Chemistry of Baking video takes the cake in YouTube contest

摘要

The Chemical Institute of Canada's (CIC) fourth annual "It's Chemistry, Eh?!" YouTube contest for high school students saw Evangeline McLaren Devenyi, a Grade 12 student at Northern Secondary School in Toronto, take first place and a cash prize of $500 for her entry, The Chemistry of Baking. Devenyi, who was "super excited" about the win, says the three-minute video was the chance to combine her love of baking with her love of science. Devenyi analyzed the complex chemistry involved in the creation of bread, pies and cookies, explaining how two classes of proteins in gluten: glaidin and glutenin, give dough its elasticity and texture. Yeast, a single-cell fungus, is also key to baking, as it consumes sugars, thus releasing both carbon dioxide and ethanol, causing bread to rise. Devenyi also explored the Maillard Reaction, responsible for pastry's warm brown colour and enticing aroma. Using black and white footage from 1930s and 1940s advertisements, The Chemistry of Baking was not only a science lesson but an homage to a bygone era, when baking was part of the daily household ritual.