Tom removed the dough they made yesterday from the refrigerator and set the bowl containing Adrien's dough down on the counter in front of Adrien. Adrien looked down at the dough, noticing it was very bubbly. He then took a sniff- it smelled kind of . . . Hmm . . . What was that smell? Kind of "green" and sweet. Not at all what he was expecting. He turned to look at Tom.
"Does it seem right? It sort of smells weird." Adrien was worried that he did something wrong and ruined his dough.
Tom laughed and clapped Adrien on the back with his large hand, almost knocking Adrien over. "Yes, it looks and smells just right! Now onto the next steps!" Tom showed Adrien how to slice the dough to divide it into the right amount for three baguettes. He then demonstrated how to shape the dough and then roll and stretch it into a loaf.
"We now need to put the loaves in the couche," said Tom indicating a linen cloth on another counter. Adrien walked over to it, curious as to what it was.
"So, it's just some material? What does it do?" asked Adrien, feeling the edge of the cloth between his fingers.
Tom brought the loaves over to the cloth. "We place a loaf on the cloth and then make a fold along the length, like this," he said. "Our next loaf then can go right next to it." He indicated that Adrien should do the next two folds and loaves. Adrien arranged the loaves between the folds and when he looked down, it seemed that each loaf was in its own little cradle.
"I see. So, it separates the loaves so they won't run into each other, but allows them to be placed close together to save space!"
Tom nodded. "And, since the material is fairly heavy, it helps the dough hold its shape as it rises. The linen also absorbs a little moisture which will hopefully lead to a nice crispy, but thin crust." He wiped his hands off on a towel. "Now we wait an hour and then we can finally bake!"
Tom looked over at Adrien. "Do you have anything else you need to get done tonight? I have a cookie in mind, but it will take a little longer."
"I finished all of my homework, so I am free for baking!" said Adrien, eager to make more tasty treats. His stomach growled, apparently agreeing with him.
"Wonderful! Then we will make sablés bretons. I love these buttery cookies!" Tom walked Adrien through the steps for mixing the dough. Tom then indicated for Adrien to cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator. "We'll check to see if the dough is chilled enough in about 20 minutes or so. While we wait, you can look through these books to see if any other recipes catch your eye," he said, indicating a shelf of books on the far wall.
Adrien walked over to the shelf and started to read the titles. Tom tried to decide how to bring up what was on his mind.
"So, Adrien, what do you think that Ladybug and Cat Noir are up to these days now that Hawk Moth isn't around anymore?" Adrien froze with his hand halfway to the book he was about to pull out from the shelf.
"Um. . ." He had no idea what to say! He supposed he should have been prepared for some questions since Marinette had also been talked to today, but he didn't know what any of this would have to do with him.
"I suppose things are pretty quiet for them. Not much happening out in Paris." Adrien said cautiously. He took out a book to flip through the recipes.
"I was talking to Marinette about them earlier. I saw some video of them and they seemed to be a couple now. Do you think that they are?" Tom tried to watch Adrien's body language to see if he could get hints as to whether these questions had any hidden meaning to him.
Adrien found this conversation to be really weird. "Well, I wouldn't really know as I don't follow that kind of thing," he said, hoping that would be the end of it. He tried to look like he was absorbed with the books, but his heart and mind started to race.
Tom tried again to get something useful back from Adrien, but he was never any good at subtlety. "You know, Marinette used to have a crush on Cat Noir. I'm glad that that didn't work out between them as she would have been really disappointed to see that the two superheroes were together now. Cat Noir seemed to really love Ladybug and I wouldn't want to see my daughter get hurt by. . ." Tom paused for emphasis before saying ". . . any boy."
Was he trying to hint at something? Adrien wondered. He turned to face Tom. "I would never want to see Marinette get hurt, either," Adrien said earnestly. "She's amazing and anyone who purposefully hurt her would be . . . well, I can't even think of a strong enough word! I would do anything to protect her from getting hurt," he said and he meant it.
Tom looked intently at Adrien for a few seconds, before nodding, and saying "I'm glad we agree on that!" A timer beeped, returning Tom's attention to the baking. "Time to check the bread loaves!" Tom started to examine the loaves of dough to see if they were ready to bake.
Phew! Well, whatever that was, I guess I passed anyway. Or who knows what Marinette's dad would have done to me! Adrien thought and then followed Tom over to look at the formed dough.
Adrien peered at the loaves, which had increased in volume. "Are they ready for baking?"
"Yes, they look perfect. Now, we need to add the slashes." Tom showed Adrien how to slash the top of the loaves with a lame. "Ready to bake!"
YOU ARE READING
"Faceless Future" Book 2 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|
FanfictionIn this sequel to "Just a Friend?", Hawk Moth has been unmasked and Adrien and Marinette are together and they know each other's secret identities. Things should be quiet and pretty uneventful, right? Enter a new villain that the people of Paris ne...
