Chapter 100: Restaurant (3) (1/2)

Taking the account book along, she followed Madam Zou to visit Countess Jing’an for about ten minutes before returning to her Songtao Court.

She had plenty to do today. First, she had to make some snacks as return gifts for Lady Yang and the other ladies. She also had to find the time to practise her handwriting.

She had to start managing a whole restaurant soon, so she definitely had to make sure she could read traditional Chinese words. In the remaining time, she also had to look through Guilin Restaurant’s account book.

After reaching Songtao Court, she stored the account book in a safe place before bringing Xiyan and Jingyan with her to the kitchen. The ingredients for longevity peach buns were easy enough to prepare. Chu Lian noted that there was still a good amount of red beans left; an idea sparked off in her mind and she remembered the ‘Eight Confections’, a set of desserts from Beijing.

They were Beijing-styled desserts that had endured through years of history and variations. Back in her previous life, when Chu Lian had gone to Beijing to play, she had learned it from an old granny staying in the same block of apartments. For the sake of learning how to make an authentic set of Eight Confections, she had specially stayed there for half a month.

There were different variations of Eight Confections, namely the big, small, and fine variations.

They were called the Eight Confections because there were eight desserts in total, each with a different filling and shape. This was one of the most complicated desserts Chu Lian had ever made. However, the ingredients for Eight Confections were quite common. Even in the Great Wu Dynasty, she could still gather the eight different kinds of filling.

Chu Lian first taught Xiyan how to pound the red beans into paste. She then instructed Jingyan to wash the green plums and raisins, while she herself started making the dough.

When the confections were done, Xiyan and Jingyan’s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

Senior Servant Gui was waiting in the corridor outside the kitchen. From her hands, Chu Lian took some oval-shaped decorated bamboo baskets that she had ordered to be prepared earlier.

She walked to the table and smiled at Xiyan and Jingyan. “Watch carefully. I’ll arrange the desserts once, and I’ll leave the rest to you.”