The Four Chocolatiers

Our Team

Charlie S. Molly G. Micah C. Ananya S.

Historical Information

Interesting Facts

This is our first year doing the solar oven event and our school’s first year as well. An interesting fact about our brownies is that we are using a mini skillet to bake them.

Materials

Cardboard box

Mirrors

Foam

Plexiglass

Tape

Aluminum tape

White paint

Soda cans

Binder clips

Important Ideas – Using black to reflect, making a dome of aluminum foil to concentrate light, and making a little box to melt butter. Having a square shape to have a box for butter. (more compatibility)

Building The Solar Oven

A few days ago, we took a box and made it black so a lot more heat will come to it (and vice versa with white). A problem we encountered was the hot glue melting off because we were in the sun one day with our box and the glue started to melt but then we realized that we could cover it in white paint. Yesterday, we made cardboard panels and are adding them on top of the box so more light can be directed into the box. We also used soda cans to make them.

Measurements:

Black Box: 12in, 16in, 7in,

PlexiGlass Box: 11in, 11in, 5in

Why Did We Choose This Design?

We chose this design because it is unique and unlike any other solar oven people have made. We chose soda cans because they are very smooth and can reflect light very easily. We also put white paint on top of the glue so it doesn’t melt in the sun. We also got help from Molly’s Mother by getting and cooking the brownies and we got help from our teacher, Mr.Dennis, who also brought a few materials. We used a few different adhesives as well.

More About Our Recipe

This is the Ingredients and Instructions for our fairy food brownies:

INGREDIENTS
1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees and sift your flour into a mixing bowl.
Add your cocoa powder and sugar to the flour until mixed through.
Once they’re mixed, add in your wet ingredients.
Mix with a mixer until you have a smooth, thick batter (don’t over-mix; just go for no lumps)
Pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

SERVING SIZE: 4 (minimum)

And here is the recipe for the strawberry whipped cream:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup strawberries

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mash strawberries well with minimum chunks.

Recipe Change

We decided that our recipe was not going to cook because our temperature was too low and we needed it to get to 300 degrees but it sadly got to 100 degrees after being out in the sun for the whole day at school. Our new recipe is fairy food brownies and the reason we chose this is because it looks good and has nice toppings.

Solar Panel Changing

We realized that our solar panels were not at the right angle and that we needed to change them because our old recipe brownies, were being baked in their own shadow. Instead, we made the solar panels cover all sides and we also added thin pieces of balsa wood so it would stabilize the solar panels and not make them fall off.

Oven Redesign

Finishing The Oven