In my last blog post, I tried my hand at baking for the first time. Although I cannot test how addictive the brownies taste compared to Batch One, since that would require me to bake brownies consistently for my dorm, I instead asked my floormates how they tasted in a general sense. Here are my results: Excited and proud of my culinary masterpiece, I took the steaming tray of brownies out of the oven and placed it on the stove to cool. With the scent of freshly baked peanut butter brownies filling the room, several of my floormates came out to investigate. Cutting the brownie brick into small bite-sized squares, I gave each person a piece. “Try one!” I said. “They’re for my English project.”
My friends, floormates, and I all bit into the brownies at the same time. I then asked everyone for their honest opinion of the brownies. Roughly half the group (mostly my friends) said they tasted perfect and loved the extra peanut butter flavor, and the other half (mostly my floormates) thought the peanut butter concealed the sugar taste and believed I should add more sugar to the brownies. Personally, I thought the brownies tasted perfect. But that may just be because I love peanut butter. Next I asked them, “Now that you ate a brownie, do you feel the urge to have a second helping? Or at least, more of an urge than before?” Most people stopped for a moment, thought about it, and replied something along the lines of “Actually, yes I do feel like having another. They’re so good! (Even if it could have been sweeter). Can I?” Handing them another brownie piece, I smiled. Remembering my research in my first blog post, which stated that a sign of physical craving is feeling an increased urge to have a food after just eating that food, I made a mental note that my floormates’ reactions to the brownies seemed similar to physical saving signs.
For my second batch of brownies, I wanted to try increasing the fat and sugar in hopes of appealing to the half of people who wished my first batch of brownies (the peanut butter ones) to be sweeter. Using the same recipe as before, I removed the extra scoops of peanut butter. Trying to maintain the same consistency as the original recipe, I doubled the amount of melted butter, tripled the sugar, and added several heaping spoonfuls of hot cocoa mix just for good measure. Mixing my toxic sugary solution in a bowl, I felt slightly guilty about the health and safety of all my floormates, especially considering all the research and warnings I have read about the dangers of sugar. Then again, how much harm can one single batch of extra sugary and fatty brownies do? At least I’m not baking brownies for my floormates every day, right?
Beep, beep! The timer beeped, and I removed my new and improved (though much unhealthier) batch of brownies from the oven. Placing the steaming tray on the stove to cool, I knocked on my floormates’ floor. “Batch two of brownies are ready!” I exclaimed. Again, I cut the brownies into bite sized squares. This time, the pieces were more clean cut because we remembered to spray the tray with cooking oil. Then again, the different ingredients may have also had an effect on the brownies’ ease of cutting and serving in individual squares. The additional butter might have given the brownies a smoother and more slippery, rich texture. Also, the first batch of brownies had peanut butter, which probably gave it a more sticky texture. As a result, the first batch of brownies kept sticking to the pan and knife whereas the second batch cut and separated cleanly.
Like before, my friends, floormates, and I counted down: “Three, two, one--” We bit into the brownies, savoring the taste while comparing it to the peanut butter brownie taste memory. Again, I asked them what their reactions were. This time, the half who originally believed the peanut butter brownies could use more sweeteners and fat absolutely loved my revised baked concoction. On the other hand, those who thought the peanut butter brownies were perfectly sweetened (like myself) found this batch two of brownies much too sugary. How does this make sense though? If sugar and fat make everything taste better, then why would a startling fifty percent of my floormates and friends prefer the less sugary, less fatty brownies with peanut butter. Then it hit me: Salt! Like junk food appeals to our taste buds either with its sugariness, such as donuts, or saltiness, such as potato chips. Both flavours appear equally appealing to our taste buds.
I suppose I already knew this, but now I know for certain: Mostly my friends (along with myself) prefer salty, whereas mostly my floormates prefered sweet. To confirm this observation, we discussed our favourite dessert foods. Sure enough, my friends and I enjoyed a midnight snack of chips, salsa, and perhaps a plate of cheese, crackers, and salami for special occasions. On the other hand, my floormates loved a midnight snack of cookies, cake, and several packs of gushers.
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