Free Web NovelChapter 687: Chapter 611: Clash of Black and White, Molten Chocolate Cake VS Snowy Flowing Sand
"As expected!"
Wang Fan felt a shock in his heart; his guess was indeed correct. This Durand was truly the Michel Bras of this world!
Not only was he facing a three-star pastry chef, but also a future giant who would rank among the top ten French culinary gods.
However, Wang Fan was not intimidated, nor did he believe he was unable to fight. The prowess of these French culinary gods lay more in their innovation based on existing Western pastries, rather than ensuring that what they made was so delicious that it would be absolutely heavenly.
Wang Fan didn’t think his creativity was particularly outstanding. In fact, he felt that in the realm of Chinese desserts, there was almost no room for further innovation. Possessing thousands of years of history, there were treasures left by the nine tribes. One could easily combine them to create ideas that would make these French chefs rack their brains.
Some people say that Snowy Flowing Sand is the "Huaxia Soufflé," but Snowy Flowing Sand emerged more than 200 years before Soufflé!
Sorry, on a cultural level, we’re just this fabulously wealthy!
At this moment, Allen had already lifted the cover off Durand’s pastry dish.
On the small plate was a hemispherical black persimmon-shaped dessert. The mountain-shaped cake was topped with snowy white sugar frosting, with a vibrant green mint leaf as the only decoration.
Modern French cuisine generally has small portions, and almost every dish includes some leafy greens or brightly colored fruits like raspberries or blueberries for decoration, along with a simple sauce design that exudes artistic flair.
Durand’s dessert, however, lacked these elements. It was simply a chocolate persimmon with a layer of sugar frosting, appearing quite plain and unremarkable.
Allen’s eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly; in his mind, this presentation had already lost to Wang Fan’s Snowy Flowing Sand.
He picked up the fork set beside him, gently pressing down on the top of the small cake. The soft cake offered almost no resistance, going right down to the bottom.
And just as Allen’s fork turned, widening the crack, sounds of surprise erupted.
From that crack, a thick, black chocolate sauce oozed slowly along the edge of the cake, forming an extremely tempting line. Under the high-definition camera, it seemed ready to flow into everyone’s hearts.
A rich chocolate aroma filled the air instantly, causing Allen to close his eyes and take a deep breath, to which almost all the audience involuntarily swallowed their saliva.
"Is it really this smooth?"
"The sight of that chocolate flowing out is truly top-notch. I’ve never seen such a cake before."
"That’s not chocolate flowing out; it’s clearly my saliva."
"A single bite of that and I would gain five pounds! But I really want to try it; where can I buy it?"
"I guess you can’t get it. It took three years of research to develop it, so it’s probably not available anywhere."
The audience could only feast their eyes, while the three judges could satisfy their palates.
Each of them cut off a small piece of the cake with a fork, soaked it in the thick chocolate that had flowed into the dish, and placed the rich, chocolate-draped piece into their mouths.
The chocolate sauce melted instantly in the mouth, providing an incredibly smooth texture experience, once again bringing the honeyed smiles back to the faces of the three judges.
As they bit down, the outer layer of the cake was soft and glutinous, getting more moist the deeper they bit into it, until they reached the liquid chocolate at the center. The unique and rich textural layers also fascinated all three of them.
The intense chocolate flavor dispersed in the mouth, with the warm stream-like chocolate sauce seemingly dancing on the tongue, bringing a warm and satisfying sensation. The constant contrast of bitterness and sweetness endlessly stimulated the taste buds, making the three indulge in it involuntarily.
Thick yet smooth, sweet yet bitter, it was very much akin to the feeling of a first love, elusive and lingering.
The three judges savored the taste in their mouths, and for a long time, no one spoke.
This made the hearts of the audience lift once again, akin to other shows where truly epic performances end not with thunderous applause, but with utter silence.
The reactions of the three judges already sufficiently indicated just how stunned they were by this small molten chocolate cake.
After a long while, Allen exhaled a breath full of chocolate flavor and said, "Durand, your work today truly astonished me. This unique texture is something I have never experienced before. You mentioned it took you three years to create it; tell us about your inspiration."
Durand smiled as he explained, "The inspiration for this molten chocolate cake mainly came from a skiing experience. I went skiing with my parents, and afterward, my mother prepared us a cup of hot chocolate. That cup of hot chocolate brought them warmth and joy in the cold winter.
At that time, I wanted to create a dessert that could bring people warmth and happiness. It took three years of constantly adjusting the proportion of ingredients and temperature control before I finally completed it."
Allen nodded, "Creating such a smooth texture certainly requires significant effort in managing the heat."
After saying this, he gave Wang Fan a slightly jealous look. This young man’s talent for temperature control was so incredibly impressive that it gave him chills; if it were in a magic world, he would undoubtedly be a formidable Fire Mage.
Felix continued, "This should be the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted in my life, thick yet not cloying. The balance of sweet and bitter is perfect, and the cake is baked to perfection, as soft as a velvet blanket in winter."
Chen Guomin also spared no praise, "Durand’s dessert, once released, will certainly add another masterpiece to the French pastry world in the near future. It won’t take long before this dessert becomes popular worldwide."
Durand’s face held a faint smile, showing no arrogance due to the praise from the judges. In his view, these were all to be expected, and the comments from the three judges would not change that.
This was the absolute confidence of a strong person.
Looking at Wang Fan, Durand’s eyes heated up again. He had already presented a work honed over three years; could he win this competition?
Zhang Tao’s voice, as always, sounded at just the right moment, "Alright, both contestants’ works have been tasted by the judges, so let’s invite the three judges to provide their answers and select the champion of the third China-France Dessert Battle."
Everyone’s eyes focused on the three judges, but they all closed their eyes and didn’t rush to give their answers.
It wasn’t that the three of them were deliberately creating suspense, but they genuinely needed to think carefully.
Wang Fan’s Snowy Flowing Sand was as white as fresh snow, combining the qualities of crispness, softness, tenderness, and a flowing core.
Durand’s molten chocolate cake was like volcanic black rock, also possessing the qualities of softness, tenderness, and a flowing core, though it lacked the crunchy outer layer. However, the changes and layers in its softness surpassed it.
Furthermore, the debut of the Snowy Flowing Sand was simply too stunning; those starry specks of perfection had yet to be forgotten.
Choosing Snowy Flowing Sand, the unique taste of molten chocolate kept lingering.
Choosing molten chocolate, the perfect texture of Snowy Flowing Sand left the taste buds with endless aftertaste, causing intense indecision!
Time passed, the audience grew increasingly tense, and the expressions of the three judges grew more and more conflicted.
"Wang Fan."
"Durand."
Just as the audience thought they would have to wait much longer, two different names were uttered almost simultaneously.
Chen Guomin opened his eyes and firmly declared, "I choose Wang Fan. The Snowy Flowing Sand made by contestant Wang Fan has a texture that can be described as the pinnacle of desserts, especially that burst of brown sugar water after biting through the bean paste, which is incredibly stunning."
Felix continued, "I choose contestant Durand. Both contestants’ works are impressive enough, but from my personal taste, the molten chocolate cake made by contestant Durand better suits my preferences."
"1 to 1! The two judges have given different results! Each contestant has received one vote! So now, the final decision falls to Judge Allen! To whom will this fate-deciding vote be given? Let’s wait and see!"
