It was Saturday, and Mary and I carried my heavy luggage to the carriage—part of the way, that is. George wasn’t allowed in the girls’ dorm, so Mary had run back to the carriage and called him to the dining room, where we handed things off to him.
“What is all of this, my lady?” Mary asked as we boarded the carriage.
“We’re going to sell ice cream during the Festival of Verdure,” I replied. “I haven’t properly measured out the ingredients before. I need to write out an exact recipe, otherwise, each batch will taste different.”
Mary’s eyes sparkled with excitement when she heard me mention ice cream. She’d likely had some at the Burns home when I’d first made it.
“That sounds very important,” she responded enthusiastically.
“Yes, but it’s not going to be easy, since all of my measurements must be precise.”
The ice cream maker I’d be using this weekend was a large model that could make roughly two liters of ice cream at a time. We’d also designed a smaller model, which is what the Burns Trading Company was actually going to sell.
Maybe I should’ve used the small model for my testing, then just multiplied that recipe for the large model. Well, the alchemy club only has access to a large model right now, so this was my only choice.
My plan was to do two test batches over the weekend. I could even do half batches to save on ingredients.
Though I had some work to take care of, I was always going to prioritize my angels above everything else. Nassius had learned most of the material taught in the first year of the junior division. If he could pass magic practicum, he would be able to skip an entire year. I was confident that he could also pass art and music, but when it came to dance and PE, his chances would likely depend on who ended up being his teacher. Henry was also mostly caught up with everything he needed to learn prior to his enrollment.
He’s so smart! I had an education in my previous life, so my accomplishments are to be expected, but Henry is an actual seven-year-old. He’s so impressive!
“You’re both doing a wonderful job with your studies,” I praised them.
The Grangers truly seemed to be a family of sharp people. Not only were my brothers doing well academically, but Nassius was also becoming a strapping young man thanks to his sword fighting and horse riding lessons, and Henry was healthy and full of energy. I’d learned that Henry often helped Matthew with his work, perhaps because he had extra energy to burn off.
For lunch, we had a dish made with summer cabbage. It wasn’t available in the markets yet, but I’d given our plants some extra encouragement with magic, so they had been ready for harvest early. Half of the harvest was saved for Eva to sell, since it was best to sell while the prices were still high. The summer cabbage was also just a good vegetable, since the leaves were tender and delicious.
“This is quite good,” my father remarked.
I’d asked Eva to make cabbage rolls using the tender leaves of the summer cabbages. Cabbage rolls were a great dish for the frugal, since you could really stretch out a small amount of meat. Even in my previous life, I’d preferred my cabbage rolls to be more cabbage than filling.
“The summer cabbage is so sweet, sister,” Nassius commented. He was always good at picking up on subtle flavors.
Henry, on the other hand, had simply scarfed down his meal.
“We’re going to be harvesting lots of this cabbage, so you should eat up,” I replied.
Not only were we expecting more cabbage, but I’d also planted other things, including peas, lettuce, and potatoes.
We made it through this winter without starving, and I’m going to keep up the effort this year too!
My angels were showing steady growth, and I’d gotten a bit taller too—the latter point was the reason I needed new shoes. My current pair were at their limit.
After lunch, it was time to start working on my ice cream recipe with Eva.
“The Festival of Verdure is in May. Will raw eggs be safe to eat?”
Even in April, Romano was a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings, but once it was May, there would be plenty of hot days. I could likely sanitize the eggs with my household magic, but I absolutely did not want to give anyone food poisoning during the Festival of Verdure.
“I’ve heard from Mary that ice cream is a frozen treat,” Eva said. “If it is something usually eaten in summer, I think it would be safest if the eggs weren’t raw.”
The recipe we were developing today was also going to be included with the ice cream makers that the Burns Trading Company was going to sell, so food safety was a top priority.
“First, we’re going to combine the sugar and milk, then we’ll heat that up,” I instructed. “Once the edges of the mixture start bubbling up, the mixture should be taken off the heat. We’ll beat some egg yolks together, then combine that with the milk and sugar. Once it’s all mixed together, return the mixture to the stove, where it will cook for about five minutes. Then set aside the mixture to cool down, during which time we’ll whip some heavy cream. The heavy cream will get combined with the milk mixture, which then goes into the ice cream maker.”
Eva proceeded to follow my instructions, aiming to make a one-liter batch. I left it up to her to decide the amount of sugar and egg yolks, since she was more experienced with cooking than I was. She’d also made my recipes based on foods from my previous life countless times, so I trusted her not to use excessive sugar.
While Eva worked on the recipe, I thought about how to use up the egg whites. A sponge cake would be nice, but I think meringues are the way to go. Not only do they last a while, but we could even sell them.
Once that was decided, I used my household magic to help Eva with some of the process. I cooled the mixture and whipped the cream, but Eva had to be the one to actually combine the two.
“My lady, should I put this mixture in here?” Eva asked.
Though I could just churn and cool the mixture using my magic, I decided to test out the ice cream maker.
“Yes, this should be all that’s needed.”
Unlike the test batch I’d made in alchemy club, this ice cream base had cooked eggs, so it could end up having a different texture or flavor. All we could do was test them out.