Kuro had proposed that we explore the further potential of baby castella. After deciding to gather opinions from various people, we were starting the journey in my own room. I couldn't help but wonder where we were actually headed.
"So, Kuro. Where to first?"
"Well, I figured it was best to start close to home... So, Shaltier. Give us your thoughts."
"Could you please not? I really don't want to be dragged into this bizarre ritual you're calling an exploration of baby castella's possibilities... I seriously have zero interest. It’s important, so I'll say it again: I genuinely do not care."
As soon as Kuro called out, Alice materialized behind me. Just as her words suggested, she looked bored to her very core. However, there was no way the Baby Castella Devil was going to be deterred by a response like that.
Then again, I doubted Alice would offer anything constructive as she was now. Or so I thought, until Kuro pulled a small cloth pouch from her pocket and handed it over.
"Here's your consultation fee."
"...Hah. Let me tell you right now, I'm not the kind of girl who can be swayed by a little bit of—wait, this much?"
I didn't know what had just happened, but I might have finally awakened the power of future prediction. I could already see exactly how the rest of this conversation was going to play out.
As if to confirm my intuition, Alice tucked the pouch away and broke into a dazzling smile.
"...Well, if it’s a request from Kuro-san herself, that’s another story! As a member of the family, I’ll give you my absolute best!!"
"Thanks!"
Yep, she was bribed instantly. She really never failed to meet expectations.
"Now then, let’s try this again. Shaltier, what do you think my baby castella needs to reach the next stage?"
"How about simply adjusting the quality of the ingredients or the baking time? Kuro-san, you’ve been making a lot of eccentric—I mean, innovative versions lately, but I don't think constant change is the only way forward. By pushing the inherent goodness of the baby castella to its absolute limit, you’ll naturally improve the overall quality."
She was actually making a lot of sense. To be fair, Alice was surprisingly grounded when it came to cooking. She often reigned in Kuro’s more bizarre ideas, and she’d even given Anima lessons in the past.
If the goal was to truly elevate the flavor, Alice’s advice was essentially the correct answer.
"But wait. Doesn't Ein-san usually make the baby castella for you, Kuro?"
"Yeah. Usually, that’s the case. I make them myself sometimes, but it’s mostly Ein."
"Then wouldn’t it be hard to improve the quality even further?"
Exactly. Since Ein-san was the one making them, I couldn't imagine that the Perfect Maid would ever compromise on the quality of the ingredients or the precision of the bake. Especially when she was making them for Kuro, there was no doubt she was putting her absolute soul into it.
"True, it would be difficult to surpass Ein-san’s technique. In that case, we should look at the ingredients. Standard baby castella are made with cake flour and baking powder... well, to put it in terms Kaito-san would understand, they use the same base as pancake mix. However, there’s also the option of using rice flour."
"Rice flour?"
"I’m sure you’re familiar with rice, Kuro-san, but instead of the white rice you usually eat at the table, this is made by grinding non-glutinous and glutinous rice into a fine powder. Using rice flour gives it a unique, chewy texture, so the experience is completely different."
"No way! I want that! Where? Where can I get some?!"
As expected of Alice; that was a fascinating suggestion. Changing the base ingredients to alter the taste and texture was a brilliant move. Rice flour baby castella sounded delicious; I actually wanted to try them myself.
Kuro was also completely hooked, practically pouncing on Alice for more information.
"I have some on hand, so I’ll give you a bit. I’ll even throw in some non-glutinous and glutinous rice seedlings. If you like the result, you can just hand them over to Raz-san and have her grow them."
"Yay! Thank you, Shaltier!!"
"...I have one question, though. Why on earth do you have rice flour in the first place?"
"Oh... I grew some glutinous rice when I was making Hikari Manju..."
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered. Alice—or rather, Hapty-san—had indeed made Hikari Manju. Huh, so those were made with glutinous rice... or rather, rice flour. That sounded great. The next time I went to Kaori-san’s shop, I’d have to look for some to take home.
"This is a massive breakthrough right off the bat! The future of baby castella is bright!"
"...No, I mean, since we’ve already found a new possibility, maybe we can just call it a day—"
"Come on, Kaito-kun! Let’s keep this momentum going!"
"...Of course we aren't stopping."
"Well, good luck with that. I’ll be taking my leave now..."
I had hoped that since Alice provided such a great idea, we would be done, but life wasn't that kind. Honestly, I wished Alice would just come along. She was one of the few people who could actually act as a voice of reason against Kuro...
??? [Rice flour baby castella are seriously delicious, so I highly recommend them. They’re a bit lighter and easier to eat than the cake flour ones, which is a nice bonus.]