Volume 2, Chapter 19: Zeke coaches the newbie.
“Hm? Miss Risa isn’t in?”
Meanwhile, Zeke was visiting the Claude mansion. He highly regretted saying things that could be interpreted as a confession to Risa before leaving like he was running away. Not only did he run his mouth at a weakened Risa, he ran away right afterward…
Without knowing whether his feelings had reached her, he had stewed and grilled himself for the past two days. However, now that he knew Risa would be returning to work at the café tomorrow, he visited the Claude mansion in order to speak with her about his feelings.
“Yes. Milady has gone out on some errands.”
“I see…”
Stopped even before the starting line, Zeke could only return the way he came in disappointment.
It was the café’s regular holiday, so he had no plans. He decided to thank Head Chef McKinnies for helping the café, and Keith while he was at it, and set out for the royal palace.
_______________________________________________________________
At the royal kitchen he recently visited a few days ago. It was right before noon, so the chefs were bustling around preparing lunch. Zeke realized he came at the wrong time and was about to turn and leave when he was stopped by a familiar voice.
“Hm, Zeke?”
“… Mister Keith.”
He turned to see Keith dressed in the royal chef uniform.
“What’s up? Ah, did you come chasing after Lady Risa?”
“Huh? Miss Risa?”
“Hm? You didn’t know? Lady Risa’s here in the palace today, dressed up and all pretty. Judging from her clothes, she’s probably meeting His Highness the crown prince.”
“Miss Risa is…?”
“Maybe they’ll just get married.”
Risa, marry His Highness the crown prince…?
Zeke vaguely expected Risa to reject the marriage talks, but now that he thought about it, she had never said she would do so.
“If you’ll excuse m-”
“Hold up!”
Keith grabbed Zeke’s shoulder just as he was going to look for Risa.
“We’re super busy right now, so help us before you go.”
“What? I…”
“Don’t be like that. I helped the café, didn’t I?”
Keith said with a sneer. Zeke sent him a sideways glance, sensing a bad feeling about his secretive smile. He couldn’t deny that Keith helped the café though, and unable to reject now that Keith had mentioned it, he went back into the kitchen.
“Head chef, I’ve found a helper~”
“Helper? Who? You’re from the café…”
“Hello.”
Head Chef McKinnies took one look at Zeke, who stood behind Keith, and made a face as if to ask “why are you here?” Zeke bowed slightly to the head chef before taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves.
“Well, I’m grateful for any extra hands we can get. Good luck.”
McKinnies managed to say before he was summoned by his subordinates off somewhere else. Meanwhile, Keith had already abandoned Zeke to work at his table on the other side of the kitchen. Zeke was all alone without any orders on what he should do in an unfamiliar kitchen.
What am I doing here…
He really wanted to run to Risa’s side right now, but he couldn’t run away now that he had accepted Keith’s request for help. There was no one here who would give him kind orders like Risa. He had to find his own work.
Zeke looked around the kitchen, looking for something he could do.
The royal kitchen catered not only to royalty but to everyone who worked at the palace. The stations were largely separated into soup, main dish, and side dish; all stations were very busy.
Just then, he spotted a chef whose movements were slow and hesitant in the corner. The chef stuck out like a sore thumb as everyone around him moved quickly and efficiently. Zeke walked over to see that he was decorating a sponge cake with whipped cream. It looked like a half assembled shortcake, but the cream was spread unevenly. The chef was trying to fix that, but he only pushed the problem further down the cake, making it worse.
Zeke couldn’t bear standing aside and took the palette knife from him.
“Ah, what are you-”
“Give me that.”
Ignoring the chef who just had his tool taken from him, Zeke scooped up all the cream on the sponge cake back in a bowl and began to whisk it.
“Uh, why are you…”
“The cream isn’t whipped enough. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to spread it evenly like this.”
After whipping the cream for a while, Zeke turned his whisk right side up to see the cream form a peak with the tip slightly curling down—it was a soft peak. He scooped the whipped cream back onto the sponge cake.
“First, spread it out so most of the cake is covered, then even it out with the angle of the knife. It’s easier to do if you run through the whole length in one motion.”
Zeke said while he spread out the cream efficiently.
Once the top was covered, he moved to the sides, turning the plate to change the angle between the sponge cake and the knife as he continued to spread cream. The chef’s surprised stare turned into that of fascination.
