Free Web NovelChapter 680: Chapter 608: Face Me at Your Strongest
Whether it’s Western desserts or Chinese desserts, all the production processes can be replicated.
The use of molds, the ratio of ingredients, the timing of each step, and the final slicing and plating, as long as you learn carefully, can all be done exactly the same.
But even so, there will still be subtle differences in the pastries made.
An outsider might not taste the difference, feeling that the texture and flavor are the same, at most having a slight doubt but unable to tell if it’s their own illusion.
Of course, it’s not an illusion.
Even if every step is identical, the final product still has slight variations.
It might be a hint of sweetness not fully mixed or a slight difference in moisture content, leading to a different sensation when the dessert is tasted.
The piece of pastry before us seems to have gathered all those little nuances together.
Delicate, fluffy, springy, and moist, you can’t demand anything more from its texture.
Its flavor might be mild, but when the texture is perfected, any flaws are concealed once it enters the mouth.
The logic of love extending to all associated things equally applies to desserts.
One bite, two bites, three bites...
The elegant sweetness makes it very palatable, and its moist texture doesn’t even need the help of water. The three judges devoured the Osmanthus Cake on their plates in large mouthfuls.
Felix took a deep breath, feeling as if the air around him was filled with the rich fragrance of osmanthus, a scent lingering in his mouth, leaving him with a wonderfully memorable aftertaste.
"The texture is somewhat like that of a Western sponge cake, but even more delicate and moist. I’ve never tasted such a perfectly balanced dessert. A bit more moisture would feel too wet, a bit less, too gritty. Your basic skills are truly astonishing."
Felix hadn’t spoken much in previous contests, but this time he talked unusually a lot. Clearly, Wang Fan’s Osmanthus Cake today had indeed struck a chord with his taste buds.
Wang Fan bowed slightly in thanks, though his expression didn’t reveal any surprise.
After all, this was all within his expectations.
If it were various complex desserts, he might be humble, but when it comes to mastering fundamental skills like controlling heat, it would be a disservice to his heightened sense of vision, hearing, and smell to be humble.
Abraham’s expression turned serious, and a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.
Although he hadn’t tasted his own Opera Cake yet, from the judges’ reactions, he already knew this round was likely over for him.
As for the sense of powerlessness, as a Michelin-level pastry chef, he naturally understood what the judges were trying to convey.
Just like his Opera Cake, brushing a layer of coffee syrup was to soften the baked cake base, achieving the ideal state of a slightly crispy outer shell enveloping moisture from the honey solution, remaining both springy and soft.
But such things are much harder to achieve in practice; no one can control how much the coffee syrup permeates, only trying to approach the ideal value. The closer to the ideal value, the better the texture.
The judges’ point was simple: that white pastry, made with simple rice flour and lotus root flour, had reached that ideal texture!
Ideal texture!
That’s simply extraordinary, isn’t it?
Who can control the moisture level of a dessert to the ideal value?
Is that something carbon-based life forms can achieve?
How did he control it?
Allen asked Wang Fan earnestly, "Did you achieve this by accident, or can you really control it?"
Upon this question, even Abraham and a group of French pastry chefs pricked up their ears.
"It must have been by accident, right?"
"It’s impossible to control something like this."
"He must have just been lucky."
Nobody wanted to hear the real answer from Wang Fan’s mouth, but he smiled and gave the answer anyway: "Of course, it was under my control. My nose is quite sensitive, allowing me to detect the subtle smell changes to judge the pastry’s status, thus controlling the heat to reach my desired state."
Allen, at a loss for words, refrained from speaking further. Now, deep down, he felt a sense of jealousy surfacing.
Why would someone be so favored by the culinary gods?
Although he was also called a culinary god, he didn’t have such an acute sense of smell!
No matter, no matter, this kid is truly a once-in-a-century culinary genius; comparing himself to him is purely self-tormenting.
The Osmanthus Cake was finished, and he had to at least make a nominal effort to taste his own contender’s Opera Cake.
Picking up a fork and pressing lightly on the edge of the cake, he heard a "crunch" as a small piece was sliced off.
Putting it in his mouth, the rich aroma of chocolate rapidly filled his palate, a layer of intense chocolate ganache, smooth in texture, the bittersweet flavor subtle and not at all cloying.
The bite revealed a crisp sensation, a thin layer of almond cake obstructing the teeth’s path, turning golden and crunchy after baking, exuding a rich almond flavor.
Next came a layer of coffee bitterness, a coffee buttercream layer, light in texture, the bitterness of the coffee and sweetness of the cream interwoven to provide a unique flavor profile.
Finally, a thin, soft layer of sponge cake, finely textured and soft, absorbs the coffee aroma and flavor while neutralizing the crispness of the crust, adding another layer of complexity.
