"bacon pancakes, makin' bacon pancakes," - jake the dog

     Throughout Unit 2 of my Food class, we practiced solving and relating concepts of math to the different aspects of recipe substitution through proportions, scientific notation, and logarithms. I will convert the recipe below to different serving amounts such as forty (using the Conversion Factor: new/original serving size), or even half of the original recipe (multiply each ingredient by 1/2). Another key topic we looked at was the primary macronutrients in food: Fats, Proteins, and Carbohydrates. Each plays a different role in our bodies, such as fueling our nervous system, regulating our metabolism, reserving energy, protecting organs, etc. We obtain these nutrients through our diet, like fruits, fish, dairy, grains, and nuts, among others. However, the real experiment has to do with substitution. Out of my group of three people, each person chose a different form of substitution, mine being the leavening agent. Both chemical and biological leavening agents are responsible for the rising effect during cooking and baking. 

    The original pancake recipe calls for yeast (a biological leavening agent), and I will also be substituting baking soda/vinegar (chemical leavening agents) as independent variables. You might be curious, then, as to what the dependent variable is. My experiment revolves around the question of which batch of pancakes will be the fluffiest and sweetest. This is a qualitative measurement, as it is difficult to measure texture and taste (the variables which will be dependent on the type of leavening agent). The rest of my group experimented with protein and emulsification. AAL made lemon cupcakes while substituting the emulsifying egg for dairy-free yogurt, and NLM swapped out the textured soy protein for vegan refried beans. Check out how their experiment turned out through the following links:

AAL BLOG 

NLM BLOG 

recipe substitutions (described above and in lab report):

- convert the recipe to serve 40 and 1/2 times the original:

• Conversion Factor: new/original

• 40/10 = 4

• multiply ingredients by four to convert pancake recipe to serve 40

Ingredients (10 pancakes --> 5 pancakes)

For dough

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• 1 cup all purpose flour (130g/4.5 oz = 1 cup / 250 ml)

• 1 cup = 1/1*½ = ½ cups flour

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• 1 cup sweet rice flour (160g/5.6 oz = 1 cup / 250 ml)

• 1 cup = 1/1*½ = ½ cups rice flour

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• 3/4 tsp salt

• ¾ tsp = ¾*½ = ⅜ tsp salt

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• 1 tsp instant dry yeast

• 1 tsp = 1/1*½ = ½ tsp yeast

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• 6 Tbsp water (maybe 1-2 Tbsp more)

• 6 tbsp = 6/1*½ = 6/2 = 3 tbsp

Yeast solution

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• 3/4 cup water (180 ml/6 oz = 3/4 cup)

• ¾ *½ =⅜ cup water

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• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp = 1/1*½ = ½ tsp sugar

For stuffing

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• 1/2 cup unbleached sugar (brown sugar is also good)

• ½*½ = ¼ cups unbleached sugar

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• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

• ½*½ = ¼ tsp cinnamon powder

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• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

• ¼*½ = ⅛ cups chopped walnuts

Frying

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• 7 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying

• 7 tbsp = 7/1*½ = 7/3 = 2 ⅓ tbsp

lab report

conclusion

• Based on my observations before and after cooking, both batches were relatively the same in terms of sweetness.

• I would consider neither as “fluffy,” but the original batch was the only tolerable one in terms of texture. 

• As I mentioned, baking powder may have also been sufficient, because I think my hypothesis was correct in the idea that the vinegar/baking soda solidified the mixture.

• I enjoyed experimenting with a different kind of pancake, and I would definitely try making these again, perhaps by also looking at the video reference on the original website for more guidance.