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[leadinglady]

Do alarms like that normally happen here? It was quite a wake-up call! I'm glad I wasn't drafted, but...

[ she's pretty concerned about people who are. Platina glances worriedly off to the side, then turns back to the feed. ]

I hope they'll be all right. In the meantime... does anyone know how to make a cake?

[ pointing the camera at her disastrous-looking attempt. yyyyes, wrong canon, but the girl is not a cook! it's her birthday and she wants cake damnit o9" also action is cool for anyone living in pokehouse too. ]

Comments

[cilantro]

[And he's going to just gently stop you right there when she starts trying to push the grater down on top of the cheese.]

Ah, I'm afraid that's not necessarily how you use it. Here--[He picks up the cream cheese and shows how to correctly grate it along the sides of the edges of the grater.]--like this, see?

[acuity]

R-right. That was my second guess!

[ D... EFINITELY. she follows his lead, grating slowly, then picking up in speed somewhat. oh this isn't too hard after all! pretty soon there's a nice pile of shreds 8|b ]

[cilantro]

[Once that's done and after a minute or two it looks like the margarine has been softened enough as well to mix them together, he shows how to cream and mix them together (in what do you know, yet another bowl) before indicating the sugar.]

Since our ingredients have now acquired a creamier taste, we then add this sugar and beat them together like we did for some of our previous steps in preparing the cake--however, you don't want to do it too forcefully, otherwise the frosting will be considered too loose, rather than having a thicker consistency like you'd expect for most frosting.

[acuity]

I'm sure I can handle more stirring by now. I'd like to hope so, at least.

[ pooouring in all the sugar in the measuring cup before taking the whisk with a determined AWW YEAH CAN DO kind of look. but... not too forcefully, huh?

sloooowly trying to beat it... :V ]

[cilantro]

[...Well, that's technically not a wrong way to go about it to keep from whipping this poor mixture into being too loose... ^^;;]

You can pick up in a speed a little more if you'd like, but so far your stirring has an acceptable taste to it.

[acuity]

A little more, then?

[ picking up the pace into a more acceptable speed. oh this does look much more frosting-like now :9 she beams and finishes up when it's lighter and more fluffy-looking. hmm, is there a spoon nearby~ ]

Let's see if the frosting itself has an acceptable taste!

[cilantro]

[...I meant "a little more quickly" in that previous comment, gosh I'm so smooth forgetting to add words to sentences.

Yes, there are a couple of spoons here, so Cilan picks one up to take a small sample to taste...but judging by his slight frown afterwards, it seems something's not quite right yet, speaking up once Platina has potentially tried tasting it for herself with one of the other spoons.]

Hm, it tastes like something's missing...ah, of course! [We forgot to add the vanilla in to stir next. He looks about their ingredients for finding where they had last set it down, adding the vanilla to their mixture and stirring it a little more. There, maybe now it should taste a little better?]

[acuity]

[ sampling the before-spoon with a bright look. this seems tasty enough! but she does go ??? at his dissatisfaction and just watches as he adds the missing ingredient before trying out the after-spoon with a curious look. ]

You're right! This is considerably more palatable... amazing, with just the addition of a single ingredient!

[cilantro]

[He beams at that.] Of course--part of being a chef sometimes is the joy of tasting and experimenting to figure out what flavors need to be added to a dish to create the perfect combination!

And once the cake layers are ready to come out of the oven, which should be... [Checking the time momentarily.] ...Just about any minute now, we remove them from the pans and let them cool before adding our frosting here to each layer of our cake. After that, the cake will be completed and ready to be served!

[acuity]

Amazing...

[ she seems to sag a little from relief that she'd actually completed something like this, before brightening and perking up again. would fistpump, but that's not ladylike 8|b ]

Amazing! I've never made a cake before. This is an awesome accomplishment for me. And it's thanks to your help, Mr. Cilan!

[cilantro]

[But there's nothing wrong with being enthusiastic like that! Cilan certainly seems to think so considering how cheerful he tends to be.]

Ah, no need to thank us--it was our pleasure to assist you~! And thanks to our marvelous teamwork, I am sure that your cake will have a wonderfully fulfilling taste, fit for celebrating your birthday.

[acuity]

I'd like to think so! And maybe in the future, I could try to make something by myself to thank you for your kindness.

[cilantro]

Oh, that would be wonderful! [Provided whatever you bake next doesn't look like that disastrous first attempt of a cake next time.] If you'd ever like any recipes for something you'd like to try baking on your own, I wouldn't mind writing them down for you!

[acuity]

[ don't worry it'll at least be edible this time! she spares a glance at the oven timer. ]

If you don't mind! It seems like we still have a few minutes before the time's up.

[cilantro]

Alright. [And he does just that, getting some paper and writing something down, maybe taking a quick look at something in one of his books before he finishes writing down a recipe or two, including one for the very cake they just made, recipe for frosting included.] Here's the recipe for our Red Velvet Cake, as well as a few with simple tastes you can practice baking as well--oh, and it looks like our cake layers are ready to come out of the oven now to cool.

[But the timer didn't go off y--ding, oh, there it goes. Got your owl oven mitts nearby, Platina?]

[acuity]

[ dutifully reading the recipe over his shoulder, just nodding as she recognizes each step. as expected, experience is the critical point after all!... but then she immediately perks up at the sound of the alarm and follows him over, mitts totally forgotten. ]

It's ready! Let's hurry and see what it looks like!

[ reaching for the door /o/ ]

[cilantro]

[WHOA NOW--Cilan will be quick to put a hand out to block her from potentially opening the oven and sticking her hands in there.]

Ah, I believe there's something you've forgotten... [Gestures with his other hand towards your oven mitts lying nearby. ^^;;]

[acuity]

O-oh, of course! I knew that.

[ ... wait, she's not supposed to lie about stuff like that anymore. sheepishly sliding the gloves on as she prepares to withdraw the pan. ]

... I mean, I didn't. But I should have.

[cilantro]

It's alright--at least now you remember, and we were able to save you from enduring a potentially painful taste. [It's way more important to make sure that you don't get burned trying to take that pan out!]

[acuity]

That's certainly true. Ah... I'm not sure about the taste, but if the aroma and appearance are anything to go by~

[ placing the pan on the counter and just inhaling the fresh-baked scent. yes this is what a cake is supposed to look like, not her monstrosity! ]

[cilantro]

Yes, it looks like it will have a good taste!

[Cilan has acquired a second set of oven mitts now--not quite as cute as the owl ones, these ones are just green with white polka-dots, but he helps assist her with their cake layers when they've cooled down some, turning them over to help them out of the pan and let them cool a little longer on some plates until it looks like they've become cool enough for frosting.]

Mm, it's frosting time! Now, when we add the frosting to the cake, we cover one layer like so--[And he'll demonstrate, but it's pretty easy to figure out how to cover it with the frosting as he then gestures to the next cake layer.] You can place the cake layers on top of one another, all the layers having frosting of course, and then the cake will be ready to eat!

[Basically, the cake will look something like this when you cut into it for a slice when they're done.]

[acuity]

Frosting time...! That seems straightforward enough. Then, let's begin!

[ taking out another spoon and enthusiastically plopping a glob of frosting on the first layer. maybe... too much frosting, she realizes. trying to spread it around enough. well maybe it's more delicious this way?! ]

[cilantro]

[Well as long as the cake is frosted well enough, it should be okay...? Plus it's your cake, so you can add as much frosting as you'd like to be able to eat on it.

In the meantime, Cilan will multitask by adding some frosting on the top of the second layer, to be prepared for when it's ready to be added to the first layer and have the sides of it frosted as well.]

[acuity]

[ cheerfully finishing up the top of the first layer, and then glancing over at Cilan to see what else needed frosting. hmm... the sides? carefully trying to do that, as well. ]

Would we simply stack the layers on top of each other when we're done?

[cilantro]

Yes we can--here, like so. [He's finished frosting the top of the second layer, and once it looks like Platina has finished frosting the first layer, he very carefully moves the layer he frosted to place on top of Platina's, making sure they line up evenly before placing it down and letting go. The sides still aren't frosted yet though, but now as he starts to add some frosting to them, he makes sure to cover them in a way that makes it more consistent with the sides of Platina's layer, blending in.]

Saving the sides of the other two layers for after you've placed them on top of one another is a little easier, I think, as it helps avoid getting too much frosting on your hands or elsewhere.