Monday, September 24, 2012

Everyday Engineering: The Design Process!

Everyone loves indulging themselves in a decadent cupcake from time to time. As a child I'd love to experiment with various recipes to assemble the "perfect" cupcake. However, up until now I hadn't realized I had actually taken part in the "design process." This is an eight step process used to create or enhance a product. Whether it was assorted fruits, food coloring, or flavors I'd mix and match all sorts.

The first step in the design process is defining the problem, the problem I had was my cupcakes never had the perfect taste. Yes, it was delightful, but something was always missing. After finding the problem I'd think of ways to improve on my baking by brainstorming, which is the second step. I'd think of possible ingredients that I could use that would mix well together. I'd look at recipes on the internet, in recipe books, and mix and match my own personal combinations. Then I'd bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees and I'd taste it to evaluate whether it was better or worst than the last batch. Nevertheless, I'd continue to try improving on each recipe because there's always room for improvement. I'd constantly research more in depth to find the perfect combination of spices and ingredients. Each time as I'd combine different ingredients I'd record each step in a book to be sure I hadn't used the same recipes twice or to record the most preeminent combinations. I refined the cupcakes each time until I found a perfect combination of ingredients. Eventually, after savoring my many batches of cupcakes I found one with the perfect taste.

After realizing the predicament was that my cupcakes never had the right taste I'd brainstorm ways to make it better. I'd then bake the cupcakes and evaluate it and refine it to find the ingredients that should be taken out and the ones that should be added into the mixing bowl. Although I hadn't gone through all of the steps I had somewhat gone through the design process to construct the "perfect" cupcake.


Links!
Popular Cupcake Recipes

Cupcake Recipe- Vanilla Cupcakes
Cupcake Recipe- Red Velvet Cupcakes

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