresh cream and bake them?”

Hmm, I feel like that would make the fresh cream melt and be miserable... but I guess I should try it anyway. 

"Try whatever you want.Also, it might work if you use just egg whites or just egg yolks.Before, you could use just egg yolks in dishes that aren't sweets.I feel like egg whites can be used in sweets... …”

"It's egg white. I'll try different things for now."

Then, Yoan seemed to be adding flour to the fresh cream and baking it, and began frantically mixing the cream. 

It's true that if you mix the cream really hard, it will become a hard cream, so maybe this is the correct answer? Even in my memory, it must have been white. 

I thought about helping out, but I thought I would get in Yoan's way, so I decided to watch quietly. Yoan is quite handy and has a lot of strength, so he is suitable for making sweets. The fresh cream is also made so fast that you wouldn't believe it was made manually. 

Maybe... I wonder if Yoan has a body strengthening attribute? 

"Yoan, I hope you don't want to answer, but what attribute does Yoan have?"

"Yes, the amount of magic power of the body strengthening attribute is 5. Did you understand that I was using it from a while ago?"

"No. Even if you have some strength, I don't think your hands are tired from mixing for so long."

“Cooking basically requires physical strength, so this magic has helped me a lot.”

“Didn’t you ever think about becoming a soldier? Isn’t the physical strength attribute an advantage?”

I've heard that if you have the physical strength attribute and have 4 or more magical power, you can become quite strong with training. If you can skillfully strengthen a part or increase your strength for a moment, you can continue to use it for a long time, and it seems to be compatible with swords. 

Physical strengthening attributes can't be turned into magic tools, and I feel like they'll be even more useful if attack magic tools are created in the future. 

I tried it once before, and even though I was able to put body-strengthening magic into a magic tool, the magic didn't activate at all, and only the magical power decreased. 

No, it's activated, but it might not have any effect. It didn't work when I used it on myself, so I can't use it as a magic tool at all. 

"Well, at first I thought I wanted to become a soldier. So I took the exam and passed. To celebrate my passing, my family brought me to a cafe and ate French toast. I was blown away by how delicious it was. So, I quit being a soldier and started working at that cafe from that day."

　Wasn't your family also complicated because you were planning to become a soldier? When I brought him to a cafe to celebrate becoming a soldier, he announced that he was quitting his job... 

That's a shocking development. 

"Didn't your family object?"

"No, my family is very loose-minded, so I think it's okay to do what you like."

"That was good."

"Yes! Even now, my family is still close, and I go back to my parents' house every once in a while. I worked at a cafe for about five years, and when I reported that I was hired by a nobleman's mansion, they congratulated me."

I worked at a cafe for five years. By the way, how old is Yoan? 

“By the way, how old is Yoan?”

"I'm twenty-two years old. I worked as a servant at a cafe for about five years since I was fifteen, and I've been indebted to Baron Darrigard's family for about two years."

“I see… I wonder if Yoan’s family would object to being hired by a commoner?”

"I think it's okay. I'll go back and report next time."

"That would be great. Then, when the store opens, I'll invite you to the store."

"No, we are not wealthy, so I don't think we can come to Leon-sama's shop. Leon-sama's shop is for aristocrats, right?"

That's true...but I'm sure you'd like to eat your son's dessert. It would be a high hurdle to have them come to the store, so I think it would be a good idea to have Yoan bring it to me. 

``In that case, I think you should go to your parents' house with the sweets Yoann made.If you make them at home, you don't have the equipment or materials, right?If you break the ice, wrap it in cloth, and put it in a box with the sweets, I think it will last a few hours."

"Really!? My parents' house isn't that far from the city center. It's about an hour's ride from the city center, so I think I can take it with me."

“Then you should do that.”

"Thank you! I'm sure you'll be very happy."

"It's still a long way off, but I'd like to open a store for commoners, so when that happens, I'd like to have people come to the store."

"yes!"

While we were having this conversation, Yoan kept moving his hands, and the mixture of fresh cream, flour, eggs, butter, and milk was completed. 

I then baked it, but it turned out to be a huge failure. There is still a long way to go before success. 

“This is no good.”

"Well...but the fact that I failed means that I realized that this way of making it doesn't work. I'll definitely make some delicious sweets and show you!"

"Hehe... That's certainly true. Let's do our best and not give up!"

"yes!"

“Then, you may not be able to come here until the next day of recovery, so until then, please continue your research like today. Materials are arriving every day, so if there is anything missing, please send it to me. Tell that person. Then it will reach me.”

"That's a good idea. I'll make as much progress as I can in a week."

"Yeah. You can practice making cookies and pancakes. Also, if you come up with something, try it and if it's delicious, we'll put it on the menu."

"Yes I will try my best!"

That's how the first day's sweets research ended. There's still a long way to go, but I was able to make fresh cream, which gave me some hope. 

I quickly got into the carriage and headed back to the duke's house.