Monday, December 6, 2010

Science in the Kitchen...

The Science Mommy and her Kid Scientists recently cooked up a little science in the kitchen, while making gifts for the boys teachers. 

I found this recipe in Family Fun Magazine that showed  how to package cake mix in a coffee cup for a microwaveable, personal-sized cake.  My boys liked the idea, but I wanted to package everything needed to make the cake and the recipe called for oil and an egg to be added later.

I have also made this, Diet Coke Cake with the boys and it turned out quite well. 

Here's the experiment...Can we combine the two recipes into a single, personal-sized Diet Coke cake that bakes in the microwave?
The initial recipe indicated that a standard cake mix could be divided into 8, 1/2 cup portions.  I set the boys to measuring the cake mix (good measuring practice).  We found that there are only 7 full 1/2 cup portions.

Next Connar did the math to find out how much diet coke we would use with our 1/2 cup portions.  He came up with 1.5 ounces and decided to use 1/4 of a cup in order to have a standard measurement.  We are using small cans of soda in order to package them more easily.


Then it was time to try our first sample...1/2 cup cake mix, 1/4 cup Diet Coke and 3 minutes in the microwave.

Taste Test...It was better than I thought it would be, but the cake was kind of chewy.  Test #2...1/2 cup cake mix, 1/4 cup Diet Coke and 2 1/2 minutes in the microwave.
This time the cake was still chewy, but there were raw spots.  Test #3...1/2 cup cake mix, 1/3 cup diet coke and 3 minutes in the microwave. This was the perfect combination!

Meanwhile, we followed the Family Fun recipe for a glaze mix to include in the cup.  This was perfect the first time!

Final Recipe:
* Put 1/2 cup of chocolate cake mix in a resealable bag and label "Cake Mix"
* Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tbs cocoa powder in a resealable bag and label "Frosting"
* Put both bags into a mug, including a label with the cooking instructions
* Cooking Instructions:  Mix the cake mix with 1/3 cup of the Diet Coke in the mug.  Microwave for 3 minutes.  While the cake is cooking, add 1 or 2 tbs of water to the frosting mix.  Seal the bag and using your hands, mix the frosting.  Whent the cake is finished, cut a corner off the frosting bag, frost your cake and enjoy!
* Package the mug with mixes with a small can of Diet Coke.

Enjoy!  This is a delicious, personal-sized cake!

6 Science Moms have commented...:

Mama M. said...

Wow! What a fun idea! I've never heard of Diet Coke Cake?! That would be a great gift!! Thank you!

Shopper Gal said...

What a great teacher present and looks tasty!!!

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and will definitely be trying some of these things at home.

Rachel said...

I tried this, but didn't have diet coke in the house. It worked with yellow cake mix and ginger ale as well. Very moist little cake!
Rachel

Jennifer said...

Glad you gave it a try! I have heard that you can use any soda / cake combination. We also tried one with white cake and orange soda...yum!

First Grade Smarties said...

Great Idea Science Mommy. I'm going to try this later today. I've always thought about trying to make cookies with an individual package of hot oatmeal. Do you have any ideas about what I might add? I liked the idea of individual.