The prototype of the baby castellas I'm now making with Kuro was created mainly with chocolate and jam for now. No, I was really tired... If I let my guard down a bit, she would start pulling out strange ingredients and ramble about infinite possibilities, and I was desperate to stop her.
However, thanks to keeping an eye on her, I think we were able to make baby castellas that looked delicious without any problems.
[...We already made quite a few, so why don't we go to my room and eat them?]
[I guess so. Somehow, without aiming for it, what we created was more fruit-based. I guess the odd-ones out would be the ones made of leaves of the Spirit Tree?]
[Kneading it to the dough gives it a deep green color... but I wonder what kind of taste it will have? It looked matcha-flavored, but according to Sieg-san, these leaves seem to have a peculiar taste.]
[I'm curious about them myself, but since we're at it, let's compare them with the others!]
Well, there certainly are strange combinations mixed up, but since there are no ingredients mixed in that are obviously dangerous, I can eat them without worry.
Rather, I think this would be the most honest pursuit for baby castella arrangement. Rather than using meat or fish, ingredients that would make sweets delicious are actually chosen...
At any rate, we moved to my room with the finished baby castellas. There's a lot here, both in variety and quantity, so it's almost impossible for me to eat them all, but I'll just leave that to Kuro, who can eat as much as she wants, while I would just sample them out and eat what I like.
[...So, do you want to try the one with the leaves of the Spirit Tree first?]
[Right. That's what I'm most curious about after all.]
Since the Elves normally eat them, it shouldn't taste so bad that it would be unpalatable, so I brought it to my mouth... It has a deep green color like matcha, but it tastes like mint... It has this refreshing flavor to it. Its flavors were also rather strong, as it seemed like it would wake one up from drowsiness... I see. Indeed, it's a flavor that would be disliked by people who don't like it.
[It has a minty feel to it.]
[Indeed, it feels like a refreshing herb. Also, it has this slight grassy feel to it, so children who aren't fond of such flavors wouldn't like them. However, the aftertaste is refreshing and invigorating, so it might be delicious when combined with something.]
[Ah~~ Indeed, the flavor is quite strong, but the refreshing feeling after eating it is nice. It would be delicious even if made into something like choco mint.]
[Sounds great. It's because it has a stronger flavor than mint that it can be combined with a variety of strong flavors.]
It's true that with just this alone, it would have a bit too strong of a flavor, but combined with other flavors, I feel like it will be an interesting flavor. Unnn, this would definitely bring about a very legitimate pursuit of a possibility... This is great. Seeking the possibilities of baby castellas originally should be like this.
You don't just throw in fish in it, or use frog meat to make some baby castellas shining gold... It should be like this...
[...If I want to match this refreshingness, white fish would do...]
[.....]
You there, you're talking about matching that with just the leaves of the Spirit Tree, right? You aren't planning for some demonic combination inside baby castellas, right?
That refreshing herb-like flavor certainly might go well with white fish, but adding all that to baby castellas is just a completely superfluous addition.
[K- Kuro, let's try the next one!]
[Eh? Ahh, you're right. This one... Hmm~~ The jam-filled one is delicious.]
[Kuro likes fruity flavors a lot after all.]
[Unnn. They have stable sweetness and deliciousness. Strawberry jam is good, but I think the one with marmalade is refreshing and delicious. Here, Kaito-kun, you try it out too. Ahhn.]
[...Unnn. It's delicious. It's a classic, but it's a combination you can't go wrong with.]
Jam-filled baby castellas would generally be quite delicious. Well, baby castellas and jam originally go well together, so I feel like there's no chance this combination would go wrong.
It's just, this combination could make it a little too sweet, so if I'm going to make jam-filled ones, it might be better if the baby castellas themselves are made a little less sweet. However, it would go quite well with coffee, so it's great.
[Hmmm, even so, seeking the possibilities of baby castellas with Kaito-kun like this is fun!]
[...Well, I guess trying all sorts of things certainly was fun?]
[Ehehe, let's do this again.]
[Just in moderation, okay?]
While stroking the head of Kuro, who was leaning against me with a happy smile, I wryly smiled. Well, there certainly were troublesome parts and surprising developments, but I had fun going around with Kuro and making baby castella through trial and error with her.
As long as there were no odd combinations involved, it was fun to the extent that I thought it might be nice to accompany her on these kinds of things occasionally.