148 – What’s Christmas? (2nd Half)
Posted on January 28, 2018 by crazypumkin
*Unedited
” A Chiffon cake, Sensei! ”
” ….Chi…ffon cake? ”
John-Sensei repeated my words, having a little trouble with the pronunciation.
Chiffon. That’s a kind of cloth that was thin and airy. And apparently because the cake was like that too, it was named after it. It was not a cake that was thick and very rich in taste, but instead, had a light sweetness and was so very airy, like biting on air. Chiffon cake was one of the desserts I loved.
And as I had made this cake quite a few times in my previous life, I decided to make it here too. The Christmas here was confirmed to be an abominable day celebrated widely by couples, it still didn’t meant that singles dogs like us can’t enjoyed it too.
And the way to enjoyed Christmas for single dogs?
Cake, chicken, sparkling wine etc etc. Yes, food. Christmas food was always something to look forward to. ….Although the empty feeling that came after stuffing yourself silly was rather….
” It’s the name of the cake. ”
I poured the mixture into the iron mold. This world made some great advancement but why had the food portion of it laid stagnant? Ah, normal western, japanese food were all being made here but stuff like desserts and sweets were missing. Those food that needed a bit of work to make were not available here at all. You know, food that showed off ‘girl power’.
What was this mismatched way of managing this world?
The only desserts that had the impression of my previous world was ‘Jelly’. Well, my friend, the First Founder, should had developed the menu here but it might be because he was a guy, he didn’t like desserts all that much, which was why that part of the menu was missing. As desserts were pretty complicated, one wouldn’t do it if one hadn’t touched it at all.
” I have never heard of that before. ”
John-Sensei said, tilting his head in puzzlement.
” Really? ”
” Yes. I actually have a bit of sweet tooth. All the desserts shop in the capital have been conquered by me but I have never seen or heard anything like it before. ”
The domination of the capital…! That was definitely not just ‘a bit’! To tell the truth, I was surprised. This serious-looking, glasses-wearing, the S in the SM-kind of guy actually had a sweet tooth! Was this what they meant by having a ‘gap’? That [gap moe] heard on earth definitely fitted this guy, with his impeccable looks. Although I was not ‘moe’ by him though. If a shota was ‘moe’ by a 26 year old guy, I would be in serious trouble.
And, let’s put these all aside.
” Fu fu. Well, that’s why I am experimenting. This is a new receipt I thought of. ”
I sad, a proud look on my face. Well yes, this receipt was not created by me but an America company who made that but just ran with me on this. It was easier since I cannot explained the ‘america’ part.
During this period, I banged the mold against the table over and over again. It was not that I was angry or anything, but to remove the air inside the mixture. If I were to missed this step, the chiffon cake would ended up having big holes in it.
” Oh oh, oh my! ”
Sensei’s eyes shone at my words. That shining face of his as he came close made me took a step back.
” Er, erm.. ? ”
But Sensei had already came close. At my troubled voice, Sensei looked up at me and went slightly red, before laughing as he apologized.
” Ah, sorry about that. I got too excited. I had always thought that there was nothing happy about christmas but it seems like this year would be different. ”
He said, eyes glittering.
Hm, that’s great. It was great that he was happy. But still, this extent of how much he loved sweet stuff… I finally get to know the hidden side of him.
Ah, Christmas.
I used to monopolized the cake and turkey. Wasn’t it great? Look at how the rest of them sliced the log-cake to tiny pieces for everyone. Yes, this was how the single dogs thought to kept themselves sane. Otherwise they would started throwing curses all around.
…..Hm. It seemed like I hadn’t changed much from my previous life. I was still cursing when I whipped the eggs. It sure ran deep.
” I wonder how would it taste like. ”
Sensei peeked into the magical tool I named ‘Oven’, after I placed the mold in to bake. He sure was looking forward to it. I can’t really fail, can I?
