Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country

Chapter 734: Chapter 634: Nationwide Petition, Pastry Chef Reemployed (Part 2)

"This one’s good, this one’s good. If we could settle it with Northeast Coin in the end, that’d be perfect!"

"I also want to eat a lava cake. Please, Boss Wang, fulfill this small wish of ours!"

Lava cake? It’s not like I can’t make it; it’s just a bit troublesome, and with so many people, it might be a bit too busy, right?

Zhuo Qianqian looked at Wang Fan with sparkling eyes, "Boss, I also want to try this lava cake."

"Alright, then we’ll make it tomorrow. But to differentiate from Durand’s, I’ll make an iceberg lava chocolate cake instead."

"Iceberg lava? What’s that?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Qianqian’s eyes began to sparkle. For a foodie, the temptation of a new delicacy is absolutely irresistible.

"Come over, I’ll tell you."

Wang Fan felt like he was a big bad wolf luring a pure little rabbit.

The pure little rabbit was now only thinking about what iceberg lava was and had no defenses at all.

"Come on, give it to me."

...

...

"As requested by our many fans, today we’re making iceberg lava chocolate cake. Since it takes quite some time to make, please come and taste it after 1 PM."

The fans didn’t get a response from Wang Fan all night, feeling a bit disappointed. But when they woke up, they found a post that quickly became a hot topic in no time.

Opening it and seeing the content, the feeling of surprise was akin to a volcanic eruption.

"Iceberg lava?"

"Is it different from Durand’s lava cake?"

"I don’t know, but it feels like combining iceberg and lava has a bit of unexpected charm?"

"Boss Wang truly spoils his fans. No doubt, today I’ll buy at least 10 servings!"

"This stuff probably isn’t cheap. Buying 10 servings might bankrupt you, no?"

"The things Boss Wang sells should be quite affordable, right?"

"You must be a new fan. Boss Wang’s stuff is worth a lot more than its price, but it’s never cheap."

"Doesn’t matter! I’ll sell everything to buy ten servings! No one’s ever pampered me like this before!"

"Although the sales start in the afternoon, I suppose it starts being made in the morning? Anyway, I’ve got nothing to do, so I’ll go take a look."

"Count me in."

Wang Fan was already at the store. With an all-in-one machine, baking a cake shouldn’t be a problem.

Plus, although the iceberg lava chocolate cake sounds impressive and high-end, it’s actually very simple to make.

The main thing is, it’s very cost-effective. Making one the size of a paper cup costs less than 3 yuan. Even using the best ingredients, one costs around 7 yuan. Selling it for 28 yuan each—it’s easy to see how much profit can be made.

Making this dessert in the Northeast also helps save on refrigeration costs, which further reduces costs.

Of course, the ingredients must be of high quality.

Early in the morning, Wang Fan started making the cookie base.

Mix, mix, and mix some more.

Cream the butter until it’s pale, add powdered sugar and sea salt, and continue mixing.

After mixing well, add the egg yolk and continue mixing.

Add the caramelized butter and continue mixing.

Sift in the cake flour, cocoa powder, and finely ground hazelnut powder, mix evenly, and let it chill outside for a while.

The custard is about the same; mix milk, cornflour, chocolate powder, and beaten egg together and stir.

This job is a piece of cake for Uncle, who’s been manually grinding soy milk for half his life.

Wang Fan was already melting chocolate over a double boiler. By the time the chocolate was fully melted, Uncle’s custard was ready too.

The two of them worked very quickly. For Wang Fan, weighing the ingredients was just a matter of instinct, and with his top-notch temperature sense, he didn’t even need a thermometer, saving a lot of time.

When all steps run smoothly, it gives a sense of elegance like flowing clouds and water.

"These days, watching Boss Wang make desserts is more entertaining than watching a movie."

"I think so too, except it’s a bit cold outside."

"It looks so smooth. I’m really curious about how much one serving costs. I wonder if my wallet can handle it; I’ve already spent over 5,000 on this trip."

"Even if it can’t, you have to keep up. You won’t find this shop anywhere else soon. I searched for iceberg lava chocolate yesterday, and there was absolutely no information."

Wang Fan had already brought the chilled cookie dough inside.

Zhou Ruoqing and Liu Hehe, the sibling duo, were already full of energy, each holding a round mold and eagerly eyeing the trays.

Wang Fan took out a paper cup and instructed, "Use this mold to press directly on the dough, place the round cookie into the cup, preheat the oven, and bake it at 165 degrees for 20 minutes, then take it out to cool. Understand?"

The three of them said in unison, "We guarantee to complete the task!"

After Wang Fan left, the three of them were very excited. Perhaps there’s a bit of a destructive gene in people, turning a flat, frozen cookie dough into holes with a mold was quite a fun activity.

Soon, the frozen cookie dough was riddled with holes by the three, and the small store’s tables were filled with small paper cups.

"Wow, it smells so good!"

Once the paper cups went into the oven, a rich aroma began to waft continuously, even though it was just a simple baked cookie, the scent made the three of them exclaim with delight.

"I always thought such Western-style cakes were fancy, but when Brother Wang makes them, they seem so easy."

"Naturally born pastry genius, huh? Remember Brother Wang’s famous humblebrag—I’m actually a chef."

"Of course, I remember. That French girl’s face turned green at that moment, haha."

Zhou Ruoqing felt that if every workplace in the world were like theirs, no one would ever suffer from work-induced depression.

With this kind of work atmosphere, even if Wang Fan paid lower wages, she’d still be willing to work here for life.

And most importantly, they could sneak snacks!

With a knowing look at each other, the trio shared a conspiratorial grin, as the first batch of cookies was done baking, who wouldn’t taste-test a few?

Each grabbed a paper cup, flipped it over, and a deep brown chocolate cookie tumbled into their hands.

The chocolate cookies were about the size of a bottle cap, still warm to the touch, with the rich chocolate and creamy scent almost making them drool.

Unashamedly sneaking a bite, they displayed the cookies in a show-off manner to Wang Fan, who smiled and nudged Zhuo Qianqian with his hip to have her join in the tasting.

And then the three sneaky eaters became five, with Uncle joining in too.

Zhou Ruoqing, who usually ate a lot of cookies, found that this one was completely different from anything she had eaten before.

It wasn’t those particularly crunchy ones that snapped easily without making a sound when broken.

Once in the mouth, a rich chocolate flavor burst forth.

While chewing, there was a noticeable bit of texture, with sweet flavors intertwined with the bitterness of chocolate, and a hint of nutty freshness that was just irresistible.

"Wow, why even make an iceberg lava chocolate? This cookie alone could be sold, it’s absolutely delicious."

Liu Hehe’s exclamation received unanimous agreement from the other four, even Uncle said, "I never used to like cookies or desserts, but this, I have to say, is really delicious, especially the hazelnut flavor. You can tell it’s a Harbin specialty just by tasting it."

Zhou Ruoqing praised, "I’ve eaten lots of cookies, including big brands, and, just talking about taste, nothing comes close to this. The sweet, bitter, and salty balance is just perfect. If I could eat cookies this good while working overtime, I wouldn’t mind the extra hours at all."

Zhuo Qianqian laughed, "You better hope no company hires the boss to cook staff meals, otherwise you’d be pleading for overtime every day."

Zhou Ruoqing savored the lingering taste very seriously and said, "No one would ever want to leave."