Adorable Food Goddess - Chapter 105

Chapter 105

When Ye Jiayao arrived at Heavenly Residence in the early morning, she was surprised to see that Shopkeeper Li was already there . She greeted him but he did not respond, only continued to pace the lobby as if he was in trance .

According to Little Lu, when he opened the restaurant earlier, Shopkeeper Li was already at the front, looking dazed .

Ye Jiayao frowned, hoping that this wasn’t a sign of an early onset of Alzheimer’s . He was only fifty years old!

With one last glance, she let the shopkeeper be and went to find Zhong Xiang . She would like to try and make an ice cream mooncake today with his help .

They first gathered the ingredients such as glutinous rice flour, sticky rice flour, starch, sugar, milk, amaranth juice, and a little agar .

The process started with them adding the glutinous rice flour into the pot to fry and mixing it with milk and sugar to form a paste . It has to steam in the steamer and set to cool before it could be wrapped around the ice cream fillings .

The first few steps weren’t difficult, but it was the last one that required good technique . The ends needed to be round and the thickness should be perfectly even . Luckily, Zhong Xiang has great craftsmanship, and he was able to wrap the chewy skins around the ice cream that she made last night . Ye Jiayao took the mold and pressed the mooncake lightly to it for the final touch .

“It looks so delicate, I almost don’t want to eat it,” Deng Haichuan said . The crystal-like, light purplish skin of the mooncake and the beautiful pattern looked so stunningly elegant .

Ye Jiayao smiled . “Today’s batch is just an experiment, it will look even better in time . ”
“It looks really good, but . . . isn’t it too small?” Zhong Xiang was a little worried as most mooncakes were big and packed with fillings .

“I really intend for them to be small,” Ye Jiayao said . “How many people do you think actually find mooncakes delicious? They only eat it because it’s a festive food . Bigger mooncakes tend to be greasy and too filling . I want our mooncake to not only look good but to also taste delicious . One that people would never be able to get enough of . Plus, its small size would make people think that this is precious . ”

Zhong Xiang nodded in understanding . “That’s great thinking, Brother Yao . ”

“Can I try one?” Cui Dongpeng asked eagerly .

“Not yet . We need to freeze these before you can eat it so the texture would be better . ” Ye Jiayao stowed the six mooncakes away in the icebox to freeze .

Later in the afternoon, Ye Jiayao took one out and cut it into little pieces for everyone to taste .

They all enjoyed it .

“Brother Yao, you are awesome! This tastes too good, I can’t even begin to describe it,” Deng Haichuan praised .

Cui Dongpeng gave her a thumbs up, his mouth full of food .

Wang Mingde said, “It is really delicious but it tastes so different from the normal mooncake . In fact, this could be considered as a whole new cake . Would people be open to this?”

“It’s different, but it’s also better,” Zhong Xiang said . “The skin is soft and chewy, cool and refreshing, and the ice cream inside is an indulgent treat . The whole thing practically just melts in the mouth . I think people would happily accept such delicious food . ”

“That’s why the birthday celebration is a good opportunity for us to introduce this to the public . If the Helian Mansion said that this is a mooncake, people would believe that it is a mooncake . I need to go the Helian Mansion today so I could convince the Elder Princess of the merits of our creation,” Ye Jiayao told them .

Ye Jiayao took the icebox that contained the remaining five mooncakes and made her way to the Helian Mansion . This was the perfect timing since it was a hot and stuffy afternoon . The ice cream would be a refreshing treat for her .

When Ye Jiayao got to the palace, though, she changed her mind about that . The Elder Princess was entertaining a few ladies of the upper-class . Ye Jiayao tried to turn around, but when the Princess heard that she was here with the mooncake, she ordered her to stay .

Yu De frowned at the peculiar-shaped copper box that the chef laid in front of her . “What is this?”

Ye Jiayao answered, “This is an icebox, Elder Princess . I designed it so that it could keep the ice cream mooncake cold and fresh . ”

“Ice cream mooncake? What is that?” a lady asked curiously .

Ye Jiayao replied, “It’s a food that came from overseas . ”

Someone laughed derisively . “What would those barbarians know about the customs of the moon festival?”

Ye Jiayao arranged her expression and gave a pleasant but bland smile . So arrogantly narrow-minded .

“Madam, we cannot look down on the barbarians . There are some things that they have that are way more advanced than us . For example, while madams are still using incense here, they have already discovered the technique to extract and purify perfume . The scent would linger around much longer once it is sprayed on the body . While we’re still using paper to cover our windows, they’ve already discovered glass . It is much more effective in keeping the wind and the rain out,” Ye Jiayao said in a polite tone .

“Is it really that amazing? Have you seen it?” The ladies were doubtful .

Ye Jiayao refrained from laughing . Of course, I’ve seen it! I wonder how you’d react if you find out that people in the future could fly to the moon with a spaceship . . .

Yu De heard from Little Jing that Li Yao had been to many places around the world and was very knowledgeable . It didn’t seem like he was making this up . “Present those ice cream mooncakes for us to try . ”

“Yes, Princess Yu De . ” Ye Jiayao eagerly opened the icebox and took out a plate of ice cream mooncake .

It immediately caught their attention .

The ladies didn’t care that it was small, what they paid attention to was its exquisitely excellent appearance that fits their high status .

Ye Jiayao smiled at the interest she saw on their faces . She took a knife out and cut the mooncake evenly, presenting it to them .

The ladies elegantly tasted it with a little spoon .

Ye Jiayao stood aside and narrated the advantages of the ice cream mooncake .

“The traditional mooncake is sweet and oily, while our mooncake is lusciously sweet and silky . This type of ice cream mooncake is low in sugar and low in fat so you won’t gain any weight from it . It is refreshing and a most suitable after dinner snack . If you have an icebox, you can keep it for a few days and it won’t crack or rot . The only disadvantage with this was the steep cost of making them . We have to price it expensively to offset the expenses, so I’m afraid that simple civilians would not be able to afford it . ”

“If the food tastes good, the price isn’t a problem,” one lady dismissed .

They don’t want to eat what everyone else was eating . If normal civilians couldn’t afford it, that was better as it would distinguish the nobles’ and the rich ladies’ hierarchy .

“Would you really not gain weight from eating this?” someone asked, almost finished with her portion .

Ye Jiayao smiled triumphantly . “This is definitely a healthy snack . “