How to eat pineapple buns on the immigration ship

Chapter 278 Toast in Progress

In the courtyard.

After watching Xiang Chuan wolf down the round bread, which was slightly larger than a steamed bun, the three of them put on heat-resistant gloves and picked up round bread from their plates.

The first thing the three of them did after picking up the round bread was to examine it repeatedly.

It wasn't that they were curious about the appearance, but rather that Kagawa had failed too many times before. Although external factors such as the fuel's penetrability played a role, after seeing so many dark and hard breads, it was still uncertain whether the bread in their hands had truly avoided carbonization.

Fortunately, the round loaves of bread in the three people's hands at least met the standard in appearance.

Instead of breaking the bread apart like Kagawa did, Ouyang Yating took a small bite directly from the edge.

The moment you bite into it, the caramelized crust seems to burst open between your lips and teeth, while you also taste the fluffy interior.

During the half-hour baking process, most of the internal moisture has evaporated. However, freshly baked bread still retains some moisture inside before processing, which is one of the main reasons why fresh bread has a hard exterior and a soft interior.

The aroma of wheat mixed with the subtle sweetness of fully cooked starch spreads gradually in the mouth as you chew, and you can also taste the fluffy elasticity of the fermented and baked dough, which is different from that of steamed buns and mantou.

This bite immediately whetted Ouyang Yating's appetite, and she chewed much faster with the second bite. Aino and Liang Gong beside her had already wolfed down most of the round bread.

The aroma from the brick oven, which was overwhelming for modern people, combined with the noise from the four members of the Tongue Tip Club biting into the pastry of palm-sized bread, made it hard for the gourmands of Class 8, Grade 1 to not notice what was happening.

Those with sharp eyes noticed the snow-white filling and steam rising from the bread as Kagawa broke it open, causing them to swallow hard in unison. Some of the more proactive ones even dropped what they were doing and ran over hoping to get a bite.

For example, Mandy, the arts committee member, and Fu Chengkai, the labor committee member, are both activists.

Their first target was Aino.

"Aino, hey bro, give us a bite."

"That piece you have left... we could even have half of it to try!"

Aino looked left and right at the two class officers who were sandwiching him, paused for a second, and then decisively stuffed the bread that was only the size of his palm into his mouth.

"Ah—!!" "No, brother—!!"

Mandy and Fu Chengkai screamed in unison, but Aino ignored them.

Aino: There's only one loaf of bread left. You want to steal it? Heh.

No wonder Aino was so ruthless this time. Kagawa only made four round loaves, and they weren't very big compared to the 21st-century loaves that were as big as washbasins, so they didn't get a chance to be tasted by Class 8 of Grade 1.

However, the two did not lose heart, but instead turned their plea to Kagawa.

"Kagawa! Lord Kagawa! Your Majesty Kagawa! Make a few more! We want to try them too!"

"Yes, yes! We can provide some data from our tasting for your reference! I remember you're going to use this bread as a research subject for your outdoor study tour, right? We can help! Lord Kagawa!" Kagawa: ...You call me "Lord Kagawa" so smoothly, have you been watching too much "Empresses in the Palace"?
However, Kagawa naturally did not intend to shut down the brick oven, which had finally been replaced with new fuel, after making these four round loaves.

"Then you two come over and help out, we'll do more of the other things."

As he spoke, Kagawa took out a large box of materials from the insulated cabinet that Daisei had brought over from the side.
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This time, Kagawa plans to make toast bread.

Kagawa had originally planned to try making some toast after changing the fuel, but considering that the proportions of the ingredients were much more complicated than those for round bread or baguettes, he ultimately chose round bread as his trial product.

But now that the fuel problem is solved, she can do more.

The ingredients to be prepared are flour, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, yeast, and light cream.

This morning, while preparing the ingredients, Kagawa was struggling with the toast recipes on Geegle. Almost all toast recipes require butter, as it's key to keeping the toast fluffy and sweet inside.

But she just suddenly decided to make toast. Where was she supposed to get the butter beforehand?

Fortunately, she discovered that whipping cream could be used as a substitute. Whipping cream is made from whole milk. When whole milk is left to stand under refrigeration for more than twelve hours, a layer of pale yellow milk skin will float on the surface; this layer is whipping cream.

She had a lot of milk in the storage room that was being kept refrigerated and kept warm. She asked the kitchen AI to help her scavenge it, and it was only enough to barely collect enough for one glass bottle.

The amount of light cream needed to make one pound of toast is only about 100 grams. Even so, the four members of the Bite of China team plus the two class officers used almost half a bottle.

Kagawa planned to use the remaining half bottle to make some butter and store it. She was thinking that if baking techniques were accepted by modern people, she would probably have to work with her employees to compile data on dairy product processing after summer vacation.

While directing five people to knead the dough, she pondered how many people she should bring over to help with the data.

If you make six loaves of toast into sandwiches, that's enough for almost everyone. So, wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable to tie up the whole class and pay them for their labor?

Kagawa hummed to himself.

Making toast is more complicated than making traditional round bread or baguettes. Just to achieve that gluten window that any 21st-century baking enthusiast can pull out, the dough with the ingredients and seasonings needs to rest for 20 minutes.

So the six of them started chatting. While they were supposedly chatting, the two class officers were actually doing most of their inquiries about the taste of the bread.

Kagawa, a liberal arts student who struggles to find the right words, could only manage to come up with "a very traditional bread flavor" after thinking for a long time, which led to him being temporarily blacklisted by Mandy and Fu Chengkai.

Ouyang Yating: "It's very fragrant and soft. The inside is different from steamed buns. It's drier and has more air, so it's not as dense. But the aroma is very tempting, so you won't lose your appetite after eating one or two, just like you would with steamed buns without milk."

Liang Gong: "If it were made a little bigger, I think it could be used as another staple food. I remember that Kagawa often dips steamed buns in noodle soup or dumplings. I think bread, which is drier and has a larger internal cavity, would be very delicious when paired with soup."

Aino: "However, this is on the premise that the bread itself cannot be seasoned too much, but the one that Kagawa made now has both sugar and salt... It's not really suitable for soaking in soup, is it?"

Kagawa, who was checking whether the dough for the six people could be successfully stretched into a thin membrane, said: "...Don't fight over this toast when it's ready."

Just kidding! Toast can be both savory and sweet, and along with baguettes and European breads, it's arguably the top choice for 21st-century office workers' quick meals. So what about hot springs? What will you do when I serve you creamy soup in the future?