Chapter 228: Rose Pastry
The key point in making the date paste was to peel the skin off. Even if only a little skin was blended in the date paste, it would likewise severely affect its tender, sweet and smooth texture.
If the girl that often called Yuan Zhou Boss Liu saw how he peeled the skin off at the moment, she definitely wouldn’t correct herself in calling him Boss Liu. The craftsmanship simply couldn’t be described without the words of "drastically amazing."
Yuan Zhou held a knife in his right hand with the edge toward the red date and a well-cooked date in his left hand with the tip end upward. He slightly rotated the date with the left hand along the knife edge and the skin of the red date was then peeled off. It was as seductive as the clothes of a beautiful woman falling from the smooth skin.
After that, he peeled off the hard skin and put the intact flesh into a bowl while pushing the date stone out, without damaging the flesh at all.
Having taken the intact flesh out and pounded it until it became pulp, he added some cane sugar and then began to boil it.
"System, I feel I should add some honey at the moment so that the taste and texture can reach a higher level," said Yuan Zhou while he was boiling it with a small flame.
The system displayed, "With regard to the culinary skills, you can comprehend it by yourself."
"You got it wrong. What I mean is that I need honey." Yuan Zhou ridiculed with an expressionless face.
What a joke! Yuan Zhou also wanted to buy the honey by himself but the system believed the ingredients bought outside weren’t raised or processed carefully. Besides, the quality and texture were unable to reach the selection requirements.
After Yuan Zhou said that, the system kept silent for quite a while. It was so long that the date paste was already well-cooked.
The system displayed, "Congratulations, host, for your improvement of the culinary skills. As a result, a special reward is hereby awarded."
[Special Reward] Yanfeng Royal Jelly (available to be received)
"Well, it looks really good." Looking at the reward in sight, Yuan Zhou didn’t receive it immediately.
He looked again at the finished date paste. The color was in bright reddish brown and the flavor was natural and delicate.
"The cane sugar is also not bad. I can use the royal jelly next time," Yuan Zhou muttered to himself.
From the seventh sense of a man, Yuan Zhou felt it a little strange that the system decided to release the reward to him at this time. In order not to affect his mood of making delicious dishes, he decided to receive the reward later.
Previous lessons had to be kept in mind. Every time, the reward would basically be a scam if he didn’t get it from the completion of a mission.
After the stuffing was done, Yuan Zhou prepared to make the pastry. The principle of making the pastry was naturally to complete it at a quick speed. Just within two seconds, a pastry was done in his hands. Pastries made in such a short moment naturally had no other tastes except the purest fragrance of the glutinous rice and the red dates.
The second one that Yuan Zhou made was the rose pastry. Only the name itself had already conveyed great romance as the rose had always been linked with love in recent decades. The aromatic flavor and the flamboyant or pure color could basically conquer most females.
For the rose pastry, he certainly had to extract the color of rose out first and then dye the glutinous rice flour red. Rose pastries made that way had the aromatic flavor from the inside out.
Following a sound of "Zhi Ya", Yuan Zhou opened a cabinet and took out an intact fresh rose from inside.
The moment he opened the cabinet, the fragrance of the rose rushed into Yuan Zhou’s nose. Yet, it wasn’t pungent at all. Instead, it was quite luscious as if it had penetrated deep into his heart.
"It’s truly fresh." Yuan Zhou picked up a rose flower. With a slight shake, the dew spattered immediately. With his sensitive nose, Yuan Zhou certainly smelled the fragrance of the rose.
The system displayed, "It’s the rosa damascena classified in the category of edible roses. This flower is the national flower of Bulgaria. It has double petals growing in a corymb, single petal, or semi-double petals. The flower stalk and calyx tube are densely covered with glandular hair and had a strong scent. It is of high value to use."
"The wild rose is basically free from the insects and pests, which is the law of nature. What the system uses is the edible rosa damascena."
"I know you are awesome and use the best material every time." Yuan Zhou washed the flower petals and meanwhile ridiculed the system. It was just that his voice was blocked by the face mask and hence couldn’t be heard clearly.
The preparation of the rose jam was the simplest, requiring only sugar and roses. Therefore, Yuan Zhou made the rose jam first. Most of the time, people got used to eating it after preserving it for two months. For Yuan Zhou, however, he liked the fresh rose jam most as the color was bright and the fragrance was strong.
Wrapped that way, it was as if the pastry had wrapped a rose garden inside.
In one and a half hours, Yuan Zhou only made 25 colored pastries, 5 of each color, even with Yuan Zhou’s quick actions. They were then placed in the preservation cabinet provided by the system.
"Hua La", Yuan Zhou pulled open the door. This time, girls made up the majority of the crowd that surrounded the entrance. The first ten customers were basically all girls and even Boss Tong was included.
"Good evening, Boss Yuan. Did you make the rose cookies?" The first one was naturally Man Man from the bakery store. She couldn’t wait to ask that once she spoke.
"No." Yuan Zhou answered her greetings with a nod, but denied Man Man’s question.
"That’s totally impossible. We all smell the fragrance of the roses. Although there is also fragrance of something else like the dates, the taste of the rose does exist." While following Yuan Zhou into the restaurant, Man Man said with certainty.
"What delicacies are you cooking, little Boss Yuan? The taste is so nice. Even this old lady can’t resist the temptation." Boss Tong asked at the back.
"Pastry. It’s a new dish of pastry, 25 in total," Yuan Zhou stood back to his usual position and then answered.
"It turns out to be the cold snack. Boss Yuan, get me one with a flavor of the rose." Man Man insisted there should be roses in the ingredients.
"The flavor is random. Temporarily, there are only five flavors," Yuan Zhou said again.
"Every time Boss Yuan says so, I believe he is absolutely unable to find a girlfriend," Man Man said while grinding her teeth.
"No, that won’t happen..." Just when Yuan Zhou intended to say the very same words, he was interrupted by Man Man.
"Because you cook well, right? But even so, you still can’t find a girlfriend because your EQ is so low." Man Man interrupted and told Yuan Zhou a fact that she wasn’t overwhelmed by his charm at all.
"Please order the dishes." Yuan Zhou decided to do business seriously. It was more interesting to make Wu Hai choke.
"A pastry." Looking at the crowded customers behind, of which girls were in the majority, she selected the pastry decisively.
"It’s totally 56 RMB. Thank you." Yuan Zhou reported to her the price.
"Here you are. The amount is just right." Man Man handed the money to him. Then, Yuan Zhou took out a tray and received the money with it. After that, he poured the money directly into the drawer without touching it with his hands.
Money was the dirtiest thing in the world. On the other hand, however, it was meanwhile the thing that was loved most by people. Numerous people worked hard and diligently for it, including Yuan Zhou himself.
He carried out a serving of pastry casually, which happened to be the rose pastry that Man Man longed for.
"Here’s your rose pastry." Yuan Zhou set down the dish lightly before taking orders from another customer behind her.
As there was no attendant now, the way Yuan Zhou took orders went back to the past. He first inquired the customers about the dishes in sequence and then carried it to them.
"So beautiful." Man Man began to drool toward the rose pastry. But she managed to take out the phone and take an all-around video of the dish before taking up a transparent crystal-like spoon and beginning to eat it.
The pastry was in a beautiful rose-red color. As it had barely been taken out from the preservation cabinet, it carried a trace of cool air and some white smoke was emitted from it. Inside of the transparent and crystal skin was the easily recognizable rose jam.
With the size of half a girls’ fist, the whole pastry was placed on a light brown plate, over which a fresh leaf was placed. It turned out to be a rose leaf.
A work of art with full scores on the aspects of appearance, taste and romance factor...