Food Science!

The group of teens I work with is a great and invested group who seem to be always hungry. I love science, they love food so it just seemed rational to start a Food Science program once a month. The great thing about Food Science programming is that the size can be adjusted to fit the size of your group! At the end, I will include the links and a photo of the cakes. Please email me for the resources I created, I would be more than happy to share!

The most recent food science we did was Mug Cake Science. This entailed having a basic mug cake recipe and leaving a few ingredients out of the cakes to see what would happen to the chemistry of the cake. Baking is a straight up scientific process, so leaving out ingredients can have pretty drastic results!

As always, I tested these cakes before I did the program with the teens. For my experiments, I left out several ingredients, which I then narrowed to the most dramatic results for use in the program. As I tested out the cake recipes, I recorded my hypothesis, the time everything took, and then what actually happened. I included a control cake in the process as well so I would have a basis for what cake was supposed to actually look and taste like in comparison to the other science cakes. My hypothesis for the control cake was: cake, the result was: cake. (Thank goodness) My hypothesis for not adding sugar was: No browning, not sweet. The result? Pale, different texture and finally this is the worst thing I have ever created no one should ever eat this ever. I also tried out cakes with no baking soda, no milk, no oil,  and no vanilla. Based on results the cake recipes I provided the teens with during the program were no baking soda, no milk, no oil, and no sugar.

Here is how I set up the program! First, get your teens to divide in groups, wash their hands, and give them a recipe. Give each group a different recipe that they have to work together to create. Along with their recipe, give them basic baking instructions as well as a place to record their hypothesis. Have them trade cakes with other groups, and see if they can figure out the missing ingredient and the chemical reaction that was needed from that ingredient.

If the teens are gathered around and waiting for a microwave to start their mug cake, have them fill out a cake quiz! I have a basic ten question cake myth quiz I would be more than happy to email anyone interested. 

Once the science part is complete, have all the teens make a good cake! (If they tried any of the "science" cakes they will want a cake that actually tastes like cake!) 

Here is the recipe I used: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=431093 (there are thousands of recipes, if you pick one be sure it has no egg since it is only being microwaved!) 

Here is a link to a group that did some cake science! http://www.projectexploration.org/2013/12/10/delicious-science-a-mug-of-chocolate-cake/

Here is a picture of some mug cakes and what they look like with different missing ingredients! 

Please email me for more information, such as the quiz, the overall organization or the recipes with missing ingredients.

Dawn states: Always add all the ingredients to your cakes! (especially sugar!) 

Just for fun, what is your favorite cake? Leave a comment!