Height of cupcakes due to water

Eliza Ruiz

Biology

Mr. Ruiz

February 22, 2023

Introduction:

Cake in some form has been around since ancient times, cupcakes were first invented in

America. The first ever reference to 'a cake to be baked in small cups', rather than as a layer

cake. The person who invented so called ‘cupcakes’ was in Amelia Simmons in her ‘American

Cookery' book in 1796. Cupcakes have protein, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids in them

which are two different types of macromolecules. Protein is a molecule made up of amino acids,

they are needed for the body to function properly. Protein is the base of body structures, such as

skin and hair, and of other substances such as enzymes. An example of protein is eggs in

cupcakes because the amino acids eggs have are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine,

methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. Carbohydrates are sugar molecules,

proteins, and fats. Carbohydrates are one of three main nutrients found in foods and drinks. The

body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose which is the main source of energy for your body's

cells, tissues, and organs. An example of carbohydrates in cupcakes is flour which are complex

carbohydrates. Lipids are fatty, waxy, or oily compounds that perform a variety of functions in

your body. An example of lipids in cupcakes is the oil that has triglycerides. Nucleic acids are a

part of all living organisms, they are composed of nucleotides and store and transfer genetic
information. An example of nucleic acids in cupcakes are eggs because they come from a living

organism and store nucleic acid in its cytoplasm.

Objective:

The purpose of this experiment is to determine is the amount of water in the cupcakes effects the

height.

Hypothesis:

If more water is added to the cupcake batter, then the height of the cupcake will be taller.

Materials:

 3 cups of filtered water

 1 ½ cups of canola oil

 3 boxes of white cake mix

 Oven preheated to 350°

 2 12 count cupcake pan

 Electric mixer

 Baking cups

 Wire rack

 Large bowl

 Ruler

Procedure:

1. The required materials were taken to the workstation

2. Preheat oven to 350°

 3. Get cupcake pan and place baking cups in each cup

4. Place pan to the side

5. Get large bowl

6. Pour cake mix, 1 cup water, 3 egg whites, and ½ cup of oil

7. Blen all ingredients in bowl with electric mixer on low speed until moistened (about 30

seconds)

8. Beat mixture at medium speed for 2 minutes

9. Get cupcake pan

10. Pour mixture from large bowl into each cupcake cup

11. Place cupcake pan into oven for 20 minutes

12. Place wire rack near oven

13. Once cupcakes are done take out of the oven

14. Set cupcakes on wire rack to cool

15. Turn oven off

16. Wait 20 minutes

17. All cupcakes were cooled

18. Measure cupcake height

19. Put all materials back

Figure 1.
 Cupcake batter mixing and in pan

Figure 2.

Cupcakes in 350° oven

Data/Results/observation:

Quantitative Results

Table 1 Graph displaying data obtained from measuring the height of cupcakes with different

amounts of water in batter

Figure 2. A line graph of the cupcake's height versus amount of water in batter obtained in Table

Qualitative Results
The cupcakes that had ½ cup of water in their batter were at an average of 5 ½ cm but on the

taller side. The cupcakes that had 1 cup of water in their batter were at an average of 5 ½ cm but

on the smaller side. The cupcakes that had 1 ½ cups of water were at an average of 6 cm.

Conclusion:

When more water was added to the cupcake batter the height of the cupcakes increased. A

possible error was that the cupcakes were placed into a container while hot and when they were

opened to be measured the cupcakes were moist, and the moisture may affect the height. A

solution for this error is to let the cupcakes cool for a longer amount of time, after putting them

into a container bigger than the cupcakes for they do not get smushed. Another possible error

was that there was too much cupcake batter put into the cups which caused the cupcakes to

overflow. A solution for this error is to put less cupcake batter into the cups so that when baking

the cupcakes do not overflow.

Work cited:

Authentic cake and desserts, The hummingbird bakery. “A History of the Cupcake.”
Bio.macromolecules.cupcakes.docx, 28 July 2016, https://cvesd-
my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/112210_live_cvesd_org/EW2ON8L_CMdAjB72EWQ1
nQMBvQ4HqA9dqhBGUsPuQt7YnA?e=aiFXk7.
L, J, P, P, MV, Cocolin, Donaghy, Renault, Ross, Ranst. “Safety Implications of the Presence of
Nucleic Acids of Inactivated Microorganisms in Foods.” ILSI Europe, ILSI Europe Report
Series, 1 Jan. 2013, https://ilsi.eu/publication/safety-implications-of-the-presence-of-
nucleic-acids-of-inactivated-microorganisms-in-foods/.
n/a, n/a. “Yolks vs Whites.” NC Egg Association, NC Egg Association, https://ncegg.org/egg-
nutrition-center/yolks-vs-whites/.