The Oompa Loompa Business Is Booming

I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks as I have been busy moving house and moving jobs. I am now a resident of the UK's second city, Birmingham. Woop woop (definitely a lot more going on than in Cumbria. So much so that trains were cancelled due to overcrowding... A thing unheard of at home.)

But on to my gainful employment. I am currently working for Mondelez, the company which owns Cadbury and Milka to name but a few of their many confectionery brands. I like to think of myself now as assistant to the oompa loompa... 

In just a few short weeks I have gone from chocolate novice to chocolatier extraordinaire... I joke, but I am hoping to share some of my new found wisdom and knowledge in the chocolate department. So stay tuned. 

On my way into work, on a sunny
Monday morning here in
Birmingham.

I apologise now if this post and future chocolate themed posts have an excessive use of the word chocolate, but there just isn't a suitable alternative. I don't think I have ever heard the word used as much in conversation as I have in the few last weeks! If my brain did predictive text, chocolate would definitely be up there along with excessive use of the exclamation point and lololololololol... 

So my first day at Mondelez I was presented with the chocolate Bible, a book call "The Science of Chocolate." A common welcome gift, I discovered after chatting to some of the interns, it has everything you could ever want to know about chocolate.

Reading through my new Bible, I was surprised by how much chemistry and physics are involved in the chocolate making process. Along with a little bit of wizardry, to cover the parts we don't quite understand yet, and you get the tasty treat we all know and love...

The Chocolate Bible

Let's start at the beginning. Let's talk about chocolate.

To Be Continued...

A (Not So) Lumpy Combination

I had my girlfriends over for a dinner party the other week and I was experimenting with cocktail recipes.

My all-time favourite cocktail is a Pina Colada, traditionally made with Malibu coconut rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice. Lacking the coconut cream I was left with two options:

1. Add normal milk instead, or
2.  Blend with a banana…

My concoction...

Not sure where I got the banana idea from but upon further thought it seemed like the best option.

So into my trusty blender went the rum, ice, pineapple juice and a banana. Two minutes later I had a creamy, fruity drink that somewhat resembled a Pina Colada. Given enough time it did separate out into layers, a juice layer and a foamy layer, but that was easily rectified with a wee stir.

There is a bar in my town that sells the most disgusting drink, the aptly named Cement Mixer. You get a shot of Baileys and a shot of lime juice. When the two mix in your mouth they curdle and you are left to swallow a lumpy mess…

This got me thinking, would milk do the same thing when mixed with the pineapple juice?
Yes, probably, but lets try it anyway.

Milk + pineapple juice = a lumpy mess... Ewwww

"Latte 025" by Kagor at the Ukrainian language Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Latte_025.jpg#/media/File:Latte_025.jpg

But why does this happen? What cause the liquid to lump transition I hear you asking. Well I will tell you.

Milk is made up of protein and fat suspended in a liquid. Milk is slightly acidic, with pH 6.6, it is this acidity that helps it maintain its liquid phases. As milk sours the pH drops and this causes lumps to form in the milk. The same thing happens when we add acid to milk, or in this case pineapple juice, with a pH 3. When an acid is added and the pH of the milk drops the negatively charged micelles, made up of the fat and protein, clump together. These clumps get large enough to see and are called curds.

There may have been some method in my madness when it comes to the banana. Bananas have a pH between 4.5 and 5.2. So when added to the cocktail mix they raise the pH and help prevent curdling!

All that was left to do was to enjoy the fruits of my labour... Drinks all round!!

The perils of drink...

Reference
Food and Foodstuffs - pH Values
Which foods are acidic?

SPF Forever

The summer is drawing to an end and if like me you live in a part of the country where summer happens for a week in May then you might be wondering why it is recommended that you wear a moisturiser with SPF protection all year round. Seems a bit excessive doesn't it. But don't pack any your SPF just yet!

Whitehaven harbour at sunset.
Image: Jennifer Carroll

Alchemy Tricks

I have read and reread the All Souls Trilogy, by Deborah Harkness.

1st book in the series!!!
"Discovery of Witches Cover" by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Discovery_of_Witches_Cover.jpg#/media/File:Discovery_of_Witches_Cover.jpg

On a trip back in time the main character, Diana Bishop, befriends the Mary Sidney, an Elizabethan woman with a passion for alchemy. As part of the story the two set out to make the tree of life... You'll have to read the book to see how the tree grows.

But as I was clicking through the internet, I stumbled upon the TheBackyardScientist's youtube channel and after watching some of his videos I found some alchemy among other exploding things.

How to grow a lead crystal tree! Watching the video you can see why some people thought this was magic.

Bun in the oven!

What gives bread it's characteristic fluffy texture? Why does it rise up? Why do you need to prove the dough before baking? What happens during the all important baking step? And most importantly, where does that all important bread smell come from? How do supermarkets make their bakery aisle smell so inviting?

It's bread week here on Chemystified and I shall be having a go at baking my own loaf.

My loaf.
Recipe courtesy of the queen of baking Mary Berry.

Like many who watch the Great British Bake Off will know some of their creations are masterpieces of art. I am a firm believer that cooking is a science and that baking is just chemistry in action that we can enjoy with our eyes as well as our taste buds.

Figgy olive oil and sesame challah
Credit: Sarah R

UV or not UV, that is the question?!

I am in love with UV gel nail varnishes at the minute. They are hard wearing and long lasting. But the real question I want to know the answer to is how do they work? 

Pink Shellac nails