The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 592 A small test of one’s skills
Tan Weian proved his worth as a shareholder of Zhiweiju by using the recipes for 13 flower cakes.

Qin Huai spent more than two hours reading through the 13 recipes given by Tan Weian, and after reading them, he gained new insights into flower cakes.

Well, Qin Huai never imagined that flower cakes could be made so complicated. Tan Weian's 13 recipes are all good ones, some made with candied flowers and some with fresh flowers. Among them, there are 6 recipes for rose flower cakes, 2 recipes for osmanthus filling, 2 recipes for jasmine, 1 recipe for plum blossom, 1 recipe for lotus, and 1 recipe for chrysanthemum.

Qin Huai focused on six recipes for rose petal filling.

Different paths lead to the same destination, each with its own merits.

A good flower cake is all about the flowers, not just decorations. The flavor and fragrance of the flowers should be infused into the cake, not just added sugar, lard, or even chestnut or red bean paste to mask the taste of the petals and create a flower-themed gimmick.

Qin Huai felt that as long as Tan Wei'an thoroughly studied and mastered the 13 flower cake recipes that Tan Wei'an had provided, he would definitely become a flower cake master.

Strange, I've never heard of Tan Weian making flower cakes before.

After Qin Huai finished studying the formula, he sent a WeChat message to ask Tan Weian if he had seen the formula. Tan Weian replied confidently that of course not.

His great-grandfather left behind so many pastry recipes that even his grandfather might not have fully studied them all, let alone him. He hasn't even mastered what his grandfather taught him yet, so how could he have time to study the pastry recipes left by his great-grandfather?

All I can say is that the "treasure bag" is far too comprehensive.

Qin Huai spent the entire night studying the recipe for flower cakes, mentally rehearsing it countless times. If he were a protagonist in a system novel with a spatial ability, able to practice cooking and make flower cakes within that space, all the residents of Yunzhong Community would be able to enjoy fresh, hot flower cakes that very evening.

Unfortunately, Qinhuai is not one of them.

After falling asleep from exhaustion while researching, Qin Huai continued his research on flower cakes in his dream. This time, his dream was still about the world being invaded by evil rabbits. These rabbits, for some reason, stopped eating carrots and insisted on eating flower cakes. Qin Huai made flower cakes day and night, not daring to stop for a moment.

Those evil rabbits were big, fat, and had a huge appetite. They ate one whole pot of food without stopping. When Qin Huai woke up, he felt like he hadn't woken up from enough sleep, but rather that he was so tired from the dream that he would die of exhaustion if he continued.

On the morning of the second day, Qin Huai dragged his tired body to the Cloud Canteen. When he saw the fresh rose petals and candied rose petals on the outermost shelf of the warehouse, he almost fainted.

For some reason, Qin Huai had never made flower cakes before, but the moment she saw the petals, she felt like she had been making them for many years. Perhaps this was the price of making flower cakes all night in her dream.

Qin Huai took two bags of rose petals from the warehouse and placed them on the kitchen counter. He kneaded the dough and, as usual, made steamed buns first.

While flower cakes are certainly a must, as a qualified breakfast chef, Qin Huai still needs to make breakfast first thing in the morning.

The flower cake recipes that Tan Weian gave Qin Huai yesterday weren't particularly difficult, but they were still a small challenge for Qin Huai, because according to Wang Gensheng's description and Tan Weian's recipes, flower cakes are essentially shortbread.

Shortbread with filling.

Qin Huai was even somewhat glad that he had been practicing haphazardly for the first month before his training at Zhiweiju. He had practiced finger techniques and learned how to make puff pastry. Otherwise, given Qin Huai's previous level of puff pastry making, he would have had to practice intensively for a period of time to meet the requirements of Tan Weian's recipe.

But Qin Huai still wasn't very confident.

This might be why Qin Huai spent the whole night making flower cakes in his dream last night. Qin Huai rarely practices so hard in his dreams anymore. Every time he dreams about those damned rabbits, it's because he's not confident in his abilities.

As expected, the base stats weren't high enough.

Qin Huai reflected deeply on the matter while kneading the dough.

An Youyou arrived while Qin Huai was kneading the dough. She was a little late for Qin Huai, but it wasn't a big deal; given their current relationship, Qin Huai wouldn't deduct An Youyou's salary.

An Youyou brought Qin Huai two oranges, which she picked up from Chen Huihong's house the day before yesterday.

An Youyou looked at the rose petals on the kitchen counter with some curiosity. After learning that one of the bags contained candied petals, she even picked up two petals with her chopsticks to taste them.

The petals entered her mouth, and An Youyou put on the mask of pain.

"Boss, can this be used as filling?" An Youyou was extremely puzzled, her face saying, "You city people only eat this."

