I do not own Yumeiro Patissiere
The fated pudding showdown
Ichigo and the sweets princes were in the school kitchens. As Ichigo had agreed to Miya's crème caramel pudding, she wanted to get ready for it. "Have you actually made pudding before Amano?" asked Makato. "Actually I have Kashino," said Ichigo "and I will prove it to you".
Ichigo got out everything she needed to make some crème caramel pudding; eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract and caster sugar. And she got out two saucepans, two whisks, a roasting tin, a kettle and six soufflé dishes. The sweets princes and spirits watched in interest as Ichigo made the crème caramel puddings. She first made the caramel sauce by heating the sugar in a saucepan on a medium heat, watching carefully not to let the sauce burn. When the caramel was done she carefully added tablespoons of water to the caramel, taking great care not to get hit by the hot caramel, then added some of the caramel to the six soufflé dishes. Then she made the custard bit by whisking the eggs, milk, cream and remaining caramel all together, and then added it to the soufflé dishes. Next she placed the dishes into a roasting tin, poured hot water from the kettle into the tin, and then placed it into the pre-heated oven.
"You did that really well Amano-san," said Sennosuke "and you knew exactly what to do and you didn't even scald yourself from the hot water". "I didn't lie when I said that I knew how to make crème caramel pudding" said Ichigo. She took out a notepad of hers from her school bag, and she revealed some notes about making crème caramel puddings. "I take you learned how to make pudding from your grandma and uncle right?" asked Satsuki. "Actually no," said Ichigo "I learnt how to make crème caramel pudding from an elderly neighbour back at home. Her name is Kotoko and she likes sweets like me, and she's the one who taught me how to make pudding. I didn't get the hang of it at first; I kept on getting scalded by the hot water, and I made the caramel too bitter and less sweet than normal. But thanks to Kotoko-san, I learnt how to make pudding correctly".
The boys helped Ichigo with the washing up. "I still can't believe that you agreed to challenge Koshiro sempai Amano" said Makato. "So would you have preferred of teaming up with the heiress then?" asked Ichigo, crossly. "No I wouldn't" stuttered Makato.
When the puddings were done and ready to eat, Ichigo, the sweets princes and spirits tried the puddings. "Yum your pudding is great Ichigo" said Vanilla. "Yum the way I like them, nice sweet caramel" said Caramel. "It's a bit too sweet for me" said Café. "So I take it that means you prefer sweets that are less sweet?" asked Ichigo. "Yes, I prefer sweets that are bitter" said Café. Ichigo looked thoughtful. 'I must remember that people have different tastes; like some like them sweet and some like them not sweet' she thought. Makato pointed out an error in the pudding. "It's got holes" he said. Ichigo saw that Makato was right. "Oh dear, but I did put the oven on the right temperature though" she said. "It's true that you did," said Sennosuke "but the ovens are different from one another". Sennosuke explained that the lower oven cooks things faster than the other oven, and the upper oven cooks things unevenly. Ichigo realised that she still had a lot to learn about the ovens of St Marie Academy. 'I better learn the knack of using the ovens right before my challenge the day after tomorrow' she thought.
Meanwhile Miya was practicing her puddings at her home. Being a wealthy, spoilt girl; Miya had no intention of staying in the same room with the other students. She just saw them as commoners. She had just been informed that Ichigo knew how to make crème caramel pudding. "You shouldn't need to worry about her my lady" said Satou. "Yeah because you use high-quality ingredients," said Shiyotani "and you always win with them". "That's right," said Miya "high-quality ingredients is the proper ingredients for making sweets". Obviously she was one of those silly wealthy folk who believed that bigger is better. "Amano Ichigo, I'll be the only one to team up with Makato-kun". "I must ask my lady," said Satou "why do you work hard only for Kashino?" "None of your business," said Miya "now hurry up and tidy up".
The real reason Miya had an obsession was because all her life, people had always said her sweets were great, because she was the heiress to Chateau Seika. But Makato spoke the truth about them not being great. It was Makato's honestly that made her obsessed with him, and because of that she trained very hard to perfect her skills. 'Makato-kun my skills are different from last year,' thought Miya 'and I will prove that'.
The next day Ichigo decided to find out about Miya Koshiro, before practicing for the pudding showdown. She found out on the computer that Miya loved to show off and she preferred to use high-quality ingredients. "It's obvious Vanilla," said Ichigo "Koshiro acts like a stuck up princess". "You're right," said Vanilla "to tell you the truth, there is someone like her in the sweets kingdom as well. Her name is Maron and she acts very snobbish too". Ichigo just shook her head. "Then there's only one thing to do;" she said "and that's showing her what I can do in the pudding showdown tomorrow". "Yeah," said Vanilla "you work hard on making sweets. And you know exactly how to make a perfect pudding. So you win against that heiress". "I will," said Ichigo "but we have some practicing to do, and I mean now". "Right" saluted Vanilla. Ichigo and Vanilla set off for work at once.
The next day, it was time for the crème caramel pudding showdown. It was going to be held in the kitchens of the high school section, and the chairman and Mari were going to be the judges. The chairman was going to taste the puddings and Mari was going to give the results. Both Ichigo and Miya had to make five puddings. "I'm expecting delicious puddings" said the chairman. The chairman was an elderly man, with glasses, and he liked sweets as well.
