I have been very busy this past week with all of the new information I have had to learn. Each day we have had a new topic such as gluten free, sugar free and egg free. They have all been very interesting. The gluten free day was pretty interesting. We know that flour is a structure builder which just means that it helps provide a strong structure when it is baked. And it also absorbs liquid, contributes to the flavor and color and adds nutritional value. The most important components of flour are 71% starch, 6-18% protein, moisture and gums. Glutenin and gliadin make up about 80% of the proteins. Glutenin provides strength and gliadin contributes to the elasticity of the bread. Gluten is activated by moisture and motion.  When moisture is added, glutenin and gliadin absorb the water and then swell up. Then when mixing, every surface is exposed to the liquid making it easier for the proteins to absorb more water. Also the mixing incorporates more air which strengthens the gluten when it is forming. There are many factors that affect gluten development such as the type of flour, amount of water, amount of mixing, water pH and many other things. To make a gluten free recipe you have to use specific flours that will not produce gluten. These will include millet flour, white or brown rice flour, garbanzo flour, tapioca flour and xanthan gum. More than one flour is normally used in recipes for gluten free.
     Sugar day was very informative. There are basically three different types of sweeteners; crystalline sugars, syrups, and specialty sweeteners. Crystalline sugars are granulated sugars, coarse sugars or powdered sugar. Examples of syrups are obviously molasses, honey, maple syrup and malt syrup. And lastly specialty sweeteners are isomalt, dextrose, sweet-n-low and splenda. All of these sweeten, contribute color, and tenderize. Although they have a lot of the same functions they can taste very different. For example you can't just replace granulated sugar with maple syrup because it will give it a completely different taste and texture.
     Egg day was very similar to our sugar day. There are many egg products that you can use but there are advantages and also disadvantages when using them. Egg products are easier to store and measure and to work with but they are normally more expensive than fresh eggs. Eggs provide structure, help emulsify which means that they help mix oil and fats that don't normally mix well, they also contribute flavor and color. Just like the sugar, when you use different egg products than in the recipe you will probably get a different result. Either the texture or taste or color will be different in the final product. We make experiments everyday with one recipe and switch out one ingredient with several alternatives and look at the differences. It can be very dramatic what the results will show but it proves that you need to follow the recipe completely to get the correct conclusion.
      We have done many experiment each day and have tasted horrible results but it has shown what each ingredient does and how it affects the product. Well tomorrow is day 8 so we are going to start on our final. My group has to come up with four experiments to do for a gluten free pound cake . So we'll see how that goes, hopefully well.