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Nicholas' Pov
I quickly went to the kitchen, still limping a little bit. My leg isn't really injured but my side was a bit sore. I never thought that it would be this painful.
"Nicholas, why are you here? You should be resting," Quincy said as I shook my head. I can't just abandon my job. After all, it would look like I'm much of a burden.
"No thanks. I'd rather be here than sitting on my room, healing," I said as I grab some flour and some other ingredients for making a cake.
Quincy looked at me as I grab some measuring cups on the cupboard and a cook book on the drawer on the bottom.
Since I was struggling getting some of the equipments, Quincy helped me by handing it to me. In other words, she tip toed while getting it. I can't really blame her though. She was shorter than me.
"Straberries, check. Cake Flour, check. What are the others? Oh, wait. Eggs, check. Baking Powder, check. Quincy, can you get the bowl for me?" I said as I pointed at the bowl that was on the sink.
She nodded and washed it with some dishwashing soap and rinsed it. She let it dry for a minute as I prepare the other supplements. Just a bit of butter, sugar and some whip cream too.
I held the cooking book on my hand and read it. Quincy looked at me as she quickly gave me the bowl. "Have you ever done this before Nicholas?" I quickly looked at her and shook my head.
Quincy looked at me, surprised. "Then why is your cooking so good?!" I quickly laughed at her reaction and shrugged. "Maybe I'm just quite a butler," I said as I quickly placed the bowl near me and put the ingredients on the table.
I quickly looked at the cooking book once more to see if my ingredients were complete.
√ 2 cups white sugar √ 1 package strawberry flavored Jell-O √ 1 cup butter, softened √ 4 eggs √ 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour √ 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder √ 1 cup whole milk √ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract √ 1/2 cup strawberry puree made from frozen sweetened strawberries
First, I put some strawberries on the cutting board and cut them nicely. Of course, it was for the decorations. Then, I placed the whip cream beside the strawberries. Quincy looked at me as she handed me the ingredients and stared at me really carefully, probably memorizing the way I was doing it.
I then looked back at the cookbook and read the first step.
[1] Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
I quickly approached the oven and set it just right then went over to the cake pans. Quincy then helped me to make it perfectly and accurate.
Then, I flipped the next page for the next step. I quickly widen my eyes at the line. It was quite long and complicated for me to read but I certainly read every bits of it. Seems to be my exact death soon.
[2] In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Blend in vanilla and strawberry puree. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
I quickly thought of my death sentence.
Death of a butler for reading such long sentences and paragraphs since he was too lazy to continue. He shall be missed.
Pretty accurate if I may say so.
Quincy then looked at me then at the cook book, getting some of the ingredients. "Shall we start?" I quickly shook away the thoughts and looked at her, nodding. "Yes, we shall," I said as I grab the cream, butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin and mixed it.
After a few minutes, it became soft. "Does it say soft Quincy?" I asked her as she read the instructions. "Well it says that you need to mix it until light and fluffy. Does that count?" I quickly looked back at the mixture and mix it thoroughly. "Probably," I answered back as Quincy reads the next one.
"So wait. I have to mix one egg first then another one until it's four eggs?" I said as Quincy analyzes the instructions carefully. She quickly looks back at me and raises her hands. "Do it your way Nicholas. After all, you're the one who's good at this," she said as she quickly gave one egg to me.
I quickly crack it up and mix it. She gave me another and I did the same procedure. We do it again and again until we had four eggs and quickly gave it a stir.
Then, I read the next one as I widen my eyes. Wait, what? "Quincy, what's a batter?" I quickly asked her as she smiles. "The one you mixed," she said as she points to the eggs and the thing we mixed earlier. I quickly nodded and mixed the baking powder and flour with the batter. I mixed it thoroughly and added the milk.
"Nicholas, don't add too much milk!" I heard Quincy said as I put some milk on the large bowl. It wasn't really that much but I guess she was quite right. I quickly stopped pouring the milk and stirred it. I then added the vanilla extract and strawberry puree and mixed it again.
Then we divided it into two pans and pant. Quincy then read the last instruction as I gave a sigh in relief. I never once thought that following cook book instructions was harder than I could ever imagine. The earl thought me some recipes but not like this!
[3] Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely.
We looked into each other and nod as we grab the pans and put it into the oven. We quickly set it on 25 to 30 minutes and set a timer to nearby. We then went out of the kitchen, giving a high five and waited.
