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Final Assignment Reflection

The story I wrote for my final assignment is entitled, “Trying all of Kinnikinnick’s Cakes, so you Don’t Have To.” Kinnikinnick is a Canadian allergy-friendly brand. Their products are lab tested to guarantee that they are free from gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and soy. The brand has been producing these allergy-friendly products since 1991. They have adapted over the years, and now most of their products are free of the top 8 common allergens. My favourite thing about this brand is that they are always finding ways to improve their recipes. I have been eating Kinnikinnick products since as early as 2013, and I can confidently say that they have made significant improvements to almost all of their products that I’ve tried over the years. They make all different types of bread and baked goods such as muffins, cookies, and cakes of various flavours. Kinnikinnick makes my favourite chocolate cake mix. They have two other cake mixes that I’ve yet to try: Vanilla and Angel Food Cake. So, for my assignment, I decided to make each of them and rank them on a scale from one to ten.

The chocolate and vanilla mixes were straightforward and easy to make. They both required four eggs, oil, and water. Just as easy to make as a Betty Crocker mix. On the other hand, the angel food cake had a different and more expensive ingredient list; it called for twelve egg whites and pure vanilla extract. The instructions also state that it requires an electric mixer, which I do not own at my student house. So, I had to whip egg whites to a stiff peak by hand. After over twenty minutes of whisking and using a hand blender, I gave up once the egg whites reached a soft peak—one of my most frustrating baking experiences in a while, that’s for sure.

Over the years, I have made the chocolate cake mix for many people and have yet to be told that it tastes significantly different than a regular mix. Kinnikinnick relies on a high sugar content to match the flavour of a traditional cake. While making each of the mixes, I noticed that the sugar granules were very noticeable within the powder itself. It is important to keep in mind that although these mixes are gluten and dairy-free, they are not necessarily healthier than a regular cake mix. It is extremely common to add more sugar to alternatives in order to mask the difference in taste.

As for the research I conducted for this assignment, I took a less formal approach because it was based on my personal opinion. However, the years I have spent trying different recipes, products, and brands certainly count as research. There are so many gluten-free cake mixes on the market; however, oftentimes, they require the addition of dairy products. Kinnikinnick is one of my favourite brands to buy because its products are dairy-free instead of vegan, allowing for eggs. Most of the products I purchase and the bakeries I go to are vegan as there is more of a market for vegan products as opposed to dairy-free nowadays. However, I still eat eggs and find that they are essential in maintaining the overall structure of a cake. It is difficult enough having to use gluten-free flour. This is because gluten acts as a binding agent for the dough and holds it together. It also traps the gases released by yeast during fermentation, which prevents the bread from being too dense.

I am allergic to both gluten and dairy, but I only discovered these allergies in my pre-teen years. As a child, I was able to eat anything I wanted. I don’t necessarily remember what dairy products taste like anymore, but I generally remember what foods such as pizza taste like, and I miss them. I love watching videos and reading blog posts about food, and it’s really the only way I can experience some of the foods that I used to love. I was inspired to write my article based on this series on Youtube that I watch called “Julia tries everything”. It is posted on the company Delish’s youtube channel. Delish is an American media company with a focus on food. Their goal as a company is to make it easy for you to find the best of whatever you need. Julia goes to different restaurant chains in the series and tries all of the most popular dishes on the menu. The videos are usually around fifteen minutes. She typically tries multiple appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. Rather than ranking each dish, Julia typically picks her favourite dish from each round, expressing which ones are worth trying. I like that she’s honest when she doesn’t like something, as I often assume these companies are sponsored by the restaurants they go to; good exposure for them after all.

Of the options we were given in formatting our articles, I chose the approach which asked for ten pictures and 500 words. While a video inspired me, I felt that my story would be better told in a blog post format. Because I was only making three different cakes, I felt that if I were to make a video, it would not compare to Julia tries everything. I didn’t think I would be able to record enough content as the focus was more on my opinions of the cakes instead of the baking process. If there were more cakes to try, I would have made my own “Emily tries everything” series.

My final article came one picture short as I followed a pattern of three photos per cake: one of the cake mix, one of the cake itself, and one of the frosting used to decorate the cake. The photos I took myself and the pictures of the cake mix boxes taken from Kinnikinnick’s website are more straightforward as there is not much to interpret from them. Thus, the main visual signifiers are the cakes, the frosting, and the cake mix. While there may not be a message to decipher from the images, they play an essential role in telling the story. The photos of each mix and icing show the exact products that I used in making the cake. This ensures that readers can easily re-create the final product. The photos of the cakes show the final product. I decorated each cake differently and used fruits and chocolate to enhance the flavours. For example, I garnished my chocolate cake with raspberries as the flavour complemented the icing well. The visual aspect can be just as crucial in enticing someone to read the article and try the cake. The words within the story provide a description of the baking process and the taste, and the images give a visual of everything described. Together, these two elements effectively told my story.

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Trying all of Kinnikinnick’s Cakes, so you Don’t Have To

Over the years, I’ve tried countless gluten-free, dairy-free recipes online. I’ve wasted money buying expensive flour substitutes only for the cake to taste terrible. That is until I came across the brand Kinnikinnick. They make my favourite chocolate cake mix. The brand has two other cake mixes that I’ve yet to try, so I decided to make each of them and rank them on a scale from one to ten.