However, the second he finished, Zeke scooped all the cream up and returned it to the bowl. He handed the palette knife back to the astonished chef.
“You try it.”
At Zeke’s words, the chef nodded and took the palette knife and began to spread the cream as Zeke had. As he watched the chef, Zeke remembered the times when he just started to work at the café. He tried to decorate a cake, thinking it a piece of cake, and was sorely crushed for underestimating how difficult it actually was.
Then Risa showed him how to do it. First, she put an eyeballed amount of cream onto the circular sponge, flattening the pile and spreading it. She scooped extra cream at an angle and returned it to the bowl a few times, and the cream was evened out perfectly. Then, she added some cream on the sides where it was needed, and, placing the knife at an angle, spun the plate twice. The sides of the sponge were immediately hidden by an even layer of cream. Finally, she fixed some sharp edges of cream here and there, and the beautiful base was finished.
Zeke admired her work, to which Risa laughed and chalked it up to experience, but it took a long time before Zeke obtained said experience.
Now, around a year later, he could finally decorate as easily as he breathed air. However, Zeke had also struggled in the beginning, just like the frustrated chef in front of him.
The chef somehow managed to finish the base, so the next task was to decorate. Zeke piled cream into a piping bag.
“What is the design for the decoration?”
“Design…?”
The chef tilted his head, clearly out of his element.
“What is this cake for?”
“Ah, it’s for Her Majesty’s tea party. One of the older chefs was going to make it, but he’s on vacation today… I was suddenly put here this morning…”
So that was why he moved so slowly… But why did they let an amateur chef take care of the cake for Her Majesty? Zeke glanced at him, who watched Zeke work with sparkling eyes.
Ahh, I see now.
Keith probably enlisted in Zeke’s help specifically for this chef.
Zeke put down the piping bag and spread cream on a spare sponge cake. He made a base prettier than the chef and picked up the piping bag again. He shook the bag so the cream would slide towards the hole at the end and twisted the other end. After piping out a bit of cream into the bowl, he began to pipe out decorations on the base. Starting from the upper left corner of the ten by twenty centimeter rectangular base, he piped out wavy lines along the edges and round swirls where fruit would be set. Once he finished, he handed the piping bag to the chef and told him to pipe as Zeke did.
The chef responded with a bright “yes, chef!” and took the piping bag. Piping cream is harder than spreading, and requires some amount of strength put out in a rhythmic manner to pipe uniform decorations.
Despite not being as good as Zeke’s piping, the chef’s piping managed to form some sort of shape and they moved to placing fruit on the cake. There was the standard meichi and rugberry, a small purple berry. To make the cake look luxurious, there were also edible flowers.
Zeke looked at the chef to find him waiting with bated breath to see Zeke’s work. Zeke gave a wry smile and placed the pink edible flowers on the upper right and bottom left corners of the cake. He placed meichi on the other two corners to form a symmetrical decoration. Then he scattered the rugberries in the middle of the cake, taking care not to touch the wavy edges, and placed a small green leaf in the center as an accent.
The chef watched in amazement, but his face paled when Zeke told him to decorate however he wanted, so Zeke let the chef copy the spare cake. His eyes flitted between his own cake and Zeke’s as he decorated in the same order, all the while listening to Zeke’s advice. He finally placed the green leaf on top and let out the breath he had been holding. Zeke also sighed in relief as he watched over the chef’s work patiently.
“I did it!”
The chef joyfully did a little dance in front of the cake.
“Nice! Good job.”
Keith patted Zeke’s shoulder, and Zeke turned to face him.
“Ah, Sous Chef! Look, look, I made this!”
The chef stopped dancing and proudly showed Keith his cake.
“Wow, that looks good.”
Keith replied honestly. Zeke looked around the kitchen and found that there were only a few chefs left in the kitchen. He had been so engrossed in teaching the cake decoration that he had forgotten about time.
Just then, he remembered Risa. He took one step towards the kitchen’s exit when someone grabbed his shoulder, again. He didn’t need to look to know it was Keith.
“Hey, where are you going? There’s still some time before Her Majesty’s tea party. Why do you think I made you make this cake that you have to cut to eat? Bring it out and cut some slices for them.”
“This is no time for me to b-”
“You really are denser than a brick wall. I’m saying Lady Risa’s there.”
“Wha…”
“And that’s why you should hang out with me for a little longer.”
Keith ordered the chef to put Zeke’s cake in the fridge and walked towards the exit with Zeke right behind him.
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