“Eating it directly is obviously not good, and candied winter melon is also not good to eat directly. Wouldn’t it taste better if it were made into glutinous rice balls with mixed fruit filling?” Qin Huai said.

An Youyou thought it made sense and went to work, while Qin Huai continued to think about how to make the shortbread part of the flower cake.

At 6:1 AM sharp, the first group of elderly people going for their morning run arrived at the Yunzhong Canteen on time, and Wang Gensheng was among them. Amidst the envious and jealous gazes of countless elderly people, Wang Gensheng strode confidently into the kitchen and, from a distance, said to Qin Huai:

"Master Qin, I went home to take a shower before coming here."

Yes, Wang Gensheng was that strict about eating in the canteen. Since joining the kitchen, Wang Gensheng has never participated in the full morning run again. He would run halfway, then go home to shower before joining the rest of the group at the canteen, ensuring he wouldn't give anyone cause for gossip.

If conditions allowed, Wang Gensheng would have liked to apply for a set of kitchen uniforms for the Yunzhong Canteen and wear them to work in the kitchen.

Seeing that Wang Gensheng was in good spirits, Qin Huai knew he had recovered, smiled and nodded at him, and began to prepare the filling for the flower cakes.

Tan Weian provided six recipes for rose petal cakes, three for fresh roses and three for candied roses, with the differences mainly in the fillings. Each recipe has its own distinct filling philosophy: some emphasize the rose fragrance, some perfectly blend the rose flavor with other ingredients, and some choose to slightly suppress the rose flavor.

Qin Huai felt that these ideas each had their own merits. Dim sum is like that; there is no absolute good or absolute bad. As long as it tastes good, then it is good.

Qin Huai made all six kinds of fillings in one go.

Then start making the pie crust.

Qinhuai rarely makes flaky pastries; more accurately, it basically doesn't.

There was no way around it; puff pastry is a relatively advanced technique that requires a master to teach you step by step. No matter how talented Qin Huai was, he couldn't possibly learn it just by reading a complete guide to pastries. Of course, he did learn a little bit from reading the complete guide to pastries.

Most of the flaky pastries sold in the Cloud Cafeteria are made by Pei Xing. As a graduate of Zhiweiju, Pei Xing's flaky pastry skills are indeed quite good. If he hadn't been so fixated on making shumai and had instead devoted himself to studying flaky pastries since joining the company, his skills would likely be much better now.

Qin Huai kneaded the dough carefully.

While kneading the dough, all he could think about was Zhao Cheng'an's movements.

Before his awakening, Zhao Cheng'an's pastry-making skills were textbook perfect; after awakening, he added many mistakes to those textbooks. Ignoring these mistakes, Zhao Cheng'an's pastry-making abilities are undoubtedly outstanding. As Master Zhou's personally trained disciple, his specialty is flaky pastries.

It's not wrong to say that Qinhuai's flaky pastries were learned from Zhao Cheng'an.

Qin Huai is doing it very slowly.

very serious.

The reason he was working so slowly wasn't because he was trying to master the material; it was simply because he lacked confidence.

At 7 o'clock sharp, the first batch of rose petal cakes came out of the oven.

The freshly baked rose petal cakes are incredibly fragrant. Regardless of the version, the filling requires a generous amount of lard and sugar. These two ingredients are characterized by releasing a very sweet aroma after being baked at high temperatures.

The sheer high calories and rich, oily aroma, much like braised pork, attract diners with their most authentic flavor. Not to mention, the rose petals, after baking, are indeed quite fragrant—not exactly floral, but unlike the aroma of ordinary pastries; it's an alluring, high-sugar, high-calorie fragrance.

The kitchen staff all swallowed hard.

An Youyou's eyes were practically glued to the oven.

Qin Huai personally took out each rose petal cake, let it cool, and once it was at a suitable temperature, he didn't immediately give the rose petal cake to Wang Gensheng to taste. Instead, he picked one up himself and tasted it first.

The taste is unexpectedly good.

Qin Huai hadn't eaten flower cakes much before, but she did receive some as gifts from relatives during the Lunar New Year. However, they weren't freshly baked; they came in luxurious packaging.

Qin Huai didn't find the taste particularly special when she ate it. She thought it was just an ordinary cake with fresh flowers added. To preserve it for a long time, a lot of sugar was added, making it a bit too sweet. She couldn't eat more than two pieces.

Qin Luo finished the last box of flower cakes.

In addition, freshly baked flower cakes have never been popular in Qiu County—given the high prices in Qiu County, it would be difficult for them to become popular, as fresh flowers are too expensive. Qinhuai has always regarded this cake as a local specialty.

I have no desire to learn, no desire to do, and no desire to eat.

Now, after eating some freshly baked food myself, I think it tastes really good and has a unique flavor.