Cake #1: Angel Food

Ingredients:

One pkg. Kinnikinnick Angel Food Cake Mix

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

12 egg whites (396 g), room temperature

Of the three cakes, I was most excited to try the Angel Food Cake. The instructions state that the egg whites need to be whipped to a stiff peak. However, the only tool I had was a whisk. After whisking for over 25 minutes, the egg whites were at an ever so slight soft peak. I decided to leave them as-is and finish making the cake. After 35 minutes in the oven, I took the cake out, and the top was golden brown. I took a skewer to stick into the cake, and it came out clean. After 30 minutes of letting the cake cool, I decided it was time to take it out of the pan, only to discover that the bottom was completely raw. I attempted to rebake the cake for another 30 minutes. Once I took it out of the pan after re-baking it, the cake was in two different layers, completely underbaked in the middle. It was inedible. A complete waste of two hours.

Final Product:

Icing I Intended to Use:

Overall Rating: 0/10 (But, if you have the proper tools, it would likely turn out better)

Cake #2: Chocolate

Ingredients:

4 Egg

¾ cup Water

¾ cup Vegetable Oil

One pkg. Kinnikinnick White Cake Mix

The second cake I made was chocolate. I didn’t even have to make this cake to tell you that it's good. It tastes similar to an ordinary chocolate cake mix. Usually, I make cupcakes so I changed it up by making them in a cake pan. The cake itself turned out moist and was complimented well with the chocolate frosting and raspberries. As pictured below, I used Bety Crocker milk chocolate frosting which is shockingly dairy-free.

Final Product:

Icing Used:

Overall Rating: 9/10

Cake #3: Vanilla

Ingredients:

4 Eggs

¾ cup Water

¾ cup Vegetable Oil

One pkg. Kinnikinnick White Cake Mix

This cake was the one I was most intrigued to try as I have yet to find a vanilla cake that I like. It was easy to make, and the texture was similar to a regular boxed cake; it wasn’t dry like some gluten-free cakes I’ve tried in the past. However, the flavour, as most gluten and dairy-free vanilla cakes are, was bland. But the addition of icing certainly helped. As pictured below, I used Betty Crocker frosting which happens to be dairy-free.

Final Product:

Icing Used:

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

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Journalism Feature

Queen’s Campus Security Issues Warnings to Individuals Using Nixon Field

It was the beginning of January. My housemates and I were on Nixon field as we had been every day of the previous lockdown in April. It is the best place on campus to let our dog run, free of distractions, with somewhat of a fence surrounding three sides of the field. This day, however, it was snowing, and there were two girls on the other side of the field making a snowman. There were just seven of us on the field, and I remember thinking how nice of a space it was to do outdoor activities socially distanced. It certainly was utilized in the fall semester. While I’ve always known that dogs were not allowed on the field to protect the artificial turf, I figured in the winter it would be fine as it was covered with snow. 

Pictured: Nixon Field

All of a sudden, I saw a Queen’s Campus Security Guard approaching the girls on the other side of the field. My housemates and I had assumed he was asking them to leave, so we started to walk away, expecting he would tell us to do the same. As we began to walk away, we realized that the security guard was now walking towards us after asking the girls to leave. He had been wearing a mask as he walked towards us, only to take it off once he got close enough to speak to us. “You know what you’re doing is wrong if you’re walking away” he exclaimed multiple times condescendingly as we were standing there. He then proceeded to tell us that the field is closed due to COVID-19, and the fine for having a dog on the field is just over $600. While he was speaking, my housemate, uncomfortable at the fact that he was not wearing a mask, used her glove as a makeshift mask to cover her mouth. The security guard questioned why she was doing so, to which she replied, “We are in a global pandemic,” reminding him that we were in lockdown at the time. He attempted to insinuate that because we were not wearing masks either, it was fine. However, we all live together. 

Pictured: One of the two signs displayed on either end of Nixon Field.

The security guard walked away, giving us a warning. However, the whole situation left me feeling unsettled. The signage that was put on Nixon field to indicate that it is closed is simply inadequate.

Pictured: Locked gates surround Tindall Field, indicating that it is closed.

Pictured: Additional signage surrounding Tindall Field. A clear display of the guidelines and rules.

Queen’s campus security has a heightened role in keeping the community safe with an increased amount of security patrollers walking and driving around the campus grounds and surrounding housing areas, ensuring that COVID-19 guidelines are adhered to. You would expect the officers they hire to do the same. Information on the University’s Covid policies can be found on the Queen’s Covid Information Webpage. 

I attempted to reach out to Campus Security via email to inquire about the policies set in place for their employees but never got a response. Their website fails to provide up to date information and states that their email is not directly monitored. 

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This is one of my favourite pictures of my dog, Bean. I took it on one of our walks in the fall and, I feel that it represents my daily life under lockdown. Every day at around 4 pm, Bean and I go for a walk to the water. We have been doing this without fail since quarantine began in March. I am so thankful for my dog as he gives me a great excuse to get some fresh air every day, providing me with somewhat of a sense of normalcy.