This week in Culinary Medicine, we had the Chemistry teacher lecture on "Pancake Chemistry," and even made our own pancake recipe! There was also a contest to see which group's recipe could make the fluffiest pancakes!
We first discussed the difference between wet and dry ingredients. Wet ingredients include milk, eggs, and oil, while dry ingredients include flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Next, we talked about Gluten Formation, which occurs when the water from the milk mixes with the flour in the dry ingredients. This gluten formation gives pancakes their structure and texture, but over-mixing can cause too much gluten formation, which makes the pancakes tough and chewy (like bread). After this informative presentation, it was finally time to start planning our recipe to make the fluffiest pancakes!
When we walked in the next day, the record for the thickest pancake was 2 cm, which is very thick, but we still had high hopes for success. Instead of being in the Culinary Lab, we were all located in the Biomed Lecture Room in order to have more space for all the different groups. Our pancake recipe was quick and easy, containing more of the ingredients listed in the presentation. Although we did not come out victorious with the thickest pancake, my partner and I actually found our pancake to taste better than the thickest one from the other group. This lab was super fun and made for a good time with my classmates competing against each other!
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