Kitchen.
For this day, and to thank Cynthia and the others, Li Wei practiced for six full days.
The ingredients were prepared early in the morning.
Square puff pastry and rectangular puff pastry twice as long were placed in the freezer by Li Wei early that morning.
They were full of butter, a caloric explosion, but delicious.
Li Wei first stacked the square puff pastry in the middle of the rectangular puff pastry, then folded it up.
"You can just follow my lead, and once it's folded, roll it out again."
The operation was simple and easy to understand; Lalami grasped it at a glance, "It's very simple."
Li Wei also adjusted the air conditioning to 20 degrees, otherwise the puff pastry would melt very quickly.
Xiao Meng Jie didn't need Li Wei to teach her at all.
With her top-tier dessert skills, it would be more appropriate for her to teach Li Wei.
Dozens of portions of puff pastry were quickly prepared by them and folded, but this was only the first step.
It needed to be rolled out from the middle to both sides and then folded, repeating several times; how many times it could be folded depended on the technique.
Continue rolling, roll it out longer...
This was a repetitive process.
It went from folding three layers to folding four layers, much like how many times dragon beard noodles can be stretched.
Xiao Meng Jie was skilled, and Li Wei was also very proficient after six days of practice.
Although Lalami had never made Napoleon puff pastry, she could make desserts and was meticulous enough.
Following Li Wei and Xiao Meng's operations, she quickly got the hang of it.
Dust a little more flour on the surface to prevent sticking, then continuously repeat the previous steps, folding four times and then three times.
If they hadn't prepared the puff pastry early in the morning, they would have had to start from scratch making the puff pastry, which would have been more time-consuming and laborious.
After chilling and resting, it could be cut.
"Roll it to about four millimeters thick, no need to be too precise, it's not for sale anyway."
Li Wei's standard was deliciousness; it wasn't for profit anyway.
After all, there was simply too much to make; if it were just for a few people, it could certainly be made more exquisitely.
Using molds and puff pastry, they could officially begin; after coming out of the oven, carefully demold, sprinkle sugar on the surface, and bake again.
One fruit corn could be neatly cut into four portions; Li Wei's knife skills were truly wasted on cutting fruit corn.
The blade fell vertically, and the thick corn kernels rustled off, landing steadily on the cutting board.
Milk and corn were put into a juicer to make smooth corn milk, then the corn residue was filtered out.
The rich aroma of corn quickly filled the kitchen as the milk gradually boiled.
Adding cornstarch and butter, they eventually stirred a pot of paste, which was corn custard sauce.
For the filling, Li Wei also prepared pistachio paste and white custard sauce to enrich the flavor of the corn tart.
The top layer also needed to be garnished with corn.
Of course, other ingredients could also be used; Li Wei also prepared three options: mashed chestnuts, strawberries, and green grapes.
This way, not everything made would be corn.
After they were done, Li Wei, Xiao Meng Jie, and Lalami tried them first, each eating a small piece after cutting with a knife and fork.
When cut, the puff pastry and the cream inside were distinctly layered, and the sound was crisp.
Lalami nodded, "The chestnut one is the sweetest, the corn one is more aromatic, and the strawberry and green grape ones have a slight tartness."
Xiao Meng Jie nodded vigorously, "Very successful! The children will surely love them!"
These corn tarts and chestnut tarts looked simple, but they took almost two days to make in total.
Especially since Li Wei spent a whole day yesterday chilling the puff pastry, and today, with Xiao Meng Jie and Lalami's help, they were finally completed.
They had a late lunch, as most of their morning and afternoon was spent on this.
Although others also wanted to help, they only assisted during the final step of filling the pastry.
Li Wei rubbed his chin and nodded, "Although it was hard work, it was successfully completed."
Actually, he didn't feel much pressure this time, as it was a free treat for the children anyway.
And with Xiao Meng Jie, who had top-tier dessert skills, to back them up, there was no need to fear failure.
Looking at it now, failure was completely out of the question.
Lalami suggested, "It's almost dinner time, why don't we cut them and let the children eat them?"
They filled two flavors in total, and the toppings used for decoration and flavor enrichment were also different.
After cutting and assembling them, each child could enjoy two flavors.
"Wow!!!"
When Li Wei called Da You and together brought the corn tarts and chestnut tarts to the dining hall, the staff were stunned.
Xiao Rou shed tears of helplessness,
"Can we eat them too?"
Shion clasped her hands tightly,
"I want to eat them too!"
ԅ(¯﹃¯ԅ)
"Everyone will get some, but today, let's save more for the children. I'll keep making them in the future."
"No problem, no problem!"
After the Summer Camp ended, these children would go back, but the staff would still work here.
And Li Wei always fulfilled his promises.
Making some desserts for the staff was nothing,
He even cooked meals for the staff every day.
Evening,
When the four Champions serving as special teachers brought the children to the dining hall, they smelled a rich aroma of corn.
"Wow! It smells so good!"
Steven nodded slightly:
"It does have a unique aroma."
Lance looked around, "Does it?"
Compared to his keen sense for dark forces, Lance's own sense of smell was... quite ordinary.
As for Cynthia and Diantha, the duo bonded by their love for food, especially desserts, their dessert radars immediately swept into action.
The four Champions stayed until the end, waiting for Li Wei and Yumi to serve the children.
For the past few days, dinner had been prepared by Li Wei and Head Chef Yumi together, with the old man occasionally showcasing his skills.
Li Wei and his father, Leon, had also gotten a taste of running a Pokemon Restaurant ahead of time.
Lance only took one bite of the corn tart and was immediately amazed, "Are you really not planning to open a Pokemon Restaurant?"
Li Wei shook his head, "I don't have that plan for now, but who knows what the future holds."
Strictly speaking, the main chefs were just Li Wei and his father, and Xiao Meng Jie was still diligently learning.
Although his grandfather's cooking skills were the best, he couldn't possibly ask a septuagenarian to cook with high intensity every day, could he?
If word got out, people would say Li Wei was abusing the elderly!
Steven smiled, "I support you opening one, especially with the Breeding Center gradually stabilizing."
In Steven's opinion, the Breeding Center now had stable clientele, and Li Wei also had regular customers.
Just the Energy Cubes and Super Aromatic Pokémon Puffs for Lance, Steven himself, Cynthia, and Harrod were enough for Li Wei to earn from.
And Li Wei's cooking skills were excellent.
It wasn't good to always come over for free meals,
But if a Pokemon Restaurant opened within the Breeding Center...
Steven would open a Super Membership Card there,
That way, he could come eat anytime.
Unlike Steven and Lance, who talked while eating their desserts, Cynthia and Diantha clearly held desserts in more sacred regard.
They both took a sip of the corn tart in unison.