Chapter 155: Chocolate Cake!
And so, after Luke strongly recommended cookies, Miura Yumiko chose cake anyway.
Pure rebellion.
"So, why did you suddenly decide to learn cooking?"
Luke pulled Yumiko aside and quietly asked.
"I suddenly thought cooking seemed interesting. Is that not allowed?"
Yumiko snorted, looking completely unapologetic.
"Is that so? Then I'll eagerly await Lady Miura's masterpiece."
"Ew! Who said I was making anything for you to taste?!"
"I've bought you so many drinks and given you so much candy. Surely you can treat me to cake once."
"Stop talking about that here! Shut up!"
Luke took another kick to the shin.
With her face flushed red, Yumiko hurried away to talk with Yui.
Seriously.
Who even wanted all that stupid candy of his?
They were obviously sugar-coated bribes designed to lower her guard so he could take advantage of her!
Still, cooking really was an incredibly useful skill.
At least Luke, a Super Earthling 2 who had spent half a year living alone inside the Spirit Time Chamber, understood that deeply.
Yet he had not met many girls nowadays who seriously worked on improving that skill.
Most seemed more interested in boosting their appearance rather than deliberately learning practical abilities like cooking.
As far as Luke could remember—Aside from Annie, who was absurdly talented, Mikasa could only barely be considered capable of cooking.
The next best cook among the girls he knew was Kawasaki Saki.
She was diligent about everything, though she still seemed nervous about working as a maid.
Luke had experienced her cooking only a handful of times, but those occasions had left a strong impression.
Honestly, Saki did not need to be so meticulous.
Luke had already told her that he did not care much about the quality of the housework.
He had hired her mainly to help her out while taking advantage of the [Maid Fund Card] to earn some extra money himself.
He had very few demands.
But Saki had an excellent work ethic.
Everything she handled was done properly, and cooking was no exception.
Desserts, full meals—she was skilled in virtually every area.
Even a perfectionist like Yukino would probably struggle to find anything worth criticizing.
Thinking about it that way, aside from being a bit obsessed with her younger brother and sister, Kawasaki Saki was genuinely a very caring girl.
She definitely had high potential.
Mm.
Luke was looking forward to seeing the results of Yumiko's training.
"Miura-san, do you have any preference regarding the type of cake?"
Yukino asked.
"Not really~ I don't know much about that stuff."
"I see."
Yukino had already begun deciding on the dessert.
"In that case, something common would probably be best."
"Something visually appealing, but also relatively simple…"
She thought for a moment.
"I remember we have some chocolate left over. Let's make chocolate cake today."
"Chocolate cake?"
Yui looked puzzled.
"Can a beginner really make that?"
"It isn't especially difficult."
Yukino replied.
"I'll use pure chocolate. Miura-san and Yuigahama-san can choose whatever chocolate you personally prefer."
"Chocolate, huh? Sounds good…"
Yumiko muttered and agreed.
...
The activity began without any problems.
Once they reached the home economics room, Yukinoshita Yukino expertly took out the dough left from before, along with sugar, chopped chocolate, flour, baking powder, and eggs.
Luke had no intention of interfering with something this simple.
Instead, he needed to conserve his energy for the far more difficult and dangerous responsibility of taste-testing.
One had to admit—Taste-testing a beginner's cooking was arduous work requiring both courage and a powerful constitution.
Aside from that, he would provide basic assistance whenever necessary.
His primary responsibility was—Watching Yuigahama.
Meanwhile, Yukino immediately got to work.
At the cooking station stood Yukino, Yui, and Yumiko.
All three wore serious expressions as they faced the chocolate and cooking utensils.
"First, chop the chocolate into smaller pieces, then melt it over a hot-water bath."
"That's it?"
"…Mm. Essentially."
Yukino continued, "The later steps are more important."
As she answered, she smoothly demonstrated how to chop the already broken chocolate into finer pieces with a kitchen knife.
Watching Yukino's fluid knife work, Yui released an impressed—
"Ooh—!"
Yumiko observed for a little while before copying her.
It was obvious she was not particularly experienced.
She handled the knife cautiously, almost nervously, making a series of clack-clack-clacking sounds as she chopped the chocolate.
Incidentally—Yui was still not allowed to touch a kitchen knife.
There was no helping that.
"No."
On the other side, Luke immediately stopped Yui when she tried reaching for one.
"Ugh~!"
Yui puffed out her cheeks and glared at him unhappily.
"Complaining won't help. Yukinoshita told me to do this."
"Ugh~!"
By the time the chocolate on the other side had been mostly chopped, Yumiko raised her head with a small but satisfied sense of accomplishment.
"What? This is pretty easy."
The smiling Yumiko was immediately attacked from both sides.
"You're being too optimistic. This is only the beginning, Yumiko."
"Exactly! Too optimistic!"
Ebina Hina and Yuigahama Yui showed no mercy whatsoever.
Still feeling that the first stage had gone smoothly, Yumiko tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh? What do you mean? Is there something especially difficult after this?"
Mm.
That was probably the mindset of someone who had just completed the beginner tutorial and had no idea what awaited them next.
It was like—Here is one rabbit.
Here is another rabbit.
Together, that makes two rabbits.
Excellent! You have now mastered the fundamental principles of arithmetic!
Now let's immediately apply what you learned to this simple practical example.
Yui raised one finger and waved it downward in the air.
"This is only the beginning, Yumiko."
"Next you have to melt the chocolate…"
"And you can't just dump it into hot water! You have to swish it around! Swish, swish!"
"She means you need to stir it continuously and control the temperature."
Luke translated Yui's idiot-language.
Hearing what Yui said, Yukino apparently remembered something painful.
She pressed a finger against her temple and sighed.
"If melted chocolate is simply allowed to solidify again, white fat can rise to the surface."
"It affects both the appearance and texture."
"And the later steps also require considerable effort and time."
That sounded suspiciously like a mistake Yui had made before.
Apparently, Yukino had gained plenty of teaching experience from those disasters.
"I see…"
Yumiko thought for a moment.
"Then what next?"
"Let's begin with melting it over a hot-water bath and tempering the chocolate."
With Yukino supervising them, there probably would not be any serious problems.
Judged purely by work standards, Yukino really was an excellent choice.
"I'm going out to buy some drinks. What does everyone want?"
Luke asked.
Everyone gave him their orders.
After transferring responsibility for monitoring Yui to Hina, Luke left the classroom.
...
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