Chapter 9: White Rose and Black Rose Cookies

I promptly begin my preparations.

The first ingredient that I take into my hands is the fresh cream, made from the freshly squeezed milk that had just arrived.

“Kurt-sama, what are you making?” Tina, endlessly excited, is peering at my hands’ movements.

“It’s butter. That’s right, I’ve never shown you how to make butter, have I?”

I pour the fresh cream into a metal bowl, and whisk it fast. I’ve asked Tina to make ice with her magic arte, adding ice cold water to it. By doing that, the fat layer gets solidified and becomes butter. To bake cookies, unsalted butter without any salt at all is the best. Adding salt will turn the butter’s color muddy. However, not adding salt will make it easily spoiled, so it’s a luxury item for an ordinary lifestyle.

The fresh creamy milk from this morning turns into butter right now. It’s the best possible butter ever.

“Awesome, really, white and smooth and it becomes butter. It’s just like magic.”

“Cooking is magic. Taste it, fresh butter is just the best.”

I scoop the fresh butter with a spoon, turning it to Tina’s mouth, which she chomps on at once. Tina’s face melts happily.

“Wooow, it melts instantly, so mellow.”

The new butter is light, but the flavor is strong and rich. Spreading it on some bread and eating as is will make a great breakfast. Fresh butter tastes a whole different level if eaten in thirty minutes from when it’s done.

“The butter is done, I’m going to start the dough.”

“Kurt-sama, it’s cookies this time, right? Why did you prepare four bowls?”

“To let the rose flower blooms, I need to make four different kinds of dough.”

While chopping the almonds that Marquis Fernandes arranged for me, I put rose-dipped whiskey, eggs, butter, and brown sugar. As I bake them, the dough will turn a dark, deeper flavor…… This is separated into two parts of different ratios.

After that, I knead wheat flour, rose petal honey, then walnut oil that I brought from the village. As they’re baked, the dough will turn white, light flavored and brittle. Without using the eggs, they’ll taste as fresh as they can be. ……I also separate them into halves with different ratios.

I’ve made four different kinds of dough.

“The contrast between the white and black dough is really interesting.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet, it’ll start getting exciting now.”

I divide the well-kneaded dough into several parts, then press them each until thin. I made all the white and black dough into thick and thin rectangles.

“Tina, freeze all the dough. Carefully, okay?”

“Yes, Kurt-sama.”

The dough are getting frozen by Tina’s hand. And then, I cut that frozen dough.

“Okay then, let’s put the finishing touches.”

I stack those thin rectangular dough in different sizes one on top of the other, layered up they get rounder. And then, with the remarkably large white dough layer, I roll them up to complete the dough.

“Kurt-sama, what is this?”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

I’ve layered the dough one on top of another again and again into a cylindrical shape, then with my cake knife, I slice it evenly. The result is round-cut cookies.

“Is that, rose?” Tina’s voice went a pitch higher in surprise as she looked at the cut cylindrical dough.

“You’re right, it’s a rose.”

“The cut surface turns into a rose pattern! So you can do it this way. But I’m bummed, it lacks a tiny bit of something, how regretful.”

“It’s all good. The roses aren’t in full bloom yet. When they’re baked, they’ll start blooming then.”

Laying the round cut cookies, I insert them into the oven. Then, at roughly the same time as they’re baked, I arrange the remaining batch by stacking them up to the very end. This time, the black dough acts as the wrap instead.

“The last one was black rose on a white canvas, but this time, it’s white rose on a black canvas! This is so pretty too.”

That’s right, the reason I divided the dough wasn’t for being eccentric or showing off. I was stacking the white and black layers of dough alternatively in order to draw the rose. It’s the same technique as Kintarou candy. By stacking rectangle shaped ingredients and turning them round, a drawing will be made. With this, no matter how many times I cut them, I can make the exact same drawing.

“But why did you divide it into four? You can make the rose pattern just by dividing it into two, right?”

“That’s no good. The rose’s deliciousness comes from the harmony between the white dough and the black dough. Drawing the black pattern and the white pattern will result in different ratios of black and white. Which ingredients to use, how much should I mix them together, their most suitable solution will be different. That’s why, the dough to make white rose and to make black rose, even though they look the same color, they actually are properly separated.”

“You’ve considered that far……”

“Doing it that far is the reason why it will become a superb pastry.” I grin. A pastry’s look is important, but the taste is also important. A pâtissier’s job is to make sure they both bloom. A compromise is unforgivable.

“It’ll finish baking soon. Tina felt bummed before that the rose didn’t look good, right?”

“I- I’m really sorry. That, uhm, I think they’re pretty, but I thought that something that looked like a drawing was not enough after all.”

“It’s all right, that impression is correct. But, you know. My cookies have magic laid in them. You’ll see what magic as soon as they’re baked.”

I take the cookies out of the hearth. The smoke that blows out of it brought the scent of butter and roses into the air.

“Kurt-sama, I can smell the rose’s fragrance!”

“So the smell is a success. Next is the look. Now, look at these cookies. I won’t let you say that they’re awkward.”

The smoke starts clearing out, and reveals what I’ve taken out of the oven, which are……

“Such a beautiful rose pattern! In a lustrous light brown body as the background, there’s a black rose! I’m not bummed at all! It’s like a picture painted by the most famous artist!”

“Cookies change form once they’re baked. I made the dough that will make you anticipate if the change will occur when the dough is baked, as well as what the shape and color change will be.”

That’s exactly my rose cookies’ magic. The required skill for artisan cookies.

“How did you find out what was going to happen after they were baked?”

“It comes from my years of experience, and also intuition. You’ve praised its appearance, but I’m confident about the cookies’ taste too, you know?”

My words make Tina’s eyes sparkle as she looks at me. Her whole body conveys that she really wants to eat the cookie.

“Tina, after we’ve baked the second batch, shall we have some tea?”

“That’s, something so delicious-looking being entrusted to me for later, that’s just……”

While looking at Tina’s entirely downhearted flatly pressed fox ears, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. However, this is a pastry that has the value to wait for. I’m sure she’ll be happy.

☘

A few minutes later, the two parts rose cookies, the white rose and black rose cookies, are completed. Tina and I take a sample. It gets a huge success rating from me, as well as from Tina. The last thing to do is to present this pastry to Marquis Fernandes and get him interested.

I told Marquis Fernandes’ servant that the pastry gift for the duchess is done, and to tell his master that I wish he would taste the cookies soon.

With this, we’ve arrived at the real deal.