“You arrived right on time for today’s cookie workshop. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, Rina.”

“Oh~ You never cease to pique my curiosity Fuuki. The reputation of your club is at stake, my divine palate is of unprecedented demand.”

“I’m under pressure, haha.”

“Don’t worry too much about it Fuuki. As long as it’s good, this airhead will be won over.”

“Hey, Aya! How dare you question my standards!”

“Hehe, I take all feedback under advisement, that’s how a cook gets better. Follow me, we’re joining the workshop group.”

The girls crowd around kitchen island number four, next to them are about ten more people.

“Okay, welcome everyone to the sweet workshop. For this first session this afternoon, cookies are the focus.”

Fuuki already has the shoulders of a seasoned food presenter.

“You have aprons at your disposal right here, once we are all equipped we can get started.”

Everyone dons an apron and rolls up their sleeves.

“First of all, who can tell me what ingredients are needed to make classic cookies?”

A few voices here and there evoke certain ideas.

“Flour?”

“Right.”

“Butter as well.”

“Correct.”

“Don’t we need eggs?”

“There are, yes.”

“Sugar.”

“For the sweet workshop, it makes sense haha.”

“I often hear that you need salt too.”

“Indeed you can put a little salt in it depending on the recipe.”

“And chocolate obviously!”

“Absolutely.”

The participants mull things over without giving more proposals.

“Nothing else?”

All nod as if to say that they have no more ideas.

“We also add baking powder, it’s an essential ingredient to lighten up our sweet dough-based creations. But for this workshop, I’m offering our club’s special version, which is much more gourmet than the classic.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Be careful not to drool in public Rina-chan.”

“Don’t worry Sophie, I got this.”

Fuuki retrieves laminated sheets from one of the drawers of the kitchen island.

“Here, it should have one sheet for two, this is the list of ingredients for our recipe, Moelleux – Gourmet Cookies.”

Here are the ingredients for six cookies:

115 grams of butter 80 grams of white sugar 80 grams of brown sugar 1 egg 325 grams of flour Half a tablespoon of baking soda One teaspoon of liquid vanilla extract 150 grams of dark chocolate chips 150 grams of milk chocolate chips

“We chose simple and accessible ingredients similar to the classic recipe while keeping the goal of making it gourmet and satisfying.”

Rina rubs her chin and squints.

“Um, I see I see. Interesting…”

“If you don’t mind, we’ll be able to start the preparation. Get into small groups of two or three people and take your places on the kitchen plans provided.”

“Aya, Sophie, come on, let’s go here.”

“Okay.”

“Is everyone at their posts? Ok, you can see that you already have all the ingredients for the recipe with the right proportions as well as all the necessary utensils. So, listen carefully, look carefully, do it at the same time as me and if you have any doubts, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

Fuuki starts to prepare the recipe in front of the attentive eyes of his audience.

“First put the white and brown sugar into the butter and mix with the electric mixer until you reach a somewhat sandy texture.”

…

“Then add the egg, mix again and during the process add your vanilla. Once the egg is well incorporated into the batter, add the flour and baking soda.”

A hand goes up among the participants.

“Why do we use baking soda? What about baking powder?”

“Good question, the baking soda food is an ideal replacement for baking powder, it will also allow our preparation to be more airy and pleasant to eat. Since baking soda is already a salty ingredient, there’s no need to add the pinch of salt, plus it will make our cookies much more digestible.”

“I was not familiar with this ingredient at all.”

Sophie and Aya also learned something today.

“Did you know that Rina-chan? I guess so with all your experience in the kitchen.”

“Eh? Uh… Yes, of course, Remy-san had mentioned it to me a while ago, it’s basic to me, hahaha…”

“Why does it sound fake when you talk, Rina?”

*Whistling*

“When you have added the flour and baking soda, mix again with a mixer, like this. Normally the mixture will become grainy again.”

…

“Once you’re done, you can set aside the mixer; we’ve already done most of the recipe.”

“So soon?!”

“Yes, it’s a quick and very good recipe. In your container, add your dark and milk chocolate chips and mix with a wooden spoon. Then when everything is well mixed, with your little clean hands, come and make balls that will completely cover the palm of your hands.”

“But it’s gonna be super big!”

“This is the gourmet part of the recipe. You have enough to make about six balls per group, place them on the baking sheet with the right amount of space between them. The second to last step, let our cookies sit for an hour in the fridge.”

“Eh? One hour?!”

“Hey yes Rina, good cooking takes time. However, don’t worry, I’ve got it covered, I’ve already made some cookies in the fridge in advance so the workshop won’t take too long.”

“You are… You are a true genius Fuuki!”

“Hehe, voilà!”

Fuuki takes out of the refrigerator, several plates with cookies already ready to go in the oven.

“Last step, preheat oven to 160°C and bake for 15 minutes. All that’s left to do is wait…”