Chapter 148
"First, this—do you know what this is, Yoan?"
"Is this... a magical item?"
"Yes. It's an ice maker, but..."
"This is the ice maker! I wanted one, but Pierre-sama said he still couldn't get one."
"Richard-sama arranged for us to get it. Oh, right—Richard-sama is the former head of the Townsend ducal family and the Chancellor, so just remember his name for now. The shop is expected to receive backing from the Townsend ducal family."
Yoan should know that I belong to the Townsend ducal family, but he probably knows next to nothing about nobles.
"Yes. Pierre-sama taught me about everyone in the Townsend ducal family."
"Oh, I see. Then that's fine. I'll teach you anything you need to know from now on too."
"I look forward to working with you."
"Since we've decided to keep the ice maker here, tell me when it runs out of magic so I can have it recharged. It should work for a while, though."
"Understood. Thank you!"
For now, the ice maker is what needs explaining... Oh, and I need to explain milk too.
"Also, what's in here is milk. Have you ever had milk?"
"Yes, I've had it several times, but..."
"Milk is essential to making sweets. So I asked Richard-sama to arrange a regular supply, and I want you to learn how to use it too."
"M-milk can be used to make new sweets!?"
"Yes. In fact, milk might be used in almost every kind of sweet. That's how essential it is."
After I said that, Yoan looked surprised, then quickly looked puzzled.
"Leon-sama, how do you know something like that?"
"I suppose it's because I've tried developing various things myself."
"Don't tell me... you've already developed new sweets!?"
"Only a few. Most of them aren't finished yet."
"Even so, that's amazing! I've been allowed to conduct research this whole time, but I haven't achieved almost any results..."
I'm only recreating recipes from my previous life, so it's practically cheating. I wanted to tell him he didn't need to feel discouraged, but I couldn't...
"Mine was just a fluke. What kinds of sweets have you come up with in your research? And what kinds of sweets do you know?"
"Yes. I know about things sold at cafés, such as jam and French toast, as well as the crepes sold at Leon-sama's stall. I never managed to complete anything during my research. The only thing I finished was something like fragrant honey. It's fairly tasty when spread on bread, but it can't be eaten by itself."
Yoan said that and grew dejected.
But did he really need to feel discouraged? That fragrant honey sounded like caramel to me. If so, it was a huge success!
Even just pouring caramel over cream makes it delicious. Oh, right—we had cream too!
I thought cream was what you got before making butter, so I had that sourced as well. If I added sugar and whipped it, it should become the whipped cream I knew.
...I only remembered that from watching a TV program, but I thought I was probably right. If we could make it, our sweets research would advance tremendously!
"Yoan, this isn't milk—it's called cream. I think it would taste delicious if we whipped it and poured the fragrant honey you made over it. Let's try it for now."
"Cream?"
"Yes, it's something like the stage before it becomes butter. If you put it in a bowl, add sugar, and mix it with a whisk, I think you'll be able to make something delicious. Could you try it?"
"Understood."
Even though he looked puzzled, Yoan began making whipped cream. He was well-built and looked strong, so I thought he was probably well suited to making sweets.
I only had a vague memory of this, but my mother had always said that making sweets was hard work. There had been a lot of things that needed to be stirred, at least. Japan had machines that stirred things automatically too.
What were those things called? Hand... hand processor? No, that's a food processor. Hand... hand shaker? Hmm, that doesn't sound right.
Ugh, if only I had a smartphone at times like this, I could look it up! This was so frustrating. I absolutely had to remember.
Hand... maybe it was hand? Auto processor? No, that wasn't it. I'm pretty sure "hand" was right...
...Hand, hand, hand mixer!
That was such a relief. Seriously, thank goodness. If I couldn't remember it, I had no way of finding out. I'm glad I did.
A hand mixer would be really useful if I could make one. Maybe I'll think about it later.
While I was thinking about such silly things, Yoan seemed to have finished preparing everything.
