snowysgirlbakery-blog

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The showcase was a week ago today .. I would happily do another showcase instead of studying for exams! It was great talking to people about what I had done over the past while!

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The showcase is now over! I was very happy with how the day went and would have loved if it have went on for longer than 2 hours! I got great feedback on the breakfast muffins and each flavour was liked; black pudding and onion, smoked bacon and tomato and cheese. I got nearly everyone to try the black pudding one even if they didn't like black pudding and it ended up being the individuals favourite muffin! This is not the end of these savoury muffins Sinéad.

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Stubbornness & Determination

SO i have just spent the past two days trying to make a carrier box, if someone buys coffee or tea with their muffin.  Below is a picture of the attempts i made to make the box! The left one was the first attempt, the middle was the second attempt and the right one is the final attempt!

Can I work with a packaging company now?  

 Almost set for the showcase, just a few more things must be put into place! The nerves are starting to kick in !

Sinéad. 

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5 days till the BIG day

With only 5 days till the showcase, there are many preparations being done! There are still alot to do, till then. It will be an exciting day, and get to see what people think of my muffins!

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Almost done!

The recipe for the muffins are just the way i want them to be now! Must start focusing on the showcase that will be on the 25th of April in the Tourism and Leisure building in WIT, between 11 am and 1 pm.

The decorations for the showcase will be taught about over the next few days till the big day! 

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Shelf-life

The shelf life of my product was tested for the first time this week. The product was 6 days old and do not expect this product to last that long! I am hoping to make them daily! The result we will be looked at next week.

A bought muffin was tested last week and there was not a lot of growth on the plates. There are a lot of added ingredients to the store bought ones to prolong the shelf life of the product. 

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Happiness Overload

As the weeks are progressing the happier I am, that the product is coming together! This week the muffins turned out great. There needs to be more work done on the flavours but the muffin base is perfect.

I tested the protein content in the muffins this week, there is approximately 6 grams of protein per 100 grams when I converted the nitrogen into protein. This was done in duplicate and the two tubes looked different, as seen below (the two tubes to the left). This could be from using different amounts of sodium hydroxide during the experiment. 

The showcase date has been given to us. This is where we display our new products for people to come and try. This is beneficial as we are given feedback on our products. It will be on the 25th of April and everyone is welcome to come try our products. :) 

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Another week down

Hey everyone, 

Another week down, my product has a lot of work to be done to it. I made black pudding and onion muffin and a bacon and egg muffin. The muffin batter was too dense! I must work on the recipe next week when we have a week off from college. 

Hopefully it will all start to come together when I come back. I tested the ash and moisture in the muffins as I did them last week and the results did not make any sense. I have alot of work to do in the next couple of weeks. Below is a picture of the muffins I made this week. 

I did a presentation on the packaging I want for my product and it was good getting feedback from the class. As i am planning on selling my product from a van I do not need a lot of bulkier packaging. I am thinking of using the packing below and have tea, coffee or another drink to accompany the breakfast muffin. The packaging will have my logo on it with a good morning message printed on it. 

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Nutritional Content

Hey everyone,

This week I tested the protein content in my muffins last week. I used the Kjeldahl method to determine this. There is a digestion, distillation and titration process for this method.

The digestion takes about an hour or hour and half depending on the food type. I put my muffin sample into a digestion tube with glass beads, kjeldahl tabs, anti-foam tablet and sulfuric acid. The picture below is the digestion tube before the digestion started. 

Then these tubes were placed in the digestion block once it was heated. This is left in the digestion block for an hour to an hour and half depending on the food type. Below is a picture of the digestion tube in the block. This must be done in the fume hood because of the gases that come from the tubes.

When this is done it is then distilled. Distilled was is added to the digestion tube before placing it into the distillation unit. Sodium hydroxide is added to the tube and boric acid is at the receiver of the machine. There amount of sodium hydroxide used depends on the food sample. Below is a picture of the distillation process. 

The boric acid in the receiver turns a red colour to blue. This is then titrated with hydrochloric acid to get the reddish colour again. The amount of hydrochloric used, determines the amount of nitrogen present by using a calculation which then gives a protein content by using a conversion factor. 

There will be more updates during the week. 

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Business

Hey guys, 

So as the product that I will be developing is a convenience breakfast muffin I am thinking of using a food truck as my main distribution outlet. This method is to promote people to consume breakfast. The colour of the van will either be pink or a turquoise colour. Below are the types I am thinking of using. The two food trucks were taken from pinterest. 

                                                or

This mode of transport is being used in the US and think that it could be used in Ireland. This allows me to travel to the consumer. 

The packing ideas I have are to be accompanied by a drink like tea or coffee.I want to have it compacted together and have a handle to ensure that it is easy to hold.Some of the ideas are below. 

This first one is from think garnish,they have a blog and have some nice and simple ideas. 

The packaging below was gotten from pinterest, this design is also good as it carries a cup and there is a little space where a muffin could fit. i would only was one cup holder though. 

I got this idea from a blog, this idea is very creative because it shows visually that you you can get energy from what is inside the packaging. 

These are just some ideas, over the next few weeks there will be more research done. 

Thanks 

Sinéad

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Week two

Hey guys,

Cooking class this week did not turn out as planned. I used a completely different muffin batter and added bacon to the mix. It did not look nice or taste nice. It was very salty and sugary. It reminded me of an American biscuit or a scone.

After this week I have decided on the muffin batter that I am going to use for the final product! Below is a photo of the desired muffin batter. I am happy with this batter and is very filling due to the porridge oats and wholemeal flour.

Bacon and egg muffins and back pudding and onions muffins are the two variations that will be made next week in cooking class. 

#experimenting #trialanderror #muffins #WITfoodies #muffins #foodinnovation #onthegobreakfast #filling

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Week One

Hey everyone, my name is Sinéad Fitzgerald. I am studying Food Science and Innovation in Waterford Institute of Technology. I picked the course because I love food and science and this course seemed to be the best choice. I am in my final year and it requires me to innovate my own product and market it.  This blog was set up to keep people updated on the progress of my product over the next 10 weeks. 

For my food innovation project I am developing a convenience breakfast muffin for people who do not have time to get up in the morning and make themselves breakfast. I love baking and this was a reason for picking a muffin and there is a gap in the market for a breakfast food item. 

The first week of the project is competed both cooking the product and testing for its nutritional value. The muffin on the left below is banana, chocolate and cinnamon and the muffin on the right is blueberry. The texture of the muffins was perfect but there are many muffins available in stores with these flavours.

Next week I am baking a bacon and maple syrup muffin and a black pudding muffin. The muffin batter will be different to this week as I will be using all different ingredients. Follow me to keep updated with the progress of the product! :)

#WITfoodies #food #blog #progress #muffins