The purpose of my project, the ultimate question for my project, was “How does the amount of leavening used in cupcake affect it?” How my mind conceived my particular project is a different matter. I came up with my project very simply; I didn’t use any website to help me, ask anyone at all actually. I came with my project when people in my 7th science class were brainstorming ideas, me particularly stumped, until I heard the word baking. That one word set off a chain reaction in my brain, many things appearing into my mind until I settled on this.
The thing that I thought of was one Christmas, in which my house was creating vanilla pound cake, not anything particular impressive, just a cake from cake mix. Normally when …show more content…
Well, the reason why I did it was because, later during the experiment, I decided to change my project from “How does the amount of leavening and liquid base affect a cupcake?” to “How does the amount of leavening affect a cupcake?” The reason I changed my project was because originally, it was to use a cake mix since they are easier for me to get, and change the liquid bases into more unusual things. However, I added on leavening because the original thing isn’t well known enough to get enough research for it. But then, the liquid base doesn’t play such a strong role in the cake if it’s from scratch, with all the other ingredients. This is how I came up with my project that I have today.
My entire project is entirely based on baking powder, a leavener, something that performs an important function in baking. Leaveners are the things that cause baking goods such as breads, cakes, cupcakes, donuts, and cookies to rise up high, and the gas that causes this more often than not is carbon dioxide. There are three broad categories in leavening, separated by the things that cause the baked goods to rise. These divisions are called: physical leavening, biological leavening, and lastly chemical …show more content…
Chemical leavening is when leavening gases are brought out into the batter/ dough and trapped; causes air bubbles to expand, sparked off by the heat in the oven and causing the whole thing to rise. The two most commonly used ones today are: baking soda and baking powder. They sound almost the same so they must be the same right? However that isn’t true. Baking soda is actually sodium bicarbonate, that needs an acid (such as cream of tartar) to balance it out, then to be moisturized and produce carbon dioxide, essential for leavening. In contrast, baking powder already has baking soda and an acid, but also a starch that won’t react to prevent it from reacting to soon. Chemical leaveners are the most common leaveners used in baked