Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 342 This year's flower cake can be changed

"I was worried that it would be inconvenient for the girl to go to the temple alone to make cakes and pastries because she was unfamiliar with the place, so I volunteered to come and pick her up, and then I would go with her and help her."

Shen Yu smiled and thanked him: "Thank you, Chef Xu. I'll talk to my mother and the others, and then we can leave."

Chef Xu nodded, looked around at the customers eating in the store, and said with a smile: "The business in the restaurant is really good."

Shen Yu smiled and hurried over to talk to Li.

As there were many customers in the shop at that time, Li felt more relieved when she knew that it was Xu the chef from the county government who was accompanying her to Guang'an Temple.

She came over politely and exchanged a few words of thanks with Chef Xu, then told Shen Yu to be careful when working outside and to make cakes with care, then hurried back to greet the guests.

Shen Yu and Chef Xu walked out of the store and got into the car at the door.

Guang'an Temple was not far away and it only took a moment to get there.

Shen Yu had come here once with Li and the others, but it was the Ghost Festival at that time and there were too many people. After burning incense and kowtowing inside, Shen Yu hurried out. He was not impressed by this temple built in a busy urban area.

It was not a festival, nor was it the first or fifteenth day of the lunar month, and the temple was not open to the public. At this time, Guang'an Temple was silent, showing a quiet and solemn atmosphere.

Because Shen Yu is a woman, it is inconvenient for her to move around freely in the temple.

So Shen Yu followed Chef Xu and the monk driving the car, entered from the small door on the side, walked around the main hall in the front yard, passed through the middle courtyard along the corridor, and went directly to the last courtyard and walked to a courtyard in the corner.

As Chef Xu led Shen Yu inside, he introduced the place with a familiar manner: "This is the dining hall of Guang'an Temple."

"The vegetarian meals in the temple are prepared here, and the monks also eat there. It's in the largest room."

As Chef Xu spoke, he pointed towards the main hall and led Shen Yu into the large kitchen next to it.

The monk driving the car was tall and had a loud voice: "Old Xu, you haven't been home for a while. Please sit here. I'll go and ask the abbot to come over."

After he left, Chef Xu said with a smile, "Go pick up your master, whose Buddhist name is Wen Yuan. He is the head monk in charge of the dining hall."

"Although he is tall and strong, he is very easy-going. He cooks vegetarian meals in a clean and meticulous manner. I learned many dishes from him."

There were a few young monks in the kitchen, busy washing vegetables.

When they saw Chef Xu coming, they all came over to greet him warmly, but when it came to Shen Yu, they just put their hands together in silent greeting and walked away with their heads down.

Shen Yu didn't understand the rules of the temple, but based on the principle of saying less and making fewer mistakes, she just nodded and smiled slightly as a return gesture.

Chef Xu smiled and said, "Miss Shen, don't mind. They don't usually interact with outsiders. You are a young girl, so it is inconvenient for them to talk to you."

Shen Yu smiled and was about to say that he didn't mind when he saw the monk Wen Yuan and an old monk with a kind face and a snow-white beard walk in.

As soon as Chef Xu saw him, he bowed respectfully and called him "Master Ci'en". Shen Yu also bowed in greeting.

Ci'en nodded to Chef Xu and said gently, "This must be Miss Shen."

"The flower cake that the county magistrate brought last time was very good. I asked the county magistrate and found out that it was made by the girl."

"That's why I invited you here this time. I want you to make some fresh cakes. Thank you for your help."

Shen Yu hurriedly said, "Master, you are too polite. I don't know how to make many cakes and pastries. May I ask, Master, what kind of cakes and pastries do you want to make?"

Ci'en asked a few people to sit down at the table, and then he said slowly, "The Longevity Festival is coming, and the temple will hold a blessing ceremony, and we need cakes and flowers to be placed in front of the Buddha."

"There are no suitable flowers to offer in October, so silk flowers and velvet flowers have been used as substitutes for fresh flowers in the past."

"Part of the cakes and pastries are donated by believers in the county, and part are made by the temple itself. The cakes and pastries made by the temple look ordinary and taste ordinary. They are indeed inferior to the others when placed there."

"I saw the flower cakes made by a girl a few days ago. They tasted soft and sweet, and they looked lifelike and vivid."

"At that time, I had the idea of ​​inviting the girl to make flower cakes for the temple during the Longevity Festival prayer ceremony."

"I want to ask the girl if I can make some cakes and flower cakes in the shape of flowers."

"After the ceremony, these cakes can be distributed to the people who came to pray for blessings, so that they can all share the blessings."

"This is much better than those ordinary cakes, and people like it more."

Shen Yu said puzzledly: "Master, from what you said, it will take a lot, so why don't you go to the bakery to order it, but make it yourself."

Ci'en shook her head and patiently explained, "Miss, you don't know that the molds and ovens used to make cakes in bakery shops, where all kinds of cakes are made, also use animal oil."

“Even if you scrub carefully, you can’t make a completely plain cake.”

"The ones used in temples are for offering to Buddha, but homemade ones are cleaner. The ones offered by common people are just a token of their love. You can make them at home or order them from a bakery. You don't have to be so picky."

Ci'en said this, looked at Wen Yuan who was sitting next to him, and said helplessly: "Wen Yuan is good at making vegetarian dishes, but when it comes to making cakes and pastries, he always makes the same three or four kinds of the same old ones, year after year."

"When the cakes and pastries are distributed after the annual puja, they always seem too simple and not presentable."

Wen Yuan was listening nearby, he smiled innocently, touched his bald head embarrassedly, stood up quickly, made an excuse to pour a glass of water for Shen Yu and the others, and slipped away.

Ci En shook her head and said with a smile, "Wen Yuan is just like this. He doesn't like sweets, so he doesn't want to spend time on this. He always does it casually. Although it's clean, the appearance and taste are really unacceptable."

"The cakes and pastries we make at Guang'an Temple every year are always jokingly called "big cakes" by the people. They say we just use the baked cakes from the vegetarian meals and are not serious enough."

"I've asked a baker from a pastry shop to make it before, but if they don't use molds, the cakes they make aren't much better except that they're smaller than Wen Yuan's."

"I had originally planned not to hire a chef to make it this year, but when I saw the flower cakes made by Miss Shen, I knew that with such exquisite cooking skills as Miss Shen, the appearance of the flower cakes could be changed this year."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Master, you are too kind to praise me. I don't deserve it."

Ci En smiled and said, "Monks do not tell lies. The flower cakes made by the young lady are indeed beautiful and delicious. It is obvious that you put a lot of thought into it."

Shen Yu smiled and stopped being polite with him, and asked directly: "Master said that he wanted to make cakes and flower cakes in the shape of flowers. I wonder what kind of flower patterns the cakes should be made into, and how big should the flower cakes be?