The challenge began. Ichigo and Miya started to make their puddings. Ichigo made the caramel, but she made the caramel sauce go bitter. "What is Amano doing?" asked Makato. "Why is she making the caramel bitter?" asked Satsuki. Miya saw the situation and smirked. 'I win' she thought. Ichigo just calmly made her puddings; she had an idea in mind.
Soon the puddings were finished. As Ichigo made the caramel burn, it was brown coloured. Miya's caramel was a golden orange colour. 'I bet she's used high ingredients for her pudding' thought Ichigo. The chairman tried Miya's first. "My, this is delicious," he said "and you used silkie eggs and jersey milk". 'So I was right' thought Ichigo. Silkie eggs and jersey were high quality ingredients. Miya smirked; she believed that her win was in the bag. Next, the chairman tried Ichigo's pudding, and he realised that it was bitter. The sweets princes and spirits were nervous; they feared that Ichigo would certainly lose. Ichigo felt nervous too.
The results and winner was decided. "The winner is Amano Ichigo" said Mari. Ichigo was surprised that she had won, and the sweets princes and spirits congratulated her. Miya was not happy. "Why did my pudding not win?" she demanded. The chairman showed Miya that her pudding had holes, but Ichigo's didn't. "But how is that possible," asked Miya "I practiced with the same oven model as the ones here, and I never made a mistake with it". "That's because the ovens here are not the same as yours," said the chairman "the oven you used cooks fast. And if you don't regulate it, it will turn out hard". "But I didn't know that!" shouted Miya. "Amano-san did," said Mari "last evening, after class ended, Amano-san came here and asked if she could practice with the ovens to learn the knack of using them". "Really?" asked Makato. "Yes," said Ichigo "as I don't really know much yet about the ovens here at St Marie Academy. I decided it was time for me to learn about the ovens". "But the taste," said Miya "Amano's caramel should be bitter". "I actually made it bitter on purpose," said Ichigo "the other day I saw the chairman drinking black coffee and eating a gateaux au chocolat, which is quite bitter. So I realised that the chairman's preferred taste is bitter, is that right chairman?" "Yes that is right," smiled the chairman "and you are very clever for noticing that Amano". Miya thought that was unfair, but the chairman explained that learning about people's tastes were important for a patissiere, especially since you want them to be happy when eating your sweets.
The sweets princes were impressed with Ichigo and they felt happier to have Ichigo in their group, even Makato. Miya was not happy with her loss. "Don't think you've won just yet Amano" she said, tearfully, "this is not over!" Then she ran off in tears, and Satou and Shiyotani ran after her. 'She is such a brat,' thought Ichigo 'and if she is going to enter the grand prix, then I better watch out for her'. Vanilla magiced a recipe card of Ichigo's caramel pudding and sent it to the queen.
That evening Ichigo and the sweets princes and spirits were relaxing after today's events. "That Miya Koshiro is the brattiest girl that I have ever met in life," said Ichigo "I mean she's a year older than us, yet she has the attitude and behaviour of a five year old". "It is true;" said Sennosuke "the story is Koshiro had been spoiled rotten by her family ever since she was a baby". Ichigo shook her head in disbelief.
Just then Mari turned up. "You have made a rival out of the daughter of the president of Chateau Seika," she said "but I'm sure it will work out for all of you. Especially since all four of you have sweet spirits". Ichigo and the sweets princes and spirits were surprised that Mari could see the spirits. Just then Ichigo and Vanilla noticed that Mari had a sweet spirit too; this sweet spirit was female and was dressed in a brown and white maid outfit and she had the same blond haired coloured hair like Mari's. "I look forward to seeing what type of cake you will make," said Mari "and I hope to meet you all again in the cake grand prix". Then she left.
Ichigo started to stretch her arms. "Well then," she said "since I'll be entering the cake grand prix with you guys, I better start planning about practicing and studying for it right?" "Practicing and studying?" asked Satsuki. "Yes," said Ichigo "I mean this cake grand prix is obviously like a very big test for patissiers and patissieres. And of course this means we cannot afford to not know what we are doing, or make any mistakes right?" "That's right," said Sennosuke "you get judged for your skills, apart from what sweets you've done. And you will lose points for any mistakes". "That's exactly why I'm going to practice a lot for the cake grand prix;" said Ichigo "as your teammate I have no intention of letting you guys down like Miya Koshiro let you down last year". The boys stared at Ichigo; they could see that Ichigo had a strong spirit and passion for being a patissiere. "This is not going to be easy you know" said Makato. "Excuse me Kashino," said Ichigo, folding her arms, "my wish is to become a patissiere, and I am not going to let anything or anyone stop me from achieving my goal. Okay?" Kashino stared. "Very well then," he said "just don't tire your-self out for when the grand prix starts".
So it was agreed that Ichigo would enter the cake grand prix with the sweets princes. "Are you going to start practicing and studying tomorrow Ichigo?" asked Vanilla. "No, not tomorrow," said Ichigo "the truth is I am going home tonight, because I am going to visit my uncle's shop tomorrow".
There is going to be a lot of changes when I get to the episode of when Team Koshiro versus Team Ichigo with the chocolate cake challenge. You wait and see. Kotoko is my own made up character.