The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capabilities of Various Cake Mixes Kailey Kelley Hanover-Horton High School

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

Introduction Cake is a very close relative to bread. They contain, for the most part, the same ingredients. The difference between cakes and bread is, most obviously, the sweetness. Cake is made with a substantial amount of sugar when compared to bread. When baking cakes one of the most important ingredients is baking power. When mixing the ingredients together in order to bake the cake, the sodium bicarbonate (Baking powder) is able to react with the acid. Because sodium bicarbonate is a base, meaning it has a pH higher than 7, its pH is neutralized by the acid while forming water and carbon dioxide. As in the case with bread that rises with yeast, the release of carbon dioxide puffs up the volume of the cake. (Ehow.com) The goal of this study is to determine if the flavor of the cake will have a higher rising capability when compared to other flavors. To determine the rising capability the raw cake batter will be measured in centimeters on a ruler. Once the cake is fully cooked the height will then be measured again. To obtain the rising capability the original height of the raw cake batter will be subtracted from the final cooked height.

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

Materials 1 glass baking pan Conventional oven Betty Crocker Cake mixes Chocolate Vanilla Red Velvet

Timer (Minutes) Sharpie Marker Toothpick Mixing bowl Spatula Standard Metric Ruler 1 Liter Crisco Vegetable oil Container 12 large eggs 2/3 Measuring cup 1 Cup measuring cup Measuring cup Paper Towel Tap Water

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

Procedure 1. Set out all three flavors of cake mixes 2. Open the Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix 3. Follow the baking instructions of the back of the box or as listed below: 1. Heat conventional oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 2. Mix the cake mix, 3 eggs, 1 cup of water, and 2/3 cup of vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl 3. Mix until the cake batter is smooth and has no bumps in it 4. Pour the cake batter into the 13x9 glass baking pan 3. Place one toothpick vertically into the center of the cake batter 4. Remove the toothpick and mark the height with a sharpie marker (on the toothpick) 5. Clean off the toothpick with water 6. Place the cake into the conventional oven 7. Bake the cake for 32 minutes 8. Remove the cake from the oven after the 32 minutes have passed 9. Place the same marked toothpick that was used for the raw cake batter and insert it into the cooked cake 10. While the toothpick is in the cake, mark the height on the toothpick with a sharpie marker 11. Remove the toothpick and rinse it off with water 12. With the standard metric ruler measure the distance from the end of the toothpick to the first line for the raw cake batter

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

13. Record the measurement on the data table 14. Measure with the standard metric ruler the distance from the end of the toothpick to the mark of the cooked cake 15. Record the measurement on the data table 16. Subtract the raw cake measurement from the cooked cake measurement (Cooked measurement raw measurement) 17. Record the final answer on the data table 18. Repeat steps 1-17 for the vanilla cake and the red velvet cake Data

Red Type of Cake Chocolate Vanilla Velvet Raw cake height 1.82 cm 1.42 cm 1.81cm Cooked cake height 5.31 cm 5.04 cm 5.62 cm Total rising capability (Cooked-Raw) 3.49 cm 3.62 cm 3.81 cm

Chi-Squared Value

0.073

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

Conclusion In conclusion to this experiment, it has been determined that Betty Crocker Red Velvet cake has the greatest amount of rising capability of .19cm higher than the Betty Crocker Vanilla cake. The Betty Crocker Red Velvet cake was also .32 cm higher capability when compared to the Betty Crocker Chocolate cake. The cause of this would be because the red velvet cake has more baking powder in the dry cake mix compared to the other two flavors. Also when baking Red Velvet cake the key ingredient is vinegar. This is because the vinegar reacts with the baking powder and releases oxygen and creates tiny air pockets in the cake, thus causing the cake to have a greater rising capability. (Finecooking.com) By this finding the hypothesis of

The Comparative Analysis of the Rising Capability of Various Cake Mixes

this experiment is greatly weakened. During the baking process of vanilla cakes, they use the most baking soda when compared to other cake flavors. There is no specific correlation between the cake flavors and the rising capability.