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Remember: Be sure to ask an adult before starting any cooking project! Ever wondered how they get all those little bubbles inside the bread? Did you ever guess there were thousands of tiny workers right inside the dough that are responsible for making all those bubbles? If you don't believe me: try this experiment first. Add 1 package active dry yeast (be sure it is not past the expiry date) to 1/4 cup of warm water. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the mixture, stir and wait for about ten minutes. What happens? How does it smell? Quick Yeast Bread Sourdough bread was made years ago by combining lukewarm water and flour, and letting the natural yeast spores in the air find the mixture and do their thing. Most modern people make it using store-bought dry yeast, although the old method also works if you are very patient! Needed: Whipping Cream and Making Butter These two experiments with the same ingredients yield very different results! Needed:whipping cream, divided into two equal amounts a jar with a tight lid an adult wielding a cake mixer a mixing bowl optional: salt, sugar, vanilla extract Whipping Cream: Pour half of the whipping cream into the mixing bowl. Use a cake mixer to mix the cream until it forms fluffy peaks. Add a sprinkly of sugar and/or vanilla extract if desired. Butter: Pour the remaining cream into the jar and place the lid on tight. Shake the jar rapidly for 5-12 minutes, until you feel a solid thumping happening as you shake. Remove the lid and pour the liquid into a glass. This liquid is buttermilk. The solid part is butter. What colour is the butter? Add salt if desired. When you whip the cream, air enters into it and fluffs it out. When you shake it, the fat molecules stick together and form a lump. The rest of the liquid separates out into buttermilk. Baking Ice Cream: Baked Alaska Baked ice cream that stays frozen? Yes, it can be done! slightly stale angel food cake, homemade or store-bought ice cream, your favourite flavour, slightly softened 5 egg whites from large eggs, 6 if you use smaller eggs (for food safety reasons, you may wish to use pasturized eggwhites from a carton for this) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup of superfine sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Trim out the cake so that you have an outer shell about 1.5-2 cm thick of cake (about 3/4"). Trim the outside off the top of the cake and the inside off the bottom so that the remaining shape is like a dome. You will use the excess cake to form the bottom and top of the dessert. On the bottom of a shallow baking dish, lay out strips of cake to cover the bottom of the dessert. Place the hollowed out shell on top, leaving the remaining pieces to be arranged over the top of the ice cream. Place the eggwhites in a large mixing bowl. Notice how much room they take up. Beat the egg whites until slightly stiff, adding the salt and cream of tartar, and then adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time, and then the vanilla. How much room do they take up in the bowl now? Why do you think that is? What takes up the extra space? (hint: it's not the sugar!) For the next steps, you will need to act quickly. Add the softened ice cream to the centre of the cake, then arrange the remaining cake pieces over the top. Spread the meringue (this is the fluffy egg white mixture) over the entire outside of the cake. Have an adult bake on the middle rack (or one lower if your oven is short or your dessert turns out tall) under a broiler at 500 o Farenheit for about 3 minutes, watching it closely. The meringue should be golden brown. Serve immediately.
Now that you've seen it done, why do you think this works? Why doesn't the ice cream melt all over the place? Compare the weights of angel food cake, meringue, styrofoam insulation, and copper tubing. What do you think makes the styrofoam, angel food cake and meringue good insulators? Besides being light, what else do they have in common? What other insulators and conductors can you think of? To make ice cream this way, you need to take advantage of the fact that salt water has a lower freezing point than regular water. When the salt is added to the ice in the outer bag, it melts quicker and flows around the inner bag. This provides more surface area in which to freeze the ice cream. Ingredients:1 cup cream or evaporated milk 1 cup milk 1 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract two dozen or so ice cubes 1/2 cup coarse salt (table salt will also work) one large-sized freezer bag with a zipper closure one medium-sized freezer bag with a zipper closure duct tape long enough to seal the tops of both bags plus about 4" optional: oven mitts or winter mitts Combine milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Pour into medium freezer bag and zip closed. Reinforce the seal with some of the duct tape. Pour the ice cubes and salt into the larger bag. Put the medium bag inside the larger one. Zip it closed, and reinforce it with duct tape. Now find a friend and play catch (or toss and catch it yourself) so that it is continuously shaken for 10-12 minutes. You may wish to wear mitts to protect your hands from the cold. Once the time is up, cut open larger bag and pull out medium bag. Turn upside down and cut a large hole in one corner. Squeeze out your ice cream and enjoy. You can also make ice cream using dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). We use the recipe mixture above, then add dry ice to it.
A simple, yummy way to investigate ice crystals. Ingredients:your favourite fruit juice ice cube tray, popsicle sticks and plastic wrap or foil or popsicle tray Fill your tray with juice. Cover with plastic or foil, insert sticks and freeze. When served, place one on a plate to be observed while you eat the others. What is that white coating that forms on top? How long does it take to melt? What happens when you suck on the frozen juice? Experiment with crystalization by making candy. You will need: a reliable candy thermometer 3 cups sugar (white or brown) 1 cup water several oven-safe containers, pre-warmed and greased with butter or a marble slab optional: vanilla, peppermint or other extract (amount will vary depending on what flavour you use, and when and how you add it, but for the total should be about 1/2-1 teaspoon)
*add any flavourings only after the candy has been removed from the heat Heat the mixture over medium-high heat until it begins to boil, then turn heat down to medium-low for better control. For the multi-staged version. you will be removing candy syrup from the pot at various points in the cooking process. Have several oven-proof containers ready to place these in ahead of time. It is best to keep these warm to avoid cracking from temperature shock. You can also pour these directly on a marble board instead if you have one. Prepare the oven-proof containers or marble board with a thin layer of vegetable oil or powdered sugar to help avoid sticking. Tips: Stir the mixture only until all the ingredients are dissolved; cover the pot for about 2 minutes to allow crystals to was down the sides, but never stir in the crystals from the side of the pot as it will change the crystal structure of the rest of the mixture. After it is all dissolved, do not stir! Try making candy glass by pouring out syrup at the hard-crack stage onto a prepared marble slab and let harden. Sugar glass has been used in place of real glass for special effects in movies. Candy stages: (temperatures in Farenheit) Thread 230o The syrup makes a coarse thread when dropped from a spoon Used for making glazes Soft Ball 234 o Syrup makes a small ball that doesn't disintegrate in cold water uniless touched Used for fudge and fondant Firm Ball 244 o Syrup makes a ball in cold water and holds its shape even when touched Used for caramels Hard Ball 250 o The ball is more rigid but pliable Used for taffy Soft Crack 270 o Forms threads when dropped in cold water that will bend Used for butterscotch and toffee Hard Crack 300 o The syrup forms threads that are brittle Used for hard candy and peanut brittle Caramelized sugar 310-325 o Turns golden brown Used for glazes and coatings At 350 o, it will turn black. With the advent of microwave popcorn, many kids have never had the experience of watching a kernel of corn pop. If you have a wire popper, omit the oil and use half the kernels. If you have a transparent pot, you will be able to watch the kernels pop the whole time. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/2 cup dry popcorn kernels salt optional: melted butter or grated cheese Heat a heavy cooking pot for about 1 minute on high, then add the oil. Add 3-4 kernels and watch for them to pop. Once those have popped, add the remaining popcorn kernels. Hold the lid on the top and keep the pot moving back and forth so that the popcorn doesn't scorch. Keep popping until the popping rate decreases, then remove from heat. Add salt and any butter or cheese desired. |