It's also possible that Qin Huai's culinary skills are just too good now, making these kinds of not-so-difficult-to-make pastries is basically a game-changer.

Although the crust was only so-so and the puff pastry technique was limited, the filling was delicious.

It has a floral fragrance and doesn't taste like a simple mixture of sugar and oil. The texture is very smooth, and you won't taste any strange or astringent taste when chewing the petals. The saltiness of the crust perfectly balances the sweetness of the filling, and the thickness is just right.

It's not particularly crispy; the crumbly texture isn't great, but it's not bad either.

If Qin Huai were to rate this flower cake, he would give it a score of 75 to 80.

The rating... should be B.

Qin Huai handed the flower cake to Wang Gensheng, then turned her head and saw An Youyou staring at them expectantly. She waved to An Youyou, signaling that she could take a break from work, come and have a bite before going back to work.

It just so happens that Ouyang and Shi Dadan haven't gotten up yet, and Wang Gensheng is getting a bit lonely tasting the food alone, so it's good to have An Youyou come over and keep him company.

An Youyou happily ran to the small table, sat down very naturally, poured herself a cup of tea, and then poured tea for Qin Huai.

Very good, you know your food. You know that when eating this kind of sweet pastry, especially when eating a lot of it, you must have tea with it.

"Uncle Wang, since I'm not quite sure what flavor the red silk cake you requested is, or what kind of filling it has, I'll make it for you with rose petal filling first."

“These six pancakes are seasoned in six different ways. You don’t need to eat them all, as it can be too much and make you feel full. Just break the pancakes in half or a quarter of each kind, and the rest can be given to Youyou.”

An Youyou nodded frantically to indicate that she could eat it.

"I'll be waiting for your feedback here. You can tell me after each bite whether it's similar to the red silk cake you remember, and what the differences are. You can also tell me which one is the closest after you've tried them all, and what the differences are."

Wang Gensheng listened carefully to Qin Huai's request, nodded to indicate that he had remembered it, and began to taste the food.

When Qin Huai took the first bite, he sensed that Wang Gensheng had something to say, but he held back, took a sip of tea, and continued eating.

Wang Gensheng would take a sip of tea after eating each piece, which was very professional; he knew to cleanse his palate before tasting.

Since each of the "King of Cakes" only ate 1/4 of a cake and did not say anything throughout the entire process, he simply ate, making the whole tasting process very short.

Qin Huai looked at Wang Gensheng with anticipation.

Wang Gensheng looked up at Qin Huai with a sense of pressure. Their eyes met, and Wang Gensheng, feeling a little nervous, swallowed hard and tactfully praised, "Master Qin, the red silk cakes you made are all delicious."

"It tastes much better than the freshly baked flower cakes that my husband and I ate in Kunming that year."

"but……"

"These all look like flower cakes."

Qin Huai: ...

Wang Gensheng has become such a discerning eater lately! He immediately grasped the essence of the pancake.

“That’s right.” Qin Huai nodded. “I made it following the idea of ​​flower cakes. What? Is it completely wrong?”

When Qin Huai listened to this yesterday, he thought that the red silk cake that Wang Gensheng mentioned was just a flower cake, only an upgraded and tastier version of the flower cake.

Qin Huai has seen many similar tasks, such as making tangerine peel tea, potato dumplings, and apple noodles, but the content and names are completely inconsistent.

Is it different this time?
Is he really going to make red silk cakes, or is he just lying to his good friend by calling fresh flower cakes red silk cakes?

Qin Huai panicked a little. If Xu Nuo really knew how to make red silk cakes, things would be difficult, because Qin Huai really didn't know how to make red silk cakes.

"You can't say that." Wang Gensheng hesitated for a moment, then tried to organize his thoughts. "Master Qin, the flower cakes you make are better than the ones my wife and I had in Chuncheng. They're a bit like the red silk cakes."

"But they're different."

“Red silk cake is red silk cake, and flower cake is flower cake; they are not the same thing.”

"To pinpoint the specific differences..."

"Red silk cakes are sweeter, more fragrant, and keep longer."

Wang Gensheng's words reminded Qin Huai that Wang Gensheng had actually mentioned a very crucial piece of information a long time ago, but Qin Huai had overlooked it.

The promised red water chestnut cakes could be kept for a long time. Wang Gensheng originally planned to keep the cakes until the New Year before eating them, but he couldn't resist his craving and secretly ate a small piece.

If a pancake is to be kept for a long time, then that's definitely a different approach.

But that's a terrible way to make pastries—heavy on oil and sugar, and the crust has to be baked until it's very dry.

Does Wang Gensheng like this version of flower cake?

Qin Huai seemed to be deep in thought.

(End of this chapter)