It's not often you see scientists clearing off their lab tables with dough scrapers.
But when the lab belongs to St. Mary's College chemistry professor Michelle Shulman, all bets are off. Crime scenes littered the lab during one January term, and art restoration equipment and paintings were splayed over the tables for another course.
So no one blinked when Shulman stocked her chem lab last month with King Arthur flour, gluten-free baking mixes and Kitchen Aid mixers for a four-week course on the science of baking.
Each January, students at this small liberal arts college in Moraga are encouraged to step outside their major to sample other curricular fare. Professors have grown savvy about marketing their "Jan Term" topics to students who might not otherwise enroll in a class on, say, the history of the Huns and Longobards though you can bet they'll take a class dubbed "Barbarians!!!" that includes falcons, Vikings and a medieval ball.
But who needs Vikings when you've got cinnamon rolls?
And when it comes to making chemistry pertinent and fascinating, Shulman may be the queen.
"I love to bake," she says. "And I pick things I have an interest in, hoping it transfers to the students, excites them, interests them and makes chemistry approachable."
Frankly, she says, few things are more laden with biological and chemical reactions than a yeasty cinnamon bun, a buttery cake or a gluten-free loaf of bread. Baking isn't just delicious, it's educational.
"It's not a Home Ec class," Shulman says. "We connect it back to chemistry. There's the gelatinization of starch, the coagulation of proteins, caramelization and the Maillard reaction (a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a sugar that gives muffins their signature golden brown hue)."
What they've done in this class, she says, is to "deconstruct flour." They've washed it, to reveal the stretchy protein composite known as gluten, which traps the CO2 produced by yeast, baking powder or baking soda.
The class spent the first two weeks of class studying and deconstructing the components of baking. They took a field trip to the San Francisco Baking Institute and sampled their fair share of scones, muffins and breads before formulating hypotheses and designing experiments around yeast, eggs and, of course, gluten.
For the one in 100 Americans with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder, gluten must be avoided at all costs. Those who jump on the gluten-free bandwagon thinking it's somehow more healthful or low-carb are seriously misinformed, Shulman says.
Most gluten-free flours are a mix of white rice flour, tapioca starch and potato starch. Unless you know what you're doing -- in which case, you're mixing in quinoa, millet, amaranth or buckwheat to increase the nutritional heft or choosing a whole grain commercial mix -- you'd be better off with white bread.
But one thing is crystal clear. The presence or absence of gluten, gums and chemical additives makes an enormous difference. On this particular day, the proof is on Shulman's desk, where two loaves of gluten-free, yeast bread repose. Their ingredients are almost identical, but one loaf is heavy and square -- absolutely leaden without the lift provided by gluten. The other is domed and light in texture. The difference? A mere 1¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum.
Scientific proof may not be in the pudding -- but at St. Mary's, it's definitely in the bread.