It seems that the pound cake baked using the mess tin was well received by the three people during their dungeon boot camp.
Natsuki , in particular, who had been craving sweet baked goods, praised it highly and even begged for more to be made.
Since the batter is easy to prepare, with just baking left to do, it wasn’t much trouble. I happily agreed to make more.
“Once I get some weapons dropped in the dungeon, I’ll send them to Brother Tohma, so please make the pound cake!”
I wasn’t exactly swayed by such a message, but I thought I’d make a delicious pound cake for Natsuki .
The Great Forest gets dark early.
In the deep woods, sunlight has trouble reaching, so even during the day, it remains somewhat dim. At night, the only place to see the moon and stars is from the clearings made by logging.
Because night arrives so early, the time to enter sleeping bags naturally comes sooner too.
I used to enjoy staying up late in Japan, so the current lifestyle of falling asleep by 10 PM has been much healthier.
Dinner is usually started around 5:00 PM, and we finish eating by around 6:30 PM. Thanks to the purification magic, cleaning up dishes is done in an instant, and once everything is thrown into the [Item Box], it’s all set.
The three or so hours before sleep are free time.
That time, which I sometimes feel is a bit too much, is usually spent preparing meals in advance, but today I decided to bake pound cakes for Natsuki and the others.
“The pound cake with dried fruits from the Great Forest should taste great.”
I used the drying magic of life magic to make dried fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, apples, grapes, lemons, and oranges.
Pears and peaches tasted better fresh, so I didn’t make them into dried fruits.
“Berries and grapes are always a hit, they’re incredibly delicious. The apples are fantastic, and the citrus fruits are refreshing and surprisingly addictive.”
Berries and grapes are ideal for mixing into the batter, but dried fruits like apples and citrus make for a great topping when baked on the surface.
In addition, I also decided to bake a pound cake with nuts and chocolate from the 100 yen shop.
“Why not make a bunch of them?”
I used earth magic to create three more large stoves and set up racks. Since mess tins were sold at the 100 yen shop, I bought about ten more.
The batter was made using the usual pancake mix. I also bought a scale through a magic item portal, so I could measure the ingredients precisely.
Since the batter is the same, and only the ingredients change, it was just a matter of patiently working through the process.
“Alright, time to start baking.”
I carefully lined the mess tins with parchment paper and poured in the batter, placing them on the stove racks.
I set timers for each mess tin and waited for them to bake.
It took about fifteen minutes for them to bake, so in the meantime, I decided to make savory cakes—cake salé.
“Bacon and onions are a classic combo. Tuna, corn, and cheese cake salé is also a staple. Spinach and chicken sounds delicious, too. A curry-flavored one could use pheasant meat. Mince the onions, potatoes, and carrots to make it easier to eat.”
After nearly a month of cooking camp meals, my cooking skills had greatly improved.
It may be that I’ve also gotten better at multitasking in the kitchen.
For now, I decided to improvise with whatever recipes came to mind.
First, I cooked the vegetables and meat in olive oil in a pan.
For the batter, I mixed pancake mix, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and powdered cheese.
Once the ingredients softened, I mixed them into the batter and poured it into mess tins, which would serve as molds, and then baked them on the stove.
I flipped the mess tins one side at a time and, thanks to the timers, I was able to cook everything perfectly without burning anything.
“Let’s taste one of the pound cakes and one of the savory cakes.”
Since it was after a meal, I decided to eat just one slice.
I tried the lemon-flavored pound cake with dried fruits.
“Mmm, it’s delicious. The batter is rich and sweet, but the lemon’s acidity is a perfect balance.”
Even though the dried lemon didn’t use sugar, it had a peel-like flavor that worked really well with the pound cake.
“This one’s a winner. I’ll make this again.”
I also tried the savory cake with bacon and onions.
The natural sweetness of the onions and the saltiness of the bacon really stood out, and it was quite delicious.
Even though I used the same batter as the pound cake, this savory version felt more like a quiche than a cake.
“It’s filling, and if it’s this good, I’d like to add it to my meal prep menu.”
This would be perfect for breakfast, lunch, or a snack while traveling. Since it’s not sweet, I wouldn’t get tired of it easily.
It’s more like a savory bread, but since the 100 yen shop only carries a small variety of bread, I thought I’d try using cake salé with various ingredients.
“Yeah, this seems like it’d suit Haruto and Akimi too.”
Natsuki , who loves quiche, would probably enjoy it as well.
Well, she’s likely to be more excited about the pound cake, though.
“Still, I didn’t know weapons could drop from dungeons…”
I had always assumed they only dropped materials from the monsters and magical beasts you defeated, but apparently, there’s a game-like element where weapons can drop too.
“Come to think of it, I heard that the creator god based the dungeon designs on Earth—especially Japanese culture.”
I can’t remember if I heard that directly or read it in a magic book, but it seems the dungeon was influenced by games after all.
That little fuzzball, Kesaran Pasaran, really does whatever it likes, but at the same time, I felt a bit excited about it.
“…A dungeon that drops weapons and treasure chests? I definitely want to try it…”
While my motto is to value my life, I have no intention of taking unnecessary risks, but I definitely want to get a weapon.
I’ve gotten used to magic, but it’s still a bit unsettling to only have basic tools like an axe, sickle, survival knife, or a kitchen knife for defense.
(Natsuki said she’d give me any weapons she finds in the dungeon, but I’d prefer to get one myself.)
I’ll open a magic book later to see if there’s a dungeon in the Great Forest and how many drop items there are.
“Well, for now, let’s wrap up these cakes for him.”
I wrapped the cooled pound cakes in plastic wrap and decorated them neatly with wrapping supplies I bought at the 100 yen shop.
Originally, I had planned to just wrap them in aluminum foil and send them directly to the [Item Box], so this was a significant improvement.
