Arc 721, 90 Vhalar
Elisabeth was on a mission. She had set a personal task for herself because while settlement matters were necessary, now and then, the young leader felt like she needed to treat herself to time on things she wanted to do for personal balance.
The issue was, she needed a bit of help. While her cooking skills were adequate for not burning things and making a decent meal, baking was different. She had written a letter to Vega regarding a question the young mage had, and was preparing to travel to Hopetoun again to discuss the subject with her redheaded friend. Elisabeth had told her that she would bring a cake this time, but there was one tiny, itsy bitty problem with that – Elisabeth had never baked a cake before in her life.
Because one problem was never enough, problem number two was that Elisabeth had a particular idea for the cake. Both Vega and Joy enjoyed lemon cake – she had learned that at their last visit – so that was the plan for the base. Elisabeth remembered having a lemon cake in Rharne with a sugar glaze drizzled over the top and red berry topping as an accompaniment. She wished to replicate that recipe using something they had discovered on Faldrass – rubrum berries.
The search was on in the settlement for someone to help her bake a cake, and Maris was her answer. One of the two women that worked at the clam farm in Haven, Maris was a friendly soul and only too happy to teach Elisabeth some of the basics of cake baking. While their skills in cooking were similar, Maris had learned a fair amount from her mother growing up, and as such, knew more about the baking aspect of cooking than Elisabeth did, which made them a pretty good team.
Working at Haven House gave them room to work, setting out all the ingredients on the long table in the central portion of the house. And because there was so much room in that section of the building, Maris and Elisabeth had company – namely Ronan, Silk, and Derec. The two Haven guards were hanging around because they knew it would drive the young settlement leader a bit crazy having an audience, but Derec had stopped by to discuss a matter with Elisabeth and stayed because he had a genuine interest in learning, which surprised her.
Sir Storm of Haven had no interest whatsoever in whatever his subjects were doing. He had briefly inspected the things on the table before deciding that the whole matter was much less interesting than his morningtide nap. Since the people were where he usually napped, the small feline retired to the place his girl and that other tall one slept, although that one had been away for a while, which allowed him to sleep on the bed with his girl - something he was not allowed to do when the tall one was around.
Sauntering through the door to the bedroom, Storm vanished and left the small group to the project at hand.
“Alright, so the first thing you should know is baking is much more like chemistry than cooking. Cooking is instinct, I think, and baking relies heavily on precise measuring of ingredients. It’s tough to just throw things together in baking and have them come out as they should. Breads, cakes – things like that – depend on certain components,” said Maris, but suddenly was cut off by Ronan, who excitedly interjected, “Yeast! Bread has yeast that helps it rise, right?” Glancing around, he smirked at those present. “What? I know things. Some things. Don’t look so surprised.”
The young mage grinned, arching her eyebrow at him and responding to the outburst. “Got so excited that you knew an answer that you couldn’t help yourself, right?” The man gave her a bit of a playful scowl but fired right back, chuckling. “I wouldn’t be all high and mighty, settlement leader missy. You still need to make an edible cake.”
Silk, snickering herself, smacked his arm hard. “Stop teasing her, you brute. She’ll do fine, which is more than I can say for your special burnt potato masterpiece you made the other trial. How difficult is it to cook a potato over a fire?” A look of mock incredulity crossed his features as the man replied. “Very hard if you happen to fall asleep while waiting for said potato to cook! Damn thing took forever, and it had been a long trial. I’m shocked you would torment me so.”
Shaking her head at the pair, Elisabeth noted what Maris said, nodding her understanding, grabbing a nearby piece of parchment to show her. “Here’s a recipe that another one of the settlers gave me for the lemon cake and sugar glaze. As well, another had a recipe for a similar type sauce like the one I want to make, and she was sure it would work for the rubrum berries.”
Maris looked over the recipe quickly and nodded. "We have everything we need, so let's get started. Grab the butter and the sugar, Elisabeth." Leaning over the table, the young woman did as instructed, pulling the ingredients in front of her. She had let the butter soften overnight so it would be easier to work with, and judging by Maris' expression, that was precisely what she had needed to do.
"Good call on the butter. Sometimes, cold butter is required in baking, but you'll just be creaming together sugar and butter for the cake, so room temperature is best. Add the sugar and butter together in that big bowl and mix, mix, mix, until there's a smooth texture." While Elisabeth did that, Maris brought over the eggs and a small vial of what she called vanilla extract, holding it up for the young woman to see. "Useful in all sorts of baking. You could use other extracts if you wanted a specific highlighted flavor, but vanilla pairs with a lot of things, so it's popular."
