Chapter 450: What Did You Add to the Chocolate Mixture?
The weather changed just like that. In the morning, it was still sunny and cloudless, but by the afternoon, it was thickly dotted with dark clouds. In the blink of an eye, it started to drizzle continuously.
In the kitchen of the luxurious villa in Meguro Ward—
"Dragon Power, Henshin!"
Lucoa suddenly raised her right hand, spreading her five fingers. A dazzling light wrapped around her entire body from top to bottom like a spirit snake. As the light flowed, her silhouette and contours changed along with it.
When the light dissipated, she had already changed into a new look—
Wearing a pure white pleated mushroom chef hat on her head, a pristine white chef's uniform clung tightly to her body, smoothly outlining her graceful S-shaped curves.
Her legs were long and straight, extending upwards to beautiful hip lines.
But the most eye-catching part was none other than the full and dynamic, voluptuous arcs on her chest—rising and falling like waves wrapped in the uniform's fabric, as if they would break free from their restraints in the next second.
Ryohei had to admit that this outfit was very pleasing to the eye, but he still subconsciously took half a step back and couldn't help but roast: "What are you doing?"
How come he never noticed Lucoa was such a chuunibyou before?
"I feel that life needs a sense of ritual." Lucoa put one hand on her waist, placed the other on her full chest, and said with calm composure.
"So cringe—!"
Jashin-chan roasted loudly.
"...Those words aren't wrong either." Minos's eyes flashed. She walked to the side "nonchalantly," picked up the bear apron Ryohei usually used, and tied it on herself.
"..." Yurine looked at Lucoa with her eyes lighting up slightly.
Cringe? A little bit. But she felt that being able to "Henshin" was also quite interesting.
Medusa revealed an awkward yet polite smile.
If she put on such a display in front of everyone, she would blush from embarrassment.
"I can transform too," Pekola said in a cool voice.
Seeing her look over, Ryohei took a step forward, pointed at her chest, and said: "Transform for me!"
"...On second thought, never mind; it's a bit embarrassing." Pekola met Ryohei's gaze for a few seconds and spoke up to refuse.
Ryohei was instantly speechless. Then why did you just say 'you can transform too'!
Liar!
"Mn? Ryohei-kun..." Yurine crossed her arms, lifted her chin slightly, and looked at Ryohei with a faint smile.
"Ahem... I was just making a joke to liven up the atmosphere."
Ryohei made a fist, placed it by his mouth, and coughed lightly. Then he opened his arms and said: "Alright! Next, let's happily make chocolates together!"
"First, everyone wash your hands clean, and then dry them with a clean towel."
Ryohei clapped his hands and began instructing. He conveniently handed a soft towel to Medusa, who was the first to finish washing her hands.
"Arigato!"
Medusa took it with both hands, carefully dried her hands, and passed it to the next person.
When everyone had washed and dried their hands, Ryohei officially began his teaching.
"I had you prepare raw materials like fresh milk, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and honey. Using these to make chocolate is actually quite challenging."
"This is different from directly melting and reshaping commercially sold chocolates—"
"Using these ingredients, it requires going through two crucial steps: 'fine grinding' and 'tempering', in order to create a texture that is smooth on the surface, hard and crisp to the bite, and melts in the mouth."
Ryohei raised his hand and patted the ultra-high-speed blender brought over from the Stardew Valley Ranch dessert kitchen:
"Step one, finely grind the cocoa powder. The cocoa powder particles must be ground extremely fine—below 20 microns—for the texture to be silky smooth."
"The machine generates heat when running, so we need to operate it intermittently: run it for one minute, then stop for one minute, to avoid overheating which affects the flavor."
"This process will take roughly over thirty minutes—"
"It's only considered complete when you feel the mixture with your fingertips and there's absolutely no graininess, and the whole thing turns into a smooth paste like silk."
Speaking up to here, Ryohei paused for a moment and shifted the topic: "Combine the cocoa powder you all bought and grind it together; everyone participate a bit."
He looked at Jashin-chan and instructed: "Jashin-chan, you set an example first."
"Oh, okay."
Jashin-chan had no objections and responded.
She actually knew how to make chocolates and didn't need Ryohei to teach her—she immediately took out the cocoa powder from Medusa and the others' bags and began operating methodically.
Taking advantage of the grinding time, Ryohei continued instructing—
"If using fresh milk, we must consider the moisture content issue."
"Adding fresh milk directly will introduce a large amount of water. This will make the chocolate difficult to solidify, result in a rough texture, make it prone to bacterial growth, and shorten its shelf life."
"So before using it, we need to simmer it slowly over low heat, stirring while boiling, to evaporate about half of the water content. Let it become thick, and then let it cool completely for later use."
For this step, Ryohei had Yurine take the lead, and everyone took turns participating a bit.
After making the condensed milk, Ryohei had Lucoa bring out a blackboard. As he spoke, he used a whiteboard marker to write down the ingredient ratios—
"The ingredient ratio is very important; this is the key to success or failure!"
"The recommended proportion for cocoa butter is 35% to 40%; it mainly provides a smooth texture. The recommended proportion for cocoa powder is 30% to 35%; it mainly provides the chocolate flavor and color."
"The recommended proportion for condensed milk is 15% to 20%; it mainly provides milky aroma and necessary moisture. The recommended proportion for honey is 10% to 15%; it provides sweetness and affects the texture."
"As for the rest—"
"You can freely add some nuts or dried fruits according to your own preferences, but remember not to add too much."
Ryohei left ample room for everyone to freely express themselves.
After all, barring any accidents, he would receive many portions of chocolate on Valentine's Day.
If they all had the exact same taste and texture, that would be too terrible!
"..." Medusa recorded them one by one using her phone's memo app. Among those present, she learned the most earnestly, but was also the clumsiest; perhaps she truly lacked talent in this area.
...
Time quietly slipped by, and a rich chocolate aroma gradually filled the kitchen.
—They had already reached the step of mixing the ingredients!
A small pink bottle suddenly appeared in Lucoa's hand. She uncorked it and dropped a drop of mysterious liquid into her own small pot.
"Chotto matte! What did you add to the chocolate mixture?"
Inadvertently noticing this scene, Ryohei was stunned for a moment and asked suspiciously.
Hearing his words, the others also looked over one after another.
"It's a good thing that can turn you into a 'beast' (super quietly),"
Lucoa, like a witch brewing a potion, stirred her chocolate sauce while looking at Ryohei. She opened the eyelid of her left eye and answered with a smile.
"What?"
Ryohei didn't catch that clearly.
The others also revealed confused expressions.
"It's an aphrodisiac."
Probably only Pekola at the scene heard it clearly. She took the small bottle from Lucoa's hand, brought it close to her nose, sniffed it, and said in a calm tone.
"Eh, eh, eh—! Pekola, what nonsense are you spouting! This is just an ordinary transformation potion!"
Lucoa looked at her younger sister and denied it loudly.
—As long as she doesn't admit it, it's not an aphrodisiac!
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