"Leon-sama, do you know how much cream and sugar we should use?"
"No, I have absolutely no idea... But I think a little less than half a bowl should be fine, so it won't spill while we mix it. As for the sugar... maybe about two spoonfuls from that spoon? We'll just have to try it and adjust things through trial and error."
"Understood."
"We'll be doing a lot of trial and error like this from now on. Is that all right with you?"
"Of course! Until now, my research has been even more hit-and-miss. I've tried roasting sugar, melting it, and dissolving flour and sugar in water before boiling it down, but I've only ever gotten failures."
Dissolving flour and sugar in water meant using a large amount of water, right? I suppose that's what happened when you had no idea what you were doing...
Maybe he used extra water because he thought a small amount would make bread, but he went far too extreme.
Speaking of which, I wonder if pancakes have caught on outside my family yet. If not, I'll teach him how to make pancakes too.
Pancakes with whipped cream—that's the taste of happiness! I was starting to get excited too.
It would be even better if we had chocolate... I don't think I've seen any chocolate in this country yet. Even in Japan, most chocolate had been imported, so perhaps it wasn't made in this country either.
If it was made in another country and imported, it might be sold somewhere... Maybe I'll look for it sometime. If it was being sold, would it be cacao in its original form? If so, the shop that sold almonds and things like that might know something.
But even if I managed to get some cacao, I had no idea how to turn it into chocolate. I only knew that it was bitter in its natural state... Well, if I got some, I could figure it out through trial and error too.
"Then, let's work well together from now on. For now, mix that cream as much as you can. It should gradually develop a heavier texture."
"Understood."
"In the meantime, I'll make that fragrant honey of yours. Could you teach me how to make it?"
"Of course!"
After that, Yoan mixed the cream continuously while I made caramel. The fragrant honey really did seem to be caramel, and it smelled wonderful.
"Leon-sama, the texture has started to change, but is this all right?"
When Yoan called me over to look at the cream, it had become properly thick and heavy! Adding sugar and mixing it had been the right approach after all!
"I think it's finished! Let's taste it by itself for now."
"Leon-sama, please use this."
"Thanks, Roger."
Roger quickly prepared a spoon, so I used it to take a bite of the cream.
This was incredible... It was absolutely delicious! It was just like the kind I used to eat in Japan! This was a huge success. It might have been even better with a little more sugar, but people in this country weren't used to sweet things, so perhaps this amount was fine.
"Yoan, try it! Roger, you too!"
"Then, I'll have some."
"I'll have some too."
Yoan looked ready to dig in, while Roger cautiously put a bite of cream into his mouth. The two of them immediately wore extremely surprised expressions.
"Leon-sama! This is a revolution!"
"This really is... It has a texture and flavor unlike anything I've ever tasted. It's sweet and delicious."
"Right? I think we could use this in all kinds of sweets. Let's try it with some caramel poured over it."
"Caramel...?"
Oops, I called it caramel without thinking.
"I named this fragrant sugar caramel. Is that all right?"
"Caramel... That's a good name. I like it!"
"Thanks. Then I'll pour some on."
I portioned some of the cream onto a plate, poured caramel over it, and tried it. Yes, it was incredibly delicious. Maybe it tasted especially good because it had been so long, but the cream was so delicious I could almost cry.
"The caramel goes really well with it too."
"It really does!"
Yoan looked extremely happy when he realized that something he had made could be used in sweets.
"Leon-sama, I'm so glad I met you..."
"Don't exaggerate. I'm going to have you develop many more things from now on."
"I'll do my very best!"
By the end of the morning, I had taught Yoan how to make pancakes and cookies, and it was time for lunch. I was sure Yoan would research them and make them even better.
I planned to serve the pancakes topped with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel, along with the cookies we made today, to everyone after lunch, so I prepared enough for everyone. I hope Pierre-sama and Carolyn-sama enjoy them.