Minimum 12 years.  Younger participants must be accompanied by a parent.

This series consist of 3 workshops targeting the young and old with restricted diet either due to medical condition or just general health reasons. The workshop aims to:

• Teach basic baking techniques;
• Explain the basic chemistry involved in baking of bread and cake especially the roles of different ingredients and chemical reactions during different stages;
• Explain how the knowledge on food chemistry can help create new recipes which may be beneficial to health or suitable for people with special health conditions.

As places are very limited, the public is encouraged to sign up for one of the three activities only.  If one is interested to attend more than one activity, please indicate interest and we will inform you if there are vacancies nearer the time.  For more information, contact Ms Jiang Xiaohui at 65168990 or email chmjxh@nus.edu.sg.

Sugar-free cake (apple cinnamon)
Date: 04 June 2009
It is very common today to hear of people having to control their sugar intake.  Mainly this is due to health reasons, for example diabetes and reactive hypoglycemia. Diabetic patients have difficulty regulating their blood sugar levels. While individuals with reactive hypoglycemia produce an excess of insulin leading to quick absorption of glucose from the bloodstream into the cells which cause their blood glucose levels to fall below the amount needed for proper metabolic and brain function. There are also people choose to limit their food energy intake from sugar to assist in weight loss.  For many of these people, the use of artificial sweeteners allowed them to enjoy a varied diet. Moreover, a sugarless diet is tooth-friendly and would not contribute to tooth decay due to the microflora present in plague.
In cakes, besides providing the sweetness, sugar plays a significant role in batter aeration and structure formation. Sugar solution formed in cake batter increases the gelatinization temperature of the starch which allows the batter longer time of expansion before it sets. It also influences the flavor and color development through Maillard reaction and caramelization. A combination of artificial sweetener and food gum will be introduced and used in this session to produce cakes with the taste and textural profiles similar to those of normal cakes.