Maybe I was tired or wrung out from the emotion of last night, but my mind insisted on imagining all the naughty things Jack could do to me. Was he flirting, or was it just about the frosting?
I couldn't deny the fact that licking frosting off someone's finger was more than just business. There hadn't been anything modest or prudish about his behavior. The Victorians definitely wouldn't have approved. Which was fitting, since today’s challenge was Victorian Christmas.
I gathered my ingredients and tried to focus on my dish.
"Can you tell us about your dessert?" Anastasia asked as the camera crew panned over my station.
"Puddings are classical British Victorian dishes," I told them. "The Victorians had a sweet tooth, but there was still a sense that restraint and modesty should be strived for. Unlike, say, a lot of French desserts, puddings are quite humble. They are versatile, and anyone can make one—you don't need years of culinary training."
"And how are you going to turn a stodgy pudding into a winning dessert?" Anastasia asked.
"The Christmas pudding is what we in America traditionally think of when we talk about puddings," I replied. "A Victorian Christmas pudding is made with dried fruit, eggs, and suet, which is an animal byproduct. Once the dough is made, it is wrapped in linen cloth and boiled for hours. It's quite heavy and is sort of the precursor to the American fruitcake."
"So for your dessert, you're going to be doing a twist on a Victorian pudding," Anastasia said.
"Exactly. I want it to be light and flavorful. I don't have the time to let it cook for an entire day. Plus, we want beautiful desserts, and even if you put the pudding in a mold, it never looks that hot."
After Anastasia left, I opened the box holding the icing fluffer. The ideas were bouncing around in my head. I knew I needed something light, and the fluffer would create the perfect texture. I wasn't sure what to use for the liquid. I needed something that I could fluff, so it needed to be about the consistency of frosting. Maybe I could make a custard base? I wished I had tested this dish before attempting it live. Oh, well. I would either win or be eliminated.
The traditional pudding used eggs, nuts, dried fruit, spices, and brandy. I decided to make five different puddings that reflected these main ingredients. I gathered pistachios, figs and oranges, a variety of spices that felt like Christmas, and an expensive Italian liquor. The whipped puddings needed to be less sweet so that the sugar didn't overwhelm the taste of the other ingredients.
I chopped fruits and nuts, separated eggs, and measured spices. Finally I was ready to make the custards. I ran each of the five custard mixes through one of the small blenders Jack's company had supplied. Their blenders gave me a smooth consistency without becoming so hot that they cooked the mixture. Zane, camera on his shoulder, made me move around and repeat the mixing so he could have a good shot of the logo from several angles.
"Can I use one of your burners?" I asked Nina.
"Sure." She looked back at me as I placed my pots and turned up the burners.
"You're making a lot!"
"Five different kinds of puddings," I said. "Hope this works!"
"Fingers crossed."
I had all the pans sitting in double boilers, and I stirred them two at a time, alternating among them.
"Wow, look at your acrobatics!" Anastasia said.
"This challenge is on the shorter side, so I have to work quickly," I explained, my face red from the exertion. I couldn't afford for my custards to burn. Finally the consistency was thick but smooth, and my whisk faced a bit of resistance. I set the custards to cool.
For the final touch, I made a sprig of holly out of a type of fruit leather. Another Platinum Provisions tool allowed me to infuse the fruit leather with the scent and taste of holly. The cameras focused in on me while I worked.
"I hope Jack Frost is paying you to showcase his products," Nina called to me.
"I’m sure it's part of the show budget," I said. "I doubt I'll see any of that money."
I tried to stay focused on the desserts and not become depressed about my abysmal financial situation. The bank still hadn't refunded me the money my cousin had stolen. At least the show was providing food and a place to stay, since my credit cards were mostly maxed out.
"Focus," I told myself. I needed to win. The prize money would help me pay off my debts, and maybe one of the judges would be impressed enough to help me find a job somewhere.
Using a thermometer, I checked the custards to see if they were cool enough to fluff.
"This thing better work," I said, spooning some of the pistachio custard into the air injector pump.
"Please work," I said and pressed on the nozzle. Out came beautiful, fluffy custard.
"It's like fairy moss!" Nina said, watching over my shoulder. Zane shooed her away so he could film me filling little shallow square bowls with the colorful fluffy custard. I placed a sprig of edible holly on the corner of each little bowl then arranged them on long rectangular wooden trays.
"Don't drop those," I warned the production assistant.
