Chapter 826 Oven Cake After a while, Qin Shuang's popularity among the children skyrocketed, and even the adults remembered this bottle cap-changing soda brand.
The activity of collecting all twelve zodiac animals to exchange for a special prize—a tin box with the "Qingshuang" logo—further fueled the children's enthusiasm.
This simple idea unexpectedly opened up a new world for "Refreshing" in the fiercely competitive summer market.
...
As summer gets hotter.
Lu Qingyang acquired several "imported" electrical appliances.
She's worked with both refrigerators and washing machines, and she's quite skilled at it. She already thought it would be a hassle to not have a refrigerator.
It was the first time she had ever seen a microwave oven.
"This metal box, it heats up food with just a turn?" Aunt Liu circled the microwave oven, her face full of disbelief.
Lu Qingyang smiled as he put a plate of leftover fried rice from last night into the pan, set the timer, and pressed the button.
The microwave oven hummed, and the turntable inside slowly began to rotate.
Aunt Liu took a half step back in fright, staring intently: "This...this won't explode, will it?"
A minute and a half later, Lu Qingyang took out the steaming hot fried rice.
Aunt Liu cautiously reached out and touched the edge of the plate, only to pull her hand back as it was scalding hot. Her eyes widened in surprise: "Oh my God! It's so hot! It heats up even faster than the stove!"
She was like she had discovered a new continent, and spent the rest of the day experimenting with hot steamed buns, hot soup, and even putting a piece of frozen meat in to thaw.
Every time she saw the food spinning and getting warm inside, she couldn't help but marvel.
What fascinated her most was that oven.
Lu Qingyang said this thing is used for grilling chicken and fish, and also for making snacks.
Aunt Liu followed his instructions with some skepticism, putting the marinated whole chicken in and setting the time and temperature.
After more than an hour, the roast chicken was ready.
Moreover, the taste is quite different from that of roasted meat.
Aunt Liu went from being skeptical at first to becoming enthusiastic: "You know what, this oven is quite interesting."
Lu Qingyang then handed her an instruction manual, which listed the baking times and temperatures for various foods. "Aunt Liu, if you're interested, you can look at the steps here. There are pictures, not many words, so it's easy to understand."
"Okay, sure."
From then on, Aunt Liu began her baking career.
At first, she made quite a few jokes: she baked steamed buns like cookies and ended up baking a plate of rocks.
I tried to reheat leftover dumplings in the oven, and the dumpling wrappers became as crisp as paper.
But she became more and more courageous as she fought, and soon mastered the trick.
A few days later, she actually managed to bake a plate of fragrant walnut cookies.
As Yu'er held the still-warm walnut pastry and ate it bite by bite, her mouth full of crumbs, Aunt Liu smiled so much that the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepened.
What surprised the whole family the most was that Aunt Liu had developed a series of oven-baked dishes on her own.
She baked fish in the oven until the skin was crispy and the fish meat was tender, baked sweet potatoes until they were sweet and juicy, and even tried baking apple slices as a snack.
That evening after dinner, Aunt Liu brought out a plate of freshly baked steamed sponge cakes and proudly announced, "These are much more fragrant than steamed sponge cakes."
He took a bite of the stone and mumbled, "Grandma Liu, come back tomorrow!"
Following the instructions, Aunt Liu actually managed to bake a cake base, but she didn't know how to make the cream.
Holding the instruction manual with its pretty pictures, she went to Lu Qingyang: "Qingyang, this says 'cream,' what's that? Shall we make it?"
Seeing Aunt Liu's eager eyes, Lu Qingyang smiled inwardly, turned around and went back into the house. A moment later, he came out with several items: several sealed boxes of milk that looked particularly thick, a bottle of fine white sugar, and a bottle of clear liquid.
“Aunt Liu, this is a rare item that was sent from the Friendship Store,” Lu Qingyang lied without changing his expression. “It’s perfect for making butter. I’ll tell you the steps, and you can do it.”
Lu Qingyang explained in detail: "Make sure there's a clean bowl, without a drop of oil or water. First, pour in the milk and stir it vigorously until it gradually thickens from a liquid, like thin porridge, then into a thick paste. Finally, when you lift a peak and it doesn't collapse, it's done. During this process, add the sugar in batches."
Although Aunt Liu is illiterate, she has spent her whole life dealing with pots and pans, and has an innate intuition for terms like heat and temperature.
She listened carefully, silently noting down each key step in her mind.
She found a gleaming stainless steel bowl, poured in the milk strictly according to the instructions, and then began the long process of whisking.
Even as her arms ached, she kept going, muttering, "It's getting thicker, it's getting thicker, like thickening sauce..."
When the liquid in the bowl miraculously transformed into pure white, fluffy, and clearly pointed cream.
Aunt Liu exclaimed in delight, "Oh my!" She dipped her finger in the center of her nail, tasted it, and her eyes narrowed: "Sweet, smooth, it really tastes like this!"
Now it's time for her to show off her skills.
She carefully sliced open the cake base, spread a layer of cream on it, closed it, and then covered the entire cake with a snow-white outer layer.
This isn't over yet.
Seeing the little bit of cream left, Aunt Liu had a sudden inspiration and found a few clean bamboo skewers and a handful of skewers.
Using her kneading skills and pastry-making abilities, she managed to squeeze several adorable rabbits onto the cake with cream, complete with round bodies, long ears, and even added raisin crumbs for their eyes.
Thinking of the stone, she awkwardly squeezed a round soccer ball next to it.
When the cake topped with a cream bunny and a soccer ball was served on the dinner table, the whole family gathered around in delight.
"Grandma Liu! Rabbit!" Fish pointed at the cake, her face flushed with excitement.
Stone stared at the soccer ball and chuckled, "This is mine!"
Ding Panyun and Fang Zhongyi were also amazed, never expecting Aunt Liu to have this skill.
Seeing that even the nanny at home was getting into the swing of things, Lu Qingyang had another idea.
"Aunt Liu, have you ever thought about opening your own pastry shop?"
Aunt Liu quickly waved her hand: "No way, I'm not cut out for business. Besides, Dongzi and the others are already working at the restaurant. I'll pass. I think it's fine to stay here. I'm too old for this kind of thing."
"So what if you're old? It's never too late to do anything."
“I’m already very happy that you acknowledge me. I’m quite content with things as they are now. However, I’ll be going to Dongzi’s place in the next day or two.”
She took the opportunity to ask for leave.
"no problem."
Lu Qingyang knew that Aunt Liu usually wouldn't ask for leave unless it was something very important.
Who knew that taking leave would cause such a problem?
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