The next morning.

Once the milk was delivered to the shop, Yan Xia began making it.

She only used a small portion of the milk.

The rest was given to the two daughters to render into butter.

It seems we still need to buy some cows.

If cakes are introduced, the demand for milk will be even greater.

In the afternoon, after storing all the extracted whipping cream, Yan Xia took out a small jar to try making it in advance.

She read a baking book while her children were napping at noon.

Remember the steps, bake the cake base, and then use two pairs of chopsticks to manually whip the cream.

God knows her hand was almost broken.

After whipping the cream, spread it on a clean wooden board. Place a layer of rose jam and a layer of cream in the middle of the cake.

After wrapping everything up, Yan Xia spread the cream evenly on the outside of the cake and decorated it with a green leaf.

"Mom, is this cake? I thought you meant steamed egg custard."

Lamei was stunned when she saw the birthday cake in front of her.

"Come on, everyone have a piece. Xiao Ji, take this piece to the front and give it to Jin Fu."

"It's my aunt."

Xiao Ji was holding a plate, which was white ceramic.

On top was the same white cake, slightly yellowed.

There's a wooden spoon next to the cake.

"Brother Jinfu, your aunt said you should try this birthday cake. She just made it."

"Yes, I'll eat right now."

Jin Fu packed the cookies for the guests, took the cake, picked up a spoon, and put a bite in his mouth.

"Wow, this tastes so good! I've never tasted anything like it before. It's so sweet and delicious. Mom is amazing. This cake is even better than flower cakes and peach shortbread, and it even surpasses cookies!"

Jin Fu was so engrossed in eating that he forgot about the guests. Ku Ku shoved several spoonfuls into his mouth, and only after the cake was completely finished did he lick the spoon with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Is it really that delicious? What is a birthday cake?"

Several customers sitting in the shop drinking tea asked curiously.

Just as they were about to leave, they went down the stairs and saw the shopkeeper's son eating something called cake.

It has a yellowish-white appearance and looks soft and glutinous.

It was completely different from the steamed egg custard they had imagined.

"Sir, this is a new product that our shop has not yet launched, so we can't tell you about it right now."

Yan Xia's appearance interrupted the questions of several guests. She wanted to put a 'mysterious veil' on the cake and wait for the county magistrate's daughter to unveil it.

As for why Xiao Ji specifically gave it to Jin Fu.

That's to whet the guests' appetites.

Because of the introduction of the cookies, long queues started forming again at the store.

One person tells ten, ten tell a hundred.

Everyone will know she's researching new products.

Those gourmets who are not short of money and love to eat might come to the shop every day.

Wait for her to bring out the cake, and then be the first to take a bite.

Yan Xia playfully said a few nice words to send the guests away, and returned to the backyard. The weather was cool, so the cake wouldn't melt. She personally took the remaining half to the restaurant and cut a small piece for Jin Lujing and the six servants.

The cake I made this time was 6 inches.

There are simply not enough people to eat.

Each person only received a thin slice.

Just a small taste.

Soon, the birthday of the county magistrate's only daughter arrived.

Yan Xia started making the cake early in the morning.

This time I made a 10-inch one.

The style doesn't matter for tasting, but since it's being given to the county magistrate's daughter, the cake can't be ordinary.

It has to look good!

She baked a light pink cake base with a small amount of red yeast rice powder, then took out the green plums she had bought in advance and made them into green plum jam, which was sweet and sour. She spread it in the middle of the cake as a filling. The first layer was green plum jam mixed with cream, the second layer was rose jam mixed with cream, and the third layer was peach jam mixed with cream.

With three layers of filling, the flavor is absolutely rich.

Then wrap the cream in two pieces of gauze to make simple piping bags.

Pipe a ring of small balls onto the evenly spread buttercream cake.

A clean peach blossom was placed on each of the spheres.

In the middle, the words "Happy Birthday" were written with a bamboo skewer dipped in rose jam.

This time she was smarter. Instead of using chopsticks to whip the cream, she fixed dozens of bamboo skewers together and made her own manual whipping tool.

After finishing, Yan Xia called Zuo Li in.

I gave him several instructions, telling him how to light the candles on the cake, cut it into pieces, make a wish, and not to shake it when handling it, otherwise the cake would break, etc.

Because she had plenty of time, Yan Xia also paid extra to have small, light pink birthday candles customized, along with a wooden cake box and cutlery set with simple patterns carved on it.

It reads "Yan's Pastry Shop" in five large characters.

Tie the cake box with pretty gauze.

It was tied with a bow.

Mission accomplished.

Yan Xia roughly calculated the cost, which was at least two taels of silver.

The light gauze alone cost five taels of silver, and Yan Xia painfully cut it into the shape of a rope.

No wonder I used to see on TV that young ladies from wealthy families would spend hundreds of taels of silver a year.

The light gauze she bought was only enough to make a garment for a two-year-old child.

That's enough to prove how expensive it is.

But it's worth it.

As long as Miss Lu praises the birthday cake, her shop will become an instant success. There are plenty of wealthy families, and many merchants are even richer than the county magistrate. When they learn that Miss Lu ate a cake from Yan's Pastry Shop on her birthday, they will naturally follow suit and buy one too.

We're just waiting for Yan Xia to set the price.

Yan Xia plans to create a catalog for the cake.

She drew the patterns she knew on them for guests to choose from.

Zuo Li left carrying the cake.

His body was so stiff that he was afraid that if he moved even slightly, the cake would be ruined. Coupled with his cold face, everyone kept a distance of two meters from him when he walked down the street, afraid that he would lose his temper and cause innocent bystanders to suffer.

We arrived at the county magistrate's residence.

The young lady was already waiting in the garden. It was midday and the sun was high in the sky, so it wasn't too cold. The young lady was playing a guessing game with a dozen or so girls in the garden.

"Excuse me, Miss. This is a birthday cake specially ordered by the magistrate from Yan's Pastry Shop. It is unique in the world and no one has ever tasted it before. I hope you like it."

Zuo Li bent over, finished speaking, and placed the cake box on the stone table.

"Cake? What's a cake? Is this the surprise Daddy gave me?"

Lu Baozhu is 15 years old this year. She is the only daughter of Magistrate Lu. In previous years, when she celebrated her birthday, the magistrate would send someone to pick up her friends and give her all kinds of precious gifts. Magistrate Lu is an honest official. His salary is not much. If it weren't for the shops that his wife brought as part of her dowry, he would probably be living a very difficult life.

Because he was busy this year, Magistrate Lu gave his daughter a jade hairpin early on and told her that he could not celebrate her birthday with her.

For several days in a row, he was extremely busy and spent most of his time resting in the neighboring county.

Lu Baozhu was very unhappy. This year, on her birthday, without her father's company, even after finishing her meal and playing with her friends for half an hour, she still couldn't smile.

At this moment, she looked at the wooden box in front of her like a curious child and asked Zuo Li a question.