FOOD TECHNOLOGY: APPLE PROJECT

 

 

Project Outline

 

1.     Cook or bake one of the following three recipes

2.     If you have chosen the cakes, design an icing; if the soup, then the croutons.

3.     Write out instructions for making your icing or croutons.

4.     Think of a name for your product.

5.     Develop a marketing plan. Where do you hope to sell your product?

6.     Design suitable packaging for your product. [Remember, the croutons would need to stay crisp].

7.     You will need to calculate nutritional information for one portion to be included on your packaging. Which of the two current systems will you use? Also, calculate the calorie content for a portion.

8.     Design a label and perhaps a logo.

9.     You will need to cost your product. How much do the ingredients cost? Include labour costs and a margin for transportation and the retailer. It might be easier to cost it for a tea and cake table for open or parent evening at your school. How much would you have to charge to make a profit? Can you make a saving by purchasing some ingredients in larger quantities?

 
 
cider comes in cans, bottles and cartons   traditional cider mug with two handles

 

Somerset Apple Cake:

(p.265 The Dairy Book of British Food, Ebury Press, 1988)

Ingredients:

  • 100g (4 oz) butter

  • 175g (6 oz) dark soft brown sugar

  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • 225g (8oz) wholemeal flour

  • 5 ml (1 tsp) ground mixed spice

  • 5ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

  • 10 ml (2 tsp) baking powder

  • 450 g (1lb) cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

  • 45 – 60 ml (3-4 tbsp) fresh milk

  • 15ml (1 tbsp) clear honey

  • 15 ml (1 tbsp) light Demerara sugar

 

Method:

  1. Grease and line a deep 18 cm (7inch) round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little at a time beating well after each addition. Add the flour, spices and baking powder and mix well. Fold in the apples and enough milk to make a soft dropping consistency.
  3. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake at 170°C (325°F) mark 3 for 1½ hours, until well risen and firm to the touch. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
  4. When the cake is cold, brush with the honey and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar to decorate.

Bake this cake but omit the decoration with honey and demerara sugar. Design your own topping.

 

Cider Cake

(Herefordshire Food: Karen Wallace, Arch, 1985)

 

Ingredients:

  • ¼ pint (150 ml) cider

  • 4 oz (100 g) butter

  • 4 oz (100 g) soft brown sugar

  • 2 beaten eggs

  • 8 oz (225 g) plain flour sifted

  • 1 teaspoon (1x 5 ml spoon) bicarbonate of soda

  • 1 teaspoon (1x 5 ml spoon) grated nutmeg

 

 Method:

Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add half the flour, sifted with the soda and the nutmeg. Pour the cider over the mixture and beat thoroughly until the acid of the cider acts on the alkali of the soda and makes the mixture frothy. Stir in the remaining flour and quickly pour the mixture into a well-greased baking tin. Bake in a preheated oven 350°F , Gas Mark 5, for 45 minutes or until cooked. When the cake is ready it should shrink slightly from the sides of the tin. Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes and turn out onto a wire rack.

 

Cream of Potato Soup

(Cider Vinegar: Margaret Hills, Sheldon Press, p. 34)

  • Ingredients:

  • 1 lb (450 g) potatoes

  • 2 celery stalks

  • ¼ pint (450 ml) water

  • Pepper to taste

  • ½ pint (300 ml) milk

  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

  • 1 large onion

  • 1 ½ ox z (40 g) butter

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 oz (25 g)  cornflour

  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

 

 

Method:

Slice the potatoes thinly, then slice the onion and celery. Fry the vegetables very gently in butter in a saucepan for 10 minutes. Do not allow to brown. Add water, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer very gently for 45 minutes. Liquidize, or rub through a sieve, and return to the pan. Mix the cornflour to a smooth paste with a little of the cold milk and stir in the remainder. Add to the soup and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add cider vinegar. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (serves 4)

 

Packaging and Marketing

Can you tell which of the following packaging and advertising materials are from the 1960s and which are more current?

     

Read the following interview with a cider producer to find out about the design process of names and labels for cider products: 

Interviewee                 Tim Weston, Chief Executive, Westons Cider,

Date                            July 26th 2006

Place                            Westons Cider, Much Marcle

Interviewer                  Rebecca Roseff

 “I look after new product development.  We are forever looking at ways of bringing out new products.  Trying to keep ahead of the market, new labels, new styles of cider.  It’s expected by the customers.  You’ve got to make sure your products are up to date, look up to date.  The taste stays the same but you’ve got to make sure your packaging looks as people want to see it.  We do it by thinking and talking.  We have a fortnightly meeting and anybody can bring up any ideas.  We have to try and tap into the popular mind.  Certain products we bring out and we think, that will be the in thing for the next couple of years, and it’s surprising how quickly things do age.  But some just never age, they are the good ones.  Westons Strong for example, we have toyed with the idea of changing the label, but people say, no it works.  The Henry Weston vintage, that has been just a tweaking of the label.  We will get a designer in, we put our ideas towards them.  The end result is a mixture from us and the designer, a total mixture.  Our NPD (New Product Development) team comprises production, finance and sales.  Hopefully we get some good ideas and if necessary we do market research, but we don’t need to do that much.  There are many failures, many failures anybody who says they’ve never had any failures with new products must be lying.  There was one we had called ‘Squeel’, which was a fantastic name, fantastic label, but just never took off, it was a mixture of ciders and fruits.  We had some good success with cider and ginger, lovely drink.  But it ran its course for three or four years and we stopped doing it.  The steady seller is Henry Weston vintage reserve, strong organic cider, we’ve had some good success with that, the keg cider Stowford Press, that’s our main brand and the perry, Original Perry a steady success I would say.“

Which factors influence packaging design? Discuss with a partner why the following criteria may be important:

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