Shymia's Eggcellent Cupcakes

For my project, I  chose to conduct an investigation on the amount of eggs in cupcakes. I bake cupcakes all the time, but I never considered the chemical reactions that are taking place during the process.

The Science of Eggs

Eggs are used for nourishment, flavor and color. They are used as sources of protein. Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids. The protein in an egg expands, bonds and then solidifies as the temperature increases. The ingredients for the cupcakes required water, oil and eggs. Water is polar and oil is nonpolar so they repel each other. Eggs contain both hydrophobic(water fearing) and hydrophilic(water loving) molecules. When mixing eggs with water and oil, some of the proteins will attract to the water and some will attract to the oil. The egg is acting as an emulsifier that blends two liquids. Eggs are used as a binding ingredient in foods to make it firm and stable.

Experiment and Results

The independent variable for this process was the amount of eggs. All ingredients, cooking time, and temperatures were kept the same.

Recipe and Instructions

1. Set oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Put yellow cake mix into plastic bowl
3. Pour 1 cup of water into bowl
4. Pour ⅓ cup of oil
5. Add desired amount of eggs
6. Stir ingredients together for 3 min 
7. Pour mix into ¾ of each individual cupcake compartment in stainless steel pan
8. Place in oven for 25 minutes
9. After removing from oven, let cupcake sit for five minutes to cool off 
10. Taste final product

Trial 1: This trial had 2 eggs. The cupcakes came out yellow with a very moist and fluffy inside. The taste was delicious with a sweet flavor.

Trial 2: This trial had no eggs added. The cupcake was a bright yellow and it did not taste like anything. It came out very crumby and it was hard to pick up without dropping anything.

Trial 3: This trial had 6 eggs inside. It came out yellow with some dark spots on top. It was very cohesive and it was hard to get out the pan. Inside of the cupcake, you could still see the eggs. It tasted just like eggs and it was very nasty! To summarize, there were three different outcomes to the cupcakes based on the amount of eggs added. First, the cupcake with two eggs came out just right. It had the exact amount of eggs needed to make it fluffy,moist and sweet. Adding no eggs spread the particles apart. When eggs are removed, so are the proteins that kept the cupcake in place. The cupcakes with no eggs rose faster in the oven because they have nothing holding them together so they are more likely to expand and crumble. The cupcakes with 6 eggs were the most cohesive. When proteins are overheated or overbeaten, the bonds will tighten and squeeze out the moisture, leaving the eggs dry, firm and rubbery.

Cupcakes after 25 minutes in oven