Baking up a storm in a cup(cake).

You might think baking as a mere fluffy stuff housewives do in the kitchen. What you don’t know is that baking is a form of chemistry. The mixing of ingredients used for baking a cupcake are not much mixing chemicals to make a plastic cup. For example, did you know flour itself is made up of mostly starch granules and proteins? Any slight changes in a recipe would make a difference between a moist cake and a brick. The only thing that separates baking from chemistry is that you can actually eat the results.

Last Friday on 24th March, the Honnets are learning how to bake cupcakes under the watchful eyes of Honsbridge’s teachers. The teachers are on hand to give pointers on how to bake the cupcakes and the chemistry involved behind them. Honnets involved are from Junior classes – SJ2 & 3, J9, J10A & B and J12. While they’re given the same ingredients for the cupcakes – corn oil, egg, flour, each class tackle the challenge of mixing and baking their own way. SJ2 & 3 together listens attentively to Mr Kuldip as he explains how to bake cupcakes, and later lined up to pour the mixture into the mold. J10B were concentrated and focused as they mixed together the ingredients as compared to J10A who were noisy and chatty while making the cupcakes. Only one or two Honnets of J12 helped with mixing while the others watched. J9 finished their mixing quickly and were the first to bake.

As the cupcakes were in the oven, the teachers explain what happened to the ingredients in oven as they transform into cupcakes. Process sees the starch portion of the flour gelling -- with help from sugar -- and creating a web-like structure that traps water and provides moisture. Gluten holds those bubbles in place while the fat from the oil or butter lubricates the process [1].

At the end of baking project, the Honnets learned about baking but also the value of teamwork and friendship.

Oh, and the cupcakes were quite tasty.