But I don’t think I would anyway. Plus the handiness of the magical tool. The tool here measured up to the one on earth, and might be even handier. This child here had both the functions of an oven and a microwave. I deeply suspected that the First Head of Beryl was a reincarnated person like me, or maybe it was the First Founder who made it.
Wonderful.
Even for Nobles, if they had this kind of handy items around to use, they would give their all in working for the country.
” How exciting! Hmm, it smells really good! ”
As those random thoughts went through my mind, John-Sensei was still peeking through the oven, paying close attention.
Are you a child?!
Suppressing that tsukkomi, I smiled and turned to face the oven.
” It is expending nicely. ”
The cake inside the oven had swelled up above the mold. It looked like the meringue was perfect. If we had failed at the meringue-part, the cake wouldn’t swelled. And, as Sensei had said, a light sweet smell belonging to the chiffon cake started wafting out.
My nose started sniffing on it’s own.
It had been a long time since I made a chiffon cake. This was the first time since I was born. It had been 3 years. Hmm, was it early or late? Considering my age, this was considered early, but as a person who loved desserts, going for 3 years without them sure was hard.
Well, from all the web novels I read, it was often that the MC who reincarnated was not even allowed into the kitchen due to his/her young age. Or the kid of the noble would looked down on cooking and the MC, furious, would engaged in a battle with him / her.
…..I wondered why these tropes did not happened here at all. I was happy, but on the other side, it was a little disappointing.
Well, at least it was better that being in a world with bad food! Although lacking in the sweets and junk food area, the normal level of the food here was around the same as the level in Japan.
” O- ”
I was about to say something when a chime was heard from the oven.
” It’s done! ”
John-Sensei was almost about to pounced onto the cake. One could imagined the taste based on the smell, and a soft and airy chiffon was done. John-Sensei’s eyes were on me the entire time I took the cake out. It’s message were clear.
Can I eat it now?
He sure had a lot of expression seeing he usually had a poker-face on. Did he really want to eat it that badly?
” *Snickered* ”
I burst out laughing. John-Sensei looked very much like a dog right now. Today really was the day John-Sensei’s character broke down. With a wry smile hanging on my face, I then said.
” …..We still need to let it cool down first. If not, it won’t slide out nicely from the mold. ”
Despair filled John-Sensei’s face as he hang his head down.
◆
Ahhh, how blessed.
I closed my eyes as I chewed. It was slowly destroyed by my teeth as I chewed. The cake was airy and light, but still had a decent amount of chewiness. And, since I lowered the sugar used, a light and soft sweetness penetrated my mouth. The smell was simple yet mouth-watering. I did a great job.
A chiffon cake after so long, was the best.
John-Sensei had a blissful expression as he too, slowly chewed and enjoyed the taste of the chiffon cake. And while indulging in bliss, I remembered something.
” Sensei, christmas is a day for couples right? ”
” Yes, that’s right. It’s the worst. ”
From that blissful face, John-Sensei immediately had on a disgusted face as he answered me. Well, I do agree with him but, I realized something now.
” Even at my age? ”
If that was really the case, I would rather die. Sensei gasped softly and immediately returned to his usual poker face and looked at me. It looked like he realized it too!
” No… For kids as young as you, it was just a day where we would eat and hold a party, have fun, and worried if Santa Claus would be coming or not. ”
” Ah, I thought so. ”
Who as the one who taught that christmas was a day for that (couples) only? Tra-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. Yes! That’s right! You had the correct answer! It was none other than John-Sensei!
Sensei, teaching your students the wrong things because of your prejudice was not a good pratice.
Yep, and it seemed like Sensei agreed with my thoughts too, as he looked at me with thankful eyes. And thus, I came to learned when I was 3, that christmas here was an annoying event.
Why, oh why. Why had christmas degraded till this level in this world as well? I was pretty sure you would understand that I really wanted to grabbed that bearded old god and let him know how I felt.