Chemistry of Food and Cooking - German Chocolate Cake
German Chocolate Cake
Serves 8-10 “The goal of the recipe card is to create an engaging recipe like what you might find on a food blog. It should entertain the reader, teach them some food chemistry and give them all the information they need to make the recipe as you perfected it!” - Steve Smith Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
NutritionCalories: 591kcal Carbohydrates: 77g Protein: 5g Fat: 31g Saturated Fat: 12g Cholesterol: 100mg Sodium: 440mg Potassium: 313mg Fiber: 3g Sugar: 69g Vitamin A: 535IU Vitamin C: 0.4mg Calcium: 118mg Iron: 1.9mg Process: Heat oven to 375°F. Grease two 8 or 9-inch round baking pans. I like to cut a round piece of wax or parchment paper for the bottom of the pan also, to make sure the cake comes out easily. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in boiling water (batter will be very thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes (depending on your cake pan size. The 9'' pan takes less time to bake) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Cool 5 minutes in the pan and then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. For the German Chocolate Frosting: In a medium saucepan add brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, egg yolks, and evaporated milk. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a low boil over medium heat. Stir constantly for several minutes until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, nuts, and coconut. Allow cooling completely before layering it on the cake. For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: Melt butter. Stir in cocoa powder. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to a spreading consistency. Add a small amount of additional milk, if needed to thin the frosting, or a little extra powder, until you reach your desired consistency. Stir in vanilla. Experiment: What happens to the structure and properties of the cake if I alter the amount of egg yolk in the recipe? Egg yolks are 40% water, 30% protein, and 30% fat. The water density keeps the cake moist while the fat acts as a reservoir for flavor and richness. Eggegg yolks contain proteins that, when heated, denature and coagulate and combine with the flour (starch) to form a structure. Protein is made of specific amino acids that serve as an emulsifying agent. Much like the micelles formed by soap and water, the amino acid lysine is polar and therefore interacts with fats. Methionine on the other hand is a nonpolar amino acid so it is attracted to the water percentage. The protein within egg yolks allows the batter to emulsify completely by being the liaison between nonpolar fat and polar water, allowing the mixture to rise evenly. I chose to alter the recipe by changing the amounts of egg yolk I included. The 1st cake was the original recipe. The 2nd cake included an extra ½ egg yolk, and the third was an extra full yolk. The first cake went really well. It rose to a nice height and baked within the recipe's time frame perfectly. During the “compression” test, I measured the original height of the cake, pressed a spoon into it by 1 centimeter, and measured its new height at the same spot. The “bounce” of the cake was around .52 cm. This cake was rated the best by my blind taste testers. The second cake had a less impressive “bounce” back, with about .37 cm. In addition to that, the taste testers seemed to think it was too sweet, and a little dry. The last cake was not even worthy of taking to a taste test. The additional egg made it burn and solidify more than standard, edible cake. It only bounced back about 0.12 cm, so it was hard as a rock. In conclusion the very first cake (using the original recipe) was scrumptious both qualitatively and quantitatively. As for the dinner party, I hope to use the original recipe. Personal Commentary: I have eaten this cake for nearly every one of my dad's birthdays since I was born. My aunt Lisa, a family renowned culinary artist, has perfected this recipe to a tee. She writes all of her recipes and sticks them in her folder next to my cousin's art from elementary school. This cake holds not only a personal and emotional grip on me, but it knows I want to eat it. It’s by far one of the most delicious cakes you can find. I hope to pass this recipe down to my children when they’re old enough. Chemistry of Food and Cooking: Reflection |
Chemistry of Food and Cooking: Reflection
How does the ingredient you experimented with effect the food’s overall characteristics?
Eggs often work hand-in-hand with oils and fats in the recipe. If the eggs and fats are balanced correctly, then the cake has a higher chance of being delectable.
How did your cooking process transform your food macroscopically and affect the food’s overall characteristics?
After experimenting with the eggs, I found that 2 large eggs served the baking process very well. The final cake came out bouncy, rich, and moist!
How does the ingredient you experimented with effect the food’s overall characteristics?
- Eggs are mainly lipids and proteins, along with traces of minerals and carbohydrates. Eggs are commonly used as a “glue” whilst cooking in nearly any culture. I’ve found that the amount of eggs affects the structure of the cake, and drastically affects the texture.
Eggs often work hand-in-hand with oils and fats in the recipe. If the eggs and fats are balanced correctly, then the cake has a higher chance of being delectable.
How did your cooking process transform your food macroscopically and affect the food’s overall characteristics?
- On a macroscopic level, the eggs made the structure and texture of the cake very incredibly. The more eggs you have, the denser and moister the cake is. That is because the protein and lipids in the eggs help the mixture soak more water up and they also form a nice structure that holds the cake together. (Not to mention the eggs add a nice layer of richness as well.) On the other hand, if you don’t have enough eggs the cake becomes extremely dry and crumbly.
After experimenting with the eggs, I found that 2 large eggs served the baking process very well. The final cake came out bouncy, rich, and moist!
Green Cleaning and its role at Animas
Essential Questions
Q: How does the structure of matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic and macroscopic levels determine its physical, chemical and biological properties with emphasis on their use in building construction?
A: The structure of matter does not only determine the reactivity of one atom to another, but it also determines the acidity and basicity. These characteristics have a key role to play when it comes to efficient cleaning products.
Q: How do the design of a building, selection of building materials, construction process and use of a building affect the overall sustainability of a building project and the user experience in the building?
A: Matter on the atomic, molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic levels behave according to its traits. This can affect stability, toxicity, and longevity of said matter. For example, it is incredibly important to test concrete before use to ensure the ratio provides a balance of non-toxicity and structure.
Reflection
One super cool thing I learned from this project is how certain molecules have different polarizations! I didn’t know this before, but the reason that water doesn't wash off cooking oil or butter is because those two materials are polar opposites. Basically, some molecules have unevenly distributed charges - one side of the molecule might act negatively while the other acts positively. Water (H2O) is a polar molecule because it is bent like an L shape. On the contrary, ingredients like oil and butter are non-polar - and as a result - they are not pulled towards the polarity of water molecules. This phenomenon is also known as “hydrophobic”.
The reason this information is important is that it explains why cleaning products can be effective. In a school setting, products that are safe for the environment but still clean well are very essential to the health and well-being of students and staff.
At the beginning of this project Steve introduced us all to a graphic designer (?) type person who helped us through what a good exhibition looks like, and what a boring one looks like. His presentation stuck with me pretty well and since I had to make a slideshow for my piece of the project, his tips came in handy. (Not too many words, no repetition, nice colors, organized and “flowing” display)
I’m not sure how plausible this idea is, but I think it would be really cool and helpful for the students to have a more hands-on experience. More time should be allotted to this project so that students can reach out to experts in their chosen field and get more of an idea of what they're actually doing; e.g. students thinking about solar panels could meet with someone who knows a lot about them and maybe even has some samples for the students to look at, as well as price ranges for the school.
Project piece done by Julia Glotfelty, my partner.