A better-for-you sweetener in the baking space

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cx3EItswocc%3Frel%3D0

Watch this video to learn how to make no-bake moon cookies!

Not all of us have been given a chance to learn how to create our own baked goods. Simply because this takes a lot of effort and even money when it comes to buying our own tools. Cakes, brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and the like are not that easy to make without the proper guidance. But worry no more as Bake Space, Cebu’s first DIY Baking Studio is finