Chiffon Swirl just wants to be noticed as an up-and-coming baker. Entering the Ponyville Baking Competition seemed like a good idea, at least until it involved making carrot cake. Nopony likes carrot cake.
Carrot Cake just wants to be noticed by a certain blue mare. Entering the Ponyville Baking Competition seemed like a great way to make that happen. If only he knew more than one recipe.
A special thanks to BlazzingInferno for the title and the long description.
This story is finished, and I will post a new chapter every Tuesday and Thursday.
Chapters (7)
This looks interesting. I'll keep an eye out for the updates.
This is going to be a great story with two great friends! Can't wait to see more!
Definitely the best portrayal of this friendship I've ever seen. And personally, I love carrot cake... but without cream cheese frosting? I mean, it's still good, but that's practically missing the point of the whole exercise.
Looking forward to more. Especially who Carrot has as his moral support, if anyone.
9154062
I know what you mean. Carrot cake and cream cheese frosting are made for one another. Chiffon has ever right to be appalled.
However, I’ve had carrot cake topped with powdered sugar before and it’s surprisingly good.
Glad you’re enjoying the story. More to come tomorrow 😁
This is so cute!!!!
To paraphrase DWK, there's more than one way for senpai to give you that coveted notice.
Awwww he's helping her how sweet. The look on her face when she finds out that its him!!!!
Wow. That must be some amazing carrot cake. And it's kind of sad that no one knows Carrot Cake's actual name. Not yet, anyway.
9165061
I fully admit, that carrot cake is pretty awesome. I wish I was eating some right now.
That does sound like great cake! I'm sitting at work wishing I had some for my supper.
This is shaping up to be a very sweet story, in more ways than one.
Ah, parental disapproval. Does Madame Carotte have plans for her son, or does she just dislike Chiffon? Whatever the case, I'd have thought she'd have said something earlier when he got cakes for cutie marks.
Also, I'm a little shocked by the idea of grandparental recipes with that kind of exactitude. My grandmother's read like "Use 2-8 onions" and "Cook the livers until they're done." And she was the most meticulous out of her sisters!
9168693
All I’ll say about Carrot Cake’s mom is that this isn’t the last we hear from her.
As for the exactitude—baking and cooking are completely different monsters. Most people who are really into cooking don’t like baking as much because baking is exact. Most people who are really into cooking will say things like, “I never follow recipes” or “I just throw stuff together.” That’s fine, because most chefs improvise while cooking (they’ll add more salt, or let the onions cook a bit longer, or turn the heat up to speed things along).
Baking is different. You dont know how it’ll turn out until it’s out of the oven and by then you can’t fix it, you have to start over. A professional bakery will have formulas and ratios for everything they make. You have to weigh out ingredients on a scale (so it’s the exact same every single time) and you have to be well versed in a lot of techniques. The difference between a good baker and a great one is how well they know baking techniques. If you hand a baker with a list of ingredients for, say, chocolate chip cookies with no other instructions, they’d know the technique for mixing it (cream butter and sugar together, mix in eggs a bit at a time, add dry and wet ingredients alternately, add chocolate chips, put in preheated oven at 325 or 350). The technique doens’t change much whether you’re making peanut butter cookies or oatmeal raisin. (Shortbread cookies use the same technique as pie crust, though—so be wary) They’d also know if you added nuts to the cookies, you might have to mess with the flour ratio because nuts adds extra fat and will make the cookies turn out different. Technique and precision matter when it comes to baking.
I’d venture to say that most people don’t realize that cooking and baking take very different skill sets—which is why most people prefer one over the other. Cooking is more like being an artist, while baking is more like being a scientist. They both produce really cool stuff, they just arrive there differently. Cooks may not bother too much with recipes, or at least only use them more as a guideline, while bakers will be much more protective of their recipes. Cooks tend to value fast paced, energetic work. Bakers tend to like structured, grounded work. The atmosphere of a kitchen verses a bakery is very different in my experience.
Okay, so I rambled on way too much. Sorry about that. I guess I was just trying to explain why Le Bon Eclair would feel the need to put in details. It was a bit of a heartbreak for Le Bon Eclair to have her son reject her way of life—even if he did open a restaurant right next door (which, in a way, was another form of rebellion). Carrot Cake’s mom (Mrs. Carrot) bridged that gap and mended hurt feelings, but as we can see she wasn’t really into baking either. Mrs. Carrot was more of a reluctant learner at her grandmother’s side, but learned the techniques anyway at her father’s insistence. Mrs. Carrot’s fondest memories of her grandmother are being with her in the bakery, however, so it’s not all bad.
Of course, I couldn’t put all of this into the story since this is from Carrot Cake’s perspective and I didn’t want to detract from his story. Also, his mom isn’t the sharing type when it comes to her own failings and she has…regrets.
Thanks for reading! I really do appreciate your comments. I’ll be going over this scene again to see how I can make it better/more clear.
9168924
They are so veey different but so much fun in different ways!!! I love both of them. Sometimes one over the other then i switch my opion. Love all the details about bakeing reminds me of the great british bakeing show.
9169730
The Great British Baking Show is awesome!! That is absolutely my favorite food show.
I know what you mean about going back and forth between cooking and baking. Both have their perks. Professionally, I lean towards baking because I like the way bakeries are run. At home, though, I tend favor cooking…that is until I get a mad craving for baked goods or ice cream then it’s all about the sweet stuff.
Thanks for commenting on my story. I’m glad you’re enjoying it
Of all the:
Fine moments in MLP, my absolute favorite continues to be the Triumph of Baking Powder at the climax of the Griffonstone episode. But then I bake all my custards in the oven rather than on a stovetop, so my whole worldview might very well be skewed.
A fine story going on here, though!
Mike
9169987
Glad you’re enjoying it. This was certainly a fun project.
This was brilliant and I'm eager to see more! They both manage to be so sweet without being cheesy about it
In any case, excellent dramatic turn. Looking forward to more.
(Also, I'm imagining Bright Mac with Applejack's dishonest scrunchy face, and it's fantastic.
)
9178987
That’s one of the reason the judge asked Carrot Cake if he knew he was breaking the rules (among other questions). If he didn’t know, she would’ve let it pass (but probably dock a point off because she’s a bit of a stickler).
And yes, Chiffon Swirl really should’ve waited to have that conversation. Still, I’m not sure she would’ve felt good about winning knowing she cheated (even if she did so unwittingly).
As for Bright Mac, little does Chiffon Swirl know, but he’s tried everything she’s made for Pear Butter. Pear Butter’s pretty good at sneaking stuff away.
Thanks for the comments!
Oh no!!! Poor chiffon!!! Awww pear and birgt mac are hideing poo birght mac is an aweful lier.
Uh, oh! Sticks was in the wrong but now he's got Chiffon disqualified. It wasn't her fault, though. She didn't know he was in the competition until he showed up. She should still be able to compete. The judge still wouldn't know who's cake is whose.
"And that, kids, is how I met your mother."
And yeah, keeping chocolates close to your body for hours isn't going to do them any favors, especially not when you run across town. Still, at least there's something of a happy resolution here... thought there is Carrot's mother to consider. Looking forward to the finale.
Dawww! This was just so adorable!
Sometimes, as strange as the truth might be, it works!
Oh my, the sweet horses are stirring up even sweeter drama! Hopefully this'll all get sorted out soon.
Oh my gosh, this is just so sweet! Carrot and Cup are adorable and so honest here.
Haha!!! The pears melted!! Aww thire first date!
Ah. That explains much. Though I suspect Soupe will have far less to complain about by the time those grandfoals arrive. The legends of Prance are one thing. Catering for Celestia is quite another.
An excellent cherry on top of a delightful treat of a story. Thank you for it all.
Mrs. Carrot is just worried about her son, you can tell. She knows her Carrot Cake's heart is taken, though.
I wonder what she will think of their foals?
Thanks for the good read.
Pardon the pun, but this story was just too sweet! This was such a fun and cute read.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Even the crabby ponies in this story are sweet.
Yay finished.
9168924
Edible chemistry is best chemistry.
That was lovely. I have to ask, are we going to get a post with the titular recipe?
*Ahem* Today is Tuesday! XD
Hey, Einstein
YES, there was something in your recipe that wasn't clear. You left out the fact that the carrots had to be hoof shredded.
You, sir, are a Slack Twisted Idiot
Part of me wonders if you aren't insinuating Mr. Carrot and Bon-Bon are related, however distantly. :)
oh no D:
I do love the thought of her just accidentally making tons of cakes because she's nervous.
I'm glad we got a chapter from Mére Carrote. :D She's a hoot.
9233101
Glad you enjoyed the story :) Thank you for all the comments!
9178987 I mean, the whole idea of a secret dessert competition in Ponyville, where ponies are generally share a name with their trademark dish, is kind of a challenge.
Such a great ending, Carrot's mom is so incredibly Prench!
This is a story in dire need of a sequel.
9237495
You’re in luck.
Bitter Onions
...I like carrot cake.
I love how supportive Pear is being. This is an interesting start. I love the contest set-up.
Cute!
Carrot's hilariously awkward.
Aww, this is sweet as candy.
You utilized both a good understanding of baking and apparently even the French language in the creation of this story. It was interesting to read about all these ponies' lives before the Mane 6 were even born, and you obviously put a lot of work into it.
I think that Sticks could've easily smoothed things over though. I mean, all he had to do was say he neglected to write down that the carrots should be hoof-shredded - which would've been perfectly true.
Nevertheless, there was a lot to enjoy here, and I especially appreciated that the story had decent grammar. Pear Butter was pretty sweet here too, and it was nice seeing her and Bright Mac in the supportive friend roles.
This is too sweet. And I really wonder what Carrot Cake and Carrot Top's relationship is all of a sudden. Siblings?