Chapter 256: The Palmtop Tiger Who Messed Up
There was actually a reason behind the three groupings.
The three members of the Art Club were all mediocre at cooking, so Takasu Ryuji was added as a guide, instructing Usami, who was a beginner.
Kaede and Eriri had no problem cooking and making desserts. Utaha and Kitamura Yusaku weren't interested in learning, so they just joined in for fun. As for Kushieda Minori and Aisaka Taiga, with Aisaka Taiga's current proud demeanor, it was likely that Kushieda Minori would be the assistant rather than the main chef.
Sure enough, once they started, Aisaka Taiga was doing the main work, while Kushieda Minori watched from the side, helping to hand over ingredients.
Looking at the others, Kitamura Yusaku, who knew he was just there to slack off, asked, "What are we going to make?"
Kaede looked at the ingredients at hand and said, "We have fruit, so let's make a cream fruit cake. But my pastry skills are just average, Eriri, why don't you make it, and Kitamura and I can assist you?"
"Okay!"
Eriri nodded happily, put on an apron, and began to work.
Over at the Art Club group, the three members' cooking skills were all rather poor, so they simply let Takasu Ryuji guide them through the process.
Usami already had a lot of interest in cooking and had been learning, so she was eager to learn how to make cakes this time. She listened carefully to Takasu Ryuji's instructions and proceeded step by step.
While skillfully making the cake batter, Eriri ignored Utaha, who clearly didn't want to get her hands dirty and was taking notes with a notebook. She looked at the other two groups, her gaze mainly focused on Aisaka Taiga's side.
Her hands didn't stop moving as she murmured, "It looks like Taiga really has practiced a lot. Her movements are quite skilled."
"Indeed."
Kaede nodded, holding an egg beater and whisking egg whites. Then she looked at Kitamura Yusaku beside her and said, "Kitamura, please help prepare the cake molds."
"OK, I can do that."
Kitamura Yusaku knew he couldn't cook and was just there for the food, so he was very cooperative when assigned tasks.
After getting the molds ready, he found he had nothing to do for the moment, so he went over to Usami's group.
Compared to Kaede's group and Aisaka Taiga's group, Usami's group was actually the liveliest, because none of the three knew how to make cakes, and only Takasu Ryuji was there to guide them. Moreover, Takasu Ryuji was very straightforward; he didn't do anything himself, only explaining the steps and key points, letting Usami do all the actual work.
"Yes, when folding, go a little slower, don't be too fast, and make sure everything is evenly folded."
As he spoke, Takasu Ryuji saw Kitamura Yusaku approaching.
"What are you doing here? Nothing to do?"
"Hehe, Asakura and Sawamura don't need me for now, and I'm not like Kasumigaoka-senpai who needs to gather material, so I came over to watch you guys." Kitamura Yusaku said nonchalantly, "It looks like Usami is a beginner, but she's progressing quite smoothly."
Usami nodded and said, "Well, I did learn how to make cookies in home economics class, so I have a little bit of a foundation."
"Then, if that's the case, we'll have three cakes to eat later, right?"
Whether it was a jinx or something else, problems arose right after Kitamura Yusaku finished speaking.
"Ah!!!"
Accompanied by Aisaka Taiga's startled cry, the cream she was stirring spilled over.
"Wah! It spilled!"
Aisaka Taiga looked at the mess on the floor that had spilled from her hands, and she felt completely dismayed.
Upon seeing this, Takasu Ryuji quickly fetched a rag and a mop, and together with Kushieda Minori, he helped clean up. While cleaning, he said, "Your movements are too hasty. Take it slow. Weren't you doing quite well at first?"
"Ugh..."
Aisaka Taiga quickly took out more low-gluten flour and poured it into the bowl, saying, "I saw your movements were all pretty fast, so I wanted to speed up a bit."
It proved that with Aisaka Taiga's small stature and small hands, trying to speed up was indeed a bit difficult. She was quite steady when going slowly, but she insisted on speeding up, and as a result, things went wrong.
After cleaning up the floor, Takasu Ryuji stood up and said, "You can't rush making a cake. We have so much time this afternoon, it's enough for you to experiment. Alright, let's start over. This time, you can't rush, got it?"
"Urusai! I know!"
Aisaka Taiga knew it was her mistake this time, but she still retorted to Takasu Ryuji, as if she wouldn't feel comfortable without doing so. After speaking, she pouted and continued to busy herself.
And Takasu Ryuji, as if he had long been used to it, shrugged and went back to Usami's side to continue guiding her.
After one mishap, Aisaka Taiga finally steadied herself. This time, no more accidents occurred. She finished the cake batter, poured it into the mold, and successfully placed it in the oven.
Usami's and Kaede's groups finished their cake batter about ten minutes earlier and took it directly to the large oven in Kaede's house upstairs. Kitamura had already preheated the oven.
With the cake baking, the next step was to make cream and cut fruit.
At this point, Eriri looked at Utaha, hands on her hips, and said, "Now you should finally do something, right? Be careful, I won't give you any cake when it's done!"
"Are you that stingy?" With no other choice, Utaha put down her notebook, washed her hands, and helped cut fruit.
Holding a large mango, she frowned slightly and said, "How should I cut this mango?"
Seeing her holding a mango in one hand and a fruit knife in the other, Eriri quickly took the fruit knife away: "Forget it, I won't let you do this. Hold this egg beater. I'll put in the sugar and then hand it over to you to whisk."
Eriri had figured it out: Utaha was even more useless in the kitchen than herself. Cutting fruit was completely out of the question for her; it would be lucky if she didn't cut her fingers.
Utaha couldn't refute. She really wasn't very good at cutting fruit. Usually, when she ate apples, she would just wash them and bite into them. Although mangoes were relatively softer and could be peeled before cutting, the mango pieces cut that way wouldn't look very good.
Then, she watched Eriri skillfully cut the mango in half, then made several horizontal and vertical cuts into the flesh. With a twist, she easily cut it into small pieces.
"Alright, that's done."
"Oh!!!"
Utaha clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Is this the skill of a domestic woman? Amazing, amazing!"
...I feel like you're calling me old. Isn't it just a simple fruit cutting?"
Eriri rolled her eyes at Utaha and quickly told her to whip the cream, while she herself went over to Aisaka Taiga's side.
The way they were cutting fruit over there also looked a bit precarious.