Radical Red Velvet Cupcakes
Introduction
Red Velvet cupcakes have always been a mystery to me. I have always questioned their origins and the process it takes to make them. The process, although a difficult one, was super fun! The project I altered the process of making red velvet cupcakes. I changed the amount of food color that I added to the batter each time while keeping everything else consistent. For the first mixture I did not add any food color, two drops of food color to the second, and four drops of food coloring to the last mixture. A change like this may seem minor but it was monumental in the change it caused.
The Background of Red Velvet
Cocoa powder was invented by the Dutch chocolate maker Conrad Van Houten in 1828. Cocoa powders are made up of mostly starch and nongluten protein, they can range in fat content from 8 to 26 percent. Natural cocoa powder is astringent, bitter, and distinctly acidic with a pH balance of 5. An antioxidant called anthocyanin makes red velvet red, it is pH sensitive and reacts to acids and bases. In the absence of an acid it is purple, natural cocoa powder contains anthocyanin. Anthocyanins may offer anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-cancer benefits. Very acidic solutions will turn an anthocyanin red whereas neutral solutions will make it purplish and basic solutions will turn it greenish yellow.
Recipe
-2 ½ cups of flour
-½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-½ of salt
-1 cup of butter softened
-2 Cups of sugar
-4 eggs
-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
-½ cup of milk
-Red food coloring(Varies Per Trial)
Experiment
Measured the amount of cocoa powder that was placed inside of the batter in hopes of releasing the anthocyanin which determined how red our cupcakes would turn out. All of the other ingredients were kept the same throughout the experience as all we were testing is the color.
Trail 1 Results:
No results of the anthocyanin being released. The inside and outside of the cupcake was completely brown like a regular chocolate cupcake. Taste like chocolate, consistency is very soft and fluffy. The inside of the cupcake is completely cooked, we then crumbled the cupcake and still no redness in sight.
Trail 2 Results:
The end result comes looking as if no red food coloring was added resembling the first trail. Slightly red in the middle from the anthocyanin which may have been released slightly. Taste the same as trail one because we did not change anything that would affect the flavor. The texture is more firm and fluffy, the inside of the cupcake is completely baked.
Trail 3 Results:
The end result is perfection, came out of oven perfectly shaped & vibrantly colored. The perfect color red. Nothing like the first & second trail in color but taste is the exact song. The anthocyanin has not been fully releasde which we can see as a result of the color. We had to use food coloring. The cupcake is completely baked and when bitten the inside is fluffy. YUMMMMMMMMMMMY!
Comments
Post a Comment