Is the Cake too Eggy?

Dara McAllister| Brother Ricks| Brigham Young University Idaho

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Which Cake was Liked
Abstract Results
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There is a cake recipe that seems to always make eggy cake. There 25
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were three test done. A sensory taste test was first, followed by a
compression test and a measuring the sides and center. The trials 20

showed that by reducing the amount of eggs or the unreacted baking Series1
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soda , we can get ride of some of that eggy taste. 15

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Research Question and Hypothesis

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Reduce Egg
Control
Reduce Baking Soda
No Answer
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Control Reduce Egg Reduce Baking Soda No answer

• Observation/Introduction: After trying a recipe for carrot cake,

observations were made that the cake had an eggy taste to it. While There were two people who did not answer the last question, but overall, the
using the same recipe, changes will be made, to figure out how to get control was not liked. Most people liked the one with the reduced eggs, but the
the eggy taste out of the cake without damaging the structure and reduced baking soda was a close second.
texture of the cake.
• Question: Why does the cake taste eggy and how can it be prevented
without changing the texture?
• Hypothesis: By cutting down the amount of eggs in the recipe by half, it
Product pictures or results 53

will get rid of the eggy taste but have the same texture. In an article by
Fred Decker, it states that the egg ratio might be off, and to fix it, you
can use less egg (leaf.tv, para. 5). “The eggy flavor may be caused by
unreacted baking soda.” said Neal Ricks a Food Science Professor at
BYU-Idaho. The second trial will cut the amount of baking soda in half.
Materials and Methods
I forgot to take photos of the cake, but this is close to
what they looked like coming out of the oven.
• Another thing that was absorbed was all three cakes collapsed in
the oven. I am not sure exactly why it happened but I think it is
because there was too much moisture or that I mixed it too much.
Despite the cake being collapsed, all three cakes were moist and
not gummy.

Three different cakes will be made. The first will be a control, the second
will cut down the amount of eggs in half, and the third will cut the baking
soda in half. The cake will be placed in identical pans and baked at 325°F Conclusion
for 40 minutes. Each cake will be cut into 16 squares. There will be a test
panel of 12 volunteers to test the three cakes and get their opinion. • There is too much of an egg taste in the control cake. It can be reduced
There will also be a compression test done with the Stable Micro Systems by cutting down the amount of eggs or the amount of unreacted baking
probe to see if there was a change in the density in the cake. The centers soda.
of each cake as well as one side of each cake will be measured to see if
• Reducing the amount of egg or the amount of baking soda did not have
there was a change in the amount of rise in the cakes.
a huge impact on the texture, but the cake with less baking soda rose
slightly more.
Recipe • The cakes could have collapsed because of improper mixing, or too
much moisture ( Jesie Oleson Moore, Para 3-4).
204g sugar Discussion
119 g flour sifted
6.38 g baking soda Works Cited
2.63 g cinnamon • The control cake was least liked out of the three kinds. It also had a
3.05 g baking powder salt higher rating on the taste test for the egg flavor.
• Jessie Oleson Moore on September 28, 2014. (2017, February 06).
1.39 g cloves • Out of the reduced baking soda trial and the reduced egg trial, the Rise to the Occasion: How to Keep a Cake from Falling. Retrieved
48 g eggs reduced baking soda was liked slightly more with less of the egg taste. March 24, 2017, from https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/09/how-to-
114 g vegetable oil
• The difference between the reduced baking soda and the reduced egg keep-a-cake-from-falling/
168 g carrots, grated
is so slight that I can not accurately declare one with a less eggy flavor • Decker, F. (2014, March 29). How to Get Rid of an Eggy Taste When
with our more testers. Making Cupcakes. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from
Bake in a greased pan for 40 minutes at 325°F.
https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-an-eggy-taste-when-
making-cupcakes/