Taking the bowl from Elisabeth, Maris handed her an egg. "Alright, now we need to add the vanilla and a couple of eggs. Cracking eggs is easy but needs a delicate touch to avoid getting shells mixed into the egg. Watch." The woman took her egg and gently tapped it on the counter, causing a crack to appear. Wedging her nail into the gap, she deftly opened the crack and poured the egg's insides into the bowl with the sugar and butter.
"Now, your turn." Arching her eyebrow gently, Elisabeth took her egg and 'gently' tapped it on the counter. 'Gently' was the intention, but what actually occurred was nothing gentle, with the egg smashed against the surface.
Delighted with the turn of events, Ronan laughed out loud – even as Elisabeth scowled at him. "Whoopsie! Have you never cracked an egg before?" Rising, he moved over to where Elisabeth stood and had her grab another egg. Taking her hand, he gently guided it to the counter with a soft 'tap,' just as Maris had done. "There. You are welcome!"
Frowning at him, Elisabeth turned her focus to the crack in the egg, moving her nail into the break, widening it. Before she could do anything else, Silk popped up with advice. "Oh, I remember seeing someone once pour the egg into a smaller bowl first to make sure there weren't any pieces of shell that got mixed in. Said it was good practice for beginners." The settlement leader glanced over at Maris, who nodded her approval of the advice. "Solid advice. Go ahead and put the egg in that little bowl, and we will see how you do."
Leaning over, Elisabeth did just that and immediately noticed a large chunk of shell break away and fall into the small bowl. Maris deftly grabbed a spoon and fished it out, checking the rest and then dumping the egg into the bigger bowl, smiling at Elisabeth. "Egg cracking is an art, and you'll get better at it. Go ahead and add the vanilla in and give it all another bit of stirring."
Glancing down at the recipe as she worked, Elisabeth noticed that next, they were working with something the recipe called 'dry' ingredients. Asking Maris about it, the woman explained. "That's just a term for putting all the things together that aren't liquid or semi-liquid. The bowl with the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter is 'wet' ingredients. The reason is mostly that the dry ingredients consist of the leavening, or rising, agents, which help the cake puff up. You want those to be completely dispersed before adding into the wet ingredients."
Understanding, they moved on, mixing the flour and baking powder, and Maris pointed out that the baking powder was the leavening agent she talked about before. Once those two ingredients were mixed, Maris had Elisabeth slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet, bit by bit, until everything was in one bowl.
Last came milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Derec, having been mostly quiet during the process, came over and pointed to the metal device on the table. "That's a grater. My grandmother had a little one. I remember when I was small, it was such an amazing thing to watch her use it. I have a lot of good memories watching her bake and cook."
Elisabeth smiled, finally understanding the reason the man had stuck around. "Good memories are wonderful things," she began. "They can transport us back in time. Remembering is a good thing, Derec."
Once Elisabeth mixed all the ingredients well, noting that her arm was getting very tired with all the mixing, Maris pulled out a heavy wide pan. "This you probably recognize as cast iron. It's wonderful for a lot of things, and today, we are going to bake a cake in it." Arching her eyebrow gently, Elisabeth smiled a bit. "I didn't realize you could bake cakes in those." Maris chuckled a bit. "They are perfect for using in the brick ovens because of their density and ability to regulate heat. Baking needs to be done at a consistent temperature. Varying temperatures can be disastrous."
Setting it down on the table, she pointed to the surface inside. "See that sheen in there? These types of pans have this wonderful quality about them, where if they are seasoned just right, nothing sticks to them." Grabbing a nearby stick of softened butter, Maris handed it to Elisabeth. "However, insurance is always a good thing. Take the butter and rub some all over the surface of the pan. Bottom and sides."
Once Elisabeth was finished, Maris directed her to pour the cake batter into the pan and wiggle it, ensuring it was evenly distributed within.
"Now, all that's left to do is put the pan in the brick oven outside and wait." Elisabeth picked up the cake pan, carefully delivering it to the brick oven outside Haven House, nestling it inside on one of the brick slabs. Maris was behind her, watching. "The brick ovens hold the temperature inside, allowing them to be consistent. We need to keep an eye to make sure the fire has enough wood…and wait. While the cake is baking, we can work on the glaze and the rubrum berry sauce."
Thinking it sounded like a good idea, Elisabeth nodded, and the two returned inside, ready to start part two of the project.
