Chapter 124 - A Special Event For Daven
Once in the kitchen, Laura washed her hands with some soap and placed an apron as well as a cap on her head so that her hair would not get dirty with flour.
"I just put this thing on my head, Papa Einar.
What else do I have to do in order to start making Daven's cupcake? "
Einar placed a large wooden bowl on the table and took a large sack of wheat flour from the cupboard.
"First take the wooden jug inside the flour bag to be able to measure the amount of flour that you will have to empty into the wooden bowl.
When you have the wooden jug in your hand, you will have to fill it three times with flour to place it in the wooden bowl.
Meanwhile, I will boil the milk because it cannot be used directly without boiling first. "
Laura nodded silently and, taking the wooden jug from the sack on the table, began to fill it with flour.
When she finished placing three "cups" of flour in the wooden bowl, Einar took four eggs and broke them to empty the contents over the flour in the bowl.
After this, Einar walked to the cupboard from where he took a jar of honey, which he used to sweeten the milk that was beginning to boil. He also put a little butter on it so that it would be incorporated into the mixture.
"This should be enough to make the muffins taste sweet and smooth, it's a shame it doesn't have sugar at the moment but the merchants may have sugar beets."
Laura opened her eyes curious "Papa Einar, what is sugar and why do you need beets?"
Einar scratched his chin and watched the milk start to boil "Sugar is what gives honey the sweet taste, although it is more correct to say that sugar is sucrose.
In the future, I will teach you about chemistry so that you can understand what I mean, but for now, just remember that not everything that tastes sweet is sugar.
Well, there are other compounds such as stevia or lead acetate that are also sweet, as to why I need beets is quite simple.
Since being a plant that naturally has a high sucrose content, we only have to cut it and then boil the beat to obtain a sweet liquid.
This liquid has to be boiled until it becomes thick, then like the seawater in the salt mines of the tribe, it must be left to dry so that only the sugar remains.
Fortunately, our tribe does not need to worry about insects since the cold climate prevents them from proliferating, even if there are insects.
You can also put the liquid in the oven so that the sugar can form, but I think we can continue talking after you pour in the milk. "
Using two linen rags, Einar lifted the clay pot and carefully poured the hot milk into the wooden bowl.
Laura watched with curiosity as the flour with egg was absorbing the hot milk. When Einar finished emptying enough milk, he left the clay pot on the table and took a wooden spoon that he handed to Laura.
"Just start stirring the mixture and be very careful because the milk is hot so you can burn yourself.
When everything is in a thick mixture and there are no more lumps of flour, I will pour the mixture into these glass-shaped molds that I made some time. "
Einar walked to the kitchen shelf and took four iron glasses to which he began to butter the inside to prevent the mixture from sticking in the oven.
After moving the wooden spoon for a while Laura showed the result to Einar, who nodded with a smile.
It was at that moment that Einar took a wooden ladle and began to pour the contents into the iron glasses, leaving only a small space so that when they expanded, they would not spill.
With the molds full, Einar took them to the stone oven that was in the kitchen and left them near the door because that way he could control the heat they received.
"We are done with the most complicated now we have to make a small cover so that the bun does not taste too mediocre.
So I'll show you how to make a meringue, which is egg white but well beaten so it will taste very good. "
Laura showed her teeth to Einar with a smile, so she happily awaited his instructions to prepare the meringue.
Taking two plates from the kitchen shelf, he placed them in front of Laura.
"The first step is to separate the white of the egg from the yolk, in case you have doubts remember the white is transparent while the yolk is yellow."
Einar then took an egg and beat it slowly on the table, opening it very carefully, he poured the egg white into one of the plates, and with the help of the shell, he prevented the yolk from falling into that plate.
In the end, he left the yolk on another plate and looked at Laura with a fond look "It's your turn, and remember to be careful because if a yolk falls on the white it will not help us to make a meringue.
Laura swallowed as she felt a little pressure, but after taking a deep breath and seeing Papa Einar's supportive face, she took an egg and prepared to break it.
When she hit the egg on the table, it began to release part of its white, so Laura quickly moved it to the plate where she had to put the egg white.
Because it was the first time she had opened an egg, some small shells fell into the egg white, but despite this, Laura managed to empty the contents completely, preventing the yolk from falling into the wrong plate.
Laura had to repeat this until she had opened five more eggs. In the end, Einar gave her a small spoon with which she removed the shells from the egg white.
After this, Einar took the plate to the fire where he held it close for a short moment while he stirred the egg whites.
"We have to sew the egg whites a bit so we don't leave them directly on the fire because they would end up becoming solid food."
After a while, and seeing the whites were with consistency after emptying them in a wooden bowl and using a strange wooden tool that seemed to have some holes, he began to stir the egg whites.
"Now what we do is oxygenate the egg whites so that the proteins and water they have to start to rise, forming a texture that looks like a cloud."
Einar continued to shake the wooden tool, making the clearings gradually begin to turn into a kind of white clouds.
Laura who was looking at everything was glad to see the strange phenomenon that was happening and after a while when she saw that Einar had finished she wanted to try the mixture but Einar shook his head.
"It is not ready yet because it lacks the main touch and if you try it as is, it will taste quite strange."
After finished saying those words. Einar took the jar of honey and placed a little on the meringue, which he had to shake again and although it lost part of its cloud shape that it had.
When Einar and Laura tasted it, they were amazed by the light and sweet taste of the honey meringue.
"Okay, now we just have to check our buns and we will have to put some meringue on them to have the perfect breakfast.
As for the egg yolks, how about I make some omelet with seal meat and butter? "
Laura who heard this raised her little hands with joy and nodded as she prepared to help in whatever way she could.
Daven who was waking up was surprised to see Laura's face, who was staring at him.
"What's wrong Laura, something happened, Daddy Einar is looking for me, or why you're staring at me."
Laura did not answer him and only took him by the hand with a smile as she led him to the kitchen. The rest of the children seeing this only scratched their heads because they did not understand the actions of their classmates.
When Daven entered the kitchen, he looked quite surprised at Papa Einar and his two mothers Kassia and Helmi who were waiting for him.
"Happy birthday Daven, today Laura decided to prepare something special, so she decided to help so today you will have breakfast with us and Laura.
But first, remember to wash your hands and clean your teeth. "
Daven held back his tears, and silently nodding, went to wash his hands and teeth.
When Daven sat down at the table, he could see a delicious meal but what caught his attention was to see on a small plate a cup-shaped bread that was decorated with something that looked like a cloud.
With some curiosity and hunger, he took his bread and took a big bite.
At that moment Daven could not contain his tears and like the child he was, he bowed his head "Thank you, Papa Einar, and thank you, Laura.
This bread is very delicious and the little event they made I will always remember. "
Einar stroked Daven's hair "It is the least we can do on your birthday, although it is not much I can guarantee you that in the future you will have many more.
For the moment, just wipe your tears and continue eating as they have math classes today. "
Daven didn't smile and with his small hands, he wiped away his tears so he could finish his breakfast.