Related Studies
Most of the cupcakes which are popular in the market are chocolate, cheese and other sweet flavors. It was then revolutionized by mixing fruits and/or nuts into the dough. Different fruits, usually pulped or cut into small pieces are mixed with other key ingredients to come up with a different flavor. For example, bananas and chocolates can be combined in a basic cupcake mix to give the flavor of bananas and a certain degree of sweetness.
In an interview conducted by the researchers, a culinary chef said that one can mix fruits, together with the basic ingredients to make a cupcake more tasty (Interviewed by Heytahchizz group, 2015). The chef also said that making cupcakes is a kind of experiment wherein ingredients are mixed or combined with other "stuff" to create new and exciting flavors.
In feasibility study conducted by Tejada, et al. (2007), students of the University of Northern Philippines (UNP), Vigan City, they [the students] made a twist to the simple cupcake by mixing malunggay (horse radish) leaves, instead of the usual fruits into the cupcake mixture and produced a light green-colored cupcake after baking. The study was a success and the cupcakes became a hit when two (2) well-known government-assisted livelihood projects in Ilocos Sur adapted the recipe (Two Sisters Royal Bibingka and Marsha's Delicacies).
The two establishments added the product to the existing line of bake products being sold to the public. And since it was a vegetable cupcake, they were the first to be sold out, especially bought by health- conscious consumers with consumers getting more and more conscious with the nutritional values in food, other vegetables were used as a key ingredient in making cakes or cupcakes.
The Food Technology students of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac City, on the other hand used squash meat in one of the cakes made (Gacula, 2007). The pulped meat was mixed with other key ingredients and the finished product was a light yellow cake. The same idea was then applied to smaller serving, e.g. a squash cupcake.
Numerous experiments are in fact conducted every day to further enhance a very simple cupcake. Unfortunately, these are rarely documented since these are usually conducted in kitchens by housewives and bakeries.
In feasibility study conducted by Allen, (2015), from Livestrong team, she said that healthy food choices can lead to a healthy lifestyle by using Applesauce than vegetable oil when you are baking. Applesauce is healthier than vegetable oil. She recommended that the option of vegetable oil for applesauce is 1 ½ cup of oil, substitute of 1 cup of applesauce and used 1 cup of oil.
In an interview conducted by (Co.Design, 2013), a cupcake baker Emma Thomas mentioned that pretty-looking cakes cheer people up so she created a depressed, grey, and sad-looking cakes for people under depression. The sad-looking cakes however had an interesting twist, vivid filling - vibrant and colorful, tasty filling usually fruits or nuts or chocolates which is incorporated in the cupcake - gives the surprising familiar sweetness characteristics.