Chapter 417 - 162: Su Chen’s Defeat!

Chapter 417: Chapter 162: Su Chen’s Defeat!

"I think these contestants from Huaxia Country are just putting on a show. What can they possibly make in such a short amount of time?"

When a few employees from Delicious saw Su Chen make his move, their first instinct was to look toward Ling Shuyu.

’President Ling is amazing, as expected! She figured out the boss’s playbook in minutes.’

With foresight came anticipation.

Everyone watched Su Chen with great excitement, looking forward to his next performance. His actions had also drawn more eyes to their workstation.

Once Zhang the Second had finished rendering the lard, Su Chen quickly prepared the pastry components and, at the same time, gave Zhang Heping a task.

"Go find some white chocolate and remold it into a spherical shape."

Zhang Heping scratched his head, then pattered over to the Australian contestants’ station and came back with a spherical mold, leaving the four of them stunned.

"They’re asking why we’re using their things?"

Su Chen didn’t even look up. "Just borrowing. Their station is set up like a chemistry lab."

It was unclear what Zhang Jiayi translated, but after hearing it, the Australian contestants, though visibly displeased, went back to their own work.

The process for making the Magnolia pastry was nearly identical to that of a lotus crisp; the only difference lay in the pistil.

Seeing Su Chen place the oil dough and water dough together, ready to roll them out, Zhang Jiayi asked, slightly confused, "Boss, what about the pistil?"

The pale yellow pistil was still sitting off to the side...

Su Chen sighed. "We’ll have to attach the pistil at the end. Otherwise, it’ll get flattened when we roll the dough."

Zhang Jiayi said, "Oh," and fell silent.

He rolled a layer of water dough into a rectangle, then rolled the oil dough into a rectangle as well, but only half the size of the water dough.

He folded the water dough to enclose the oil dough, then used a rolling pin to roll it thin. After folding it again, he trimmed off the irregular edges, cut it into a square, and continued to roll it thin.

The number of times it’s rolled determines the number of petals.

Su Chen didn’t roll it many times, only folding it three times.

This was more in line with a real magnolia flower; too many petals wouldn’t look right.

Afterward, he used a sharp knife to cut six circular discs from the center of the rolled-out dough, then used the rolling pin to gently thin out the edges of each disc.

Just then, Old Er returned with the remolded spherical white chocolate.

"I’m not sure how wrapping it around chocolate will turn out, but we don’t have a better option right now."

Normally, they should have used a white ingredient to make a stir-fried filling. But Ah Bao hadn’t pulled his weight and had basically given up on the competition, which meant their on-site ingredients were far from complete!

The white chocolate was a stopgap measure.

He took the thinly rolled dough wrapper, wrapped it around the still-slightly-warm chocolate, and sealed it into a round ball just like making a soup dumpling. Finally, he used the area between his thumb and forefinger to slowly shape the round bun into the form of a magnolia bud.

He grabbed a small pinch of cocoa powder dough from Ah Bao’s mixing bowl, casually flattened it into a cross shape, and wrapped it around the base of the bud. "This is the calyx."

He tossed the finished flower bud into the freezer to chill for two minutes, then used a utility knife to score a cross on its tip.

"This knife work is much simpler than for a lotus crisp."

With a lotus crisp, the number of cuts determines the number of petals.

With a magnolia pastry, the number of rolls determines the number of petals. That’s the difference.

"Boss."

Seeing Su Chen score all six flower buds and set them aside on a plate, Zhang Jiayi, holding a prepared pistil, asked, "Why not put the pistil inside too?"

Su Chen was a little surprised. ’Huh, I can’t believe this girl thought of that.’

"It can’t be put in during the rolling process. We’ll attach it after it’s been Blasted."

Zhang Jiayi leaned over to look at the six flower buds, then at the pistil in her hand. "I think it’s possible..."

On her own initiative, she picked up a flower bud and gently inserted the tip of a chopstick into the center of the scored cross.

"See? How about this?"

The chopstick created a round opening in the middle of the bud. Through the hole, the white chocolate inside was clearly visible, and the opening was the perfect size to insert the pistil.

Su Chen stared at Zhang Jiayi, quite surprised. "Hey, you’re pretty good!"

’Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees.’

Su Chen had been completely focused on how to incorporate the pistil during the creation process, completely overlooking this method.

’Damn it, if I’d known, I would have asked everyone for ideas earlier. To think I wasted over ten hours in the practice room.’

He glanced at the time.

Thirty minutes left until the competition deadline!

Su Chen quickly called Old Er and Ah Bao over. "We can Blast them now. You two, preheat the oil. I’ll handle the finishing touches."

The branches, made of cocoa powder, had pre-made toothpick-sized holes. To attach the flowers to the branches, he needed to create a grafting tool for the bottom of the flower buds.

Su Chen chose to use white chocolate again.

Since the flower’s center was already white chocolate, using another ingredient now would seriously disrupt the overall flavor profile of the Magnolia pastry.

He slightly heated some white chocolate and molded it into thin rods, pointed at both ends and thick in the middle, setting them aside for later.

He then stuck a toothpick into the bottom of all the flower buds. Liu Ahbao got the wok and started heating the oil. "Boss, what temperature?"

According to the optimal temperature from the practice room, it should be at medium heat, around 150 degrees Celsius.

But things were different now...

If he had used a filling made from stir-fried ingredients like yam paste, 150 degrees would have been perfectly fine. But with a filling made of white chocolate, 150 degrees would melt it instantly!

"Let’s go with 120 degrees..."

The moment Su Chen finished speaking, the contestants from the Australian team rang the bell on their table, indicating that they had also finished their creation.