Patterson Hall was filled with sweet goodness as students mixed precision with pastry when the Women in STEM club and The International Student Cultural Organization (ISCO) united to blend science and baking to whip up sugary icing.
The two organizations came together last Thursday for their annual meeting. Students whipped together powdered sugar, milk and food coloring to make icing for homemade cookies.
“Today we are doing the ‘Science of Baking’ and we talked about how science and baking go hand in hand,” said Ahnayah Preston, the president-elect of Women in STEM, who is a computer science major from Auburn, Alabama. “We talked about how precision in baking matters just like science, and we demonstrated this by having everyone create their own icing and decorate their own cookies.”
During the event, more than 30 students in attendance discussed different deserts from their cultures. They also learned about the Maillard Reaction which produces flavor and smell during the cooking process. Deserts like Japanese dorayaki, Mexican tres leches and Italian tiramisu are known to use this reaction.
“Whenever it comes to baking, like science, you use temperature and heat,” Preston said. “Like science, it matters how much product you use— take flour for example—because it affects the outcome.
“Just like with science, whatever you use, and you mix together will determine what you get in the end. A lot of people say that cooking and baking is more like art, but it’s more like science if you think about it.”
The president of ISCO, Nautica Morgan, said this event was a way for students to learn something new and be introduced to a different organization.
“This was just a way to make both of our communities known to each other,” said Morgan, a junior biomedical sciences major from Jack, Alabama. “We wanted to bring the Women and STEM and international students together because I know a lot of international students are actually computer sciences majors.”
In addition to learning more about each organization, students tested their knowledge by competing to see who knew the most flags from different countries. Students who answered correctly received prizes ranging from Troy tumblers to new bedsheets.
“I think that is such a fun little event to do,” said Brianna Moore, a senior English education major from Montgomery, Alabama. “Making cookies and also learning more about the process.
“I’m a cook, but I did not understand the science behind baking.”
Moore said at the end of the event, she is leaving with more than just knowledge about baking sweet goods.
“Honestly, it’s the friendship and the bonding that I made here,” Moore said. “Yeah, I did learn about the science of baking and some international deserts, but I think the most important thing with these two clubs is the community that you get behind it.”
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