Chapter 85: Cooking Syrup (Part 1)
Helen was waiting for us at the entrance of the kitchen. She craned her neck to look at the bucket filled with tree sap.
"Hello, my Lady, how was the tree sap extraction? You didn't work too hard, right? Here, I made you a glass of lemonade so you can refresh yourself."
Becca happily accepted the lemonade from Helen. "It was surprisingly simple! All we needed was a bucket, a metal pipe, and a hammer. I didn't even break a sweat, Helen, but thanks for the drink."
After a taking a few sips, Becca turned to me and hand over the cup of lemonade. "Have some, Nick. I'm sure you are thirsty too."
"Thanks, Becca." I lowered my head and drank from the straw. The lemonade was just as good as the one's I had from my own world. After I took a few sips myself, I compliment Helen.
"Helen, the lemonade you made is very delicious!"
Helen was happy to hear me be humble. "Hmph, of course it tastes good. I freshly squeezed it especially for Becca. It is her favorite drink!"
"Wow, really?! I didn't know that! You need to teach me how to make it before we leave so I can make it for her when we get home!"
"I'll just tell one of the servants that was with you the recipe later, since they will be making it."
I shook my head. "I am going to be the one making it for her! It's the thought that someone you care about put in the time and effort to do something for you that makes it that much more special."
Becca giggled at my side. "Hehe, yes, I would greatly appreciate my husband rolling up his sleeves and personally squeeze some lemons because he knows how much I like lemonade. Just like how I appreciate it when Helen does the same for me."
Helen was holding her head. "Umm…I…I guess I'll explain it to you sometime before you go. It isn't too complicated."
Becca suddenly added. "Of course, you don't have to make it for me if you don't want to, Nick. I wouldn't think negatively of you if you got our chef to make it instead because you were busy."
It made me happy that Becca appreciated the things I did for her, but never expected me to do them for her. "If you would like to drink lemonade everyday, then I will for sure have to get the chef to make it daily. However, if you just want it on special occasions, I can make it for you occasionally."
"I only like it as a treat when it's hot. Usually, just water is fine."
"Ok, I'll have the chef keep some lemonade ready all summer, so you can have it whenever you feel the urge. I'll make it for you myself whenever there is a special occasion like I have a date planned or maybe I just have a little free time."
Becca patted her chest in relief. "That makes me feel better. You're already so busy as it is…"
I pulled the bucket I was carrying onto the kitchen counter. "Now that we have that all sorted out, let's start working on making syrup! Helen, can you bring over some sugar, a small pot, and a wooden spoon to stir with?"
"Alright!" Helen sprung into action and returned with the sugar, pot, and spoon a minute later.
"Okay, the first thing I want to try is heating up the tree sap in a pot. I am hoping it will carmelize the sugar in the sap and make it sweeter. If that doesn't work, we can try adding our own sugar to intensify it."
Becca pumped her fist in encouragement. "Let's do it!"
I took the bucket and slowly put 1/4 of the tree sap into the pot. I turned up the heat of the oven to medium. I wasn't sure which temperature was best, so I started at the middle.
Becca and Helen were leaning over the oven and looking into the pot from either side of me. Their eyes were full of curiosity like a child seeing something for the first time. I, on the other hand, was focusing on how much time the tree sap was being heated up for and looking out for the consistency to change. This was the first time I was cooking something without a recipe. I had to focus on being able to tell what to change if the end product wasn't like syrup or being able to replicate it if it did turn out like syrup.
After 5 minutes, the clear tree sap started to turn a brown from the carmelization. I stirred the substance in the pot for 30 more seconds before it change into the dark brown that normal syrup looked like. I was surprised by how quickly it changed from clear to light brown to suddenly a dark brown.
I turned off the heat and continuted to stir the liquid until it cooled off and was more viscus. I then grabbed 3 spoons and handed one each to Becca and Helen. "It looks similar to the syrup I have seen before, ready to give it a try?"
Helen looked hesitant to try something made of pure tree sap, but Becca quickly took a spoon full and tasted it before even I could.
"Wow! It's much sweeter than before! But it has a very distinct burnt aftertaste…"
As Becca was talking, I also tried some of the liquid. Initially, it definitely had the same level of sweetness of syrup, but, like Becca said, it had a very bitter burnt aftertaste that ruined the flavor. It also still had the earthy aftertaste the raw tree sap had, but it was overpowered this time by the sweet and burnt flavors.
Helen mustered the courage to give the liquid a taste after seeing Becca taste it. "The sweetness is good! If we can eliminate the burnt taste it can definitely be used as a condiment."
I replied with some exictment, "Alright, we are not too far off from the real deal."
To make real syrup, we had to get rid of both the burnt and earthy flavors. For now, I wanted to figure out one thing at a time, so I focused on the burnt taste since it was the most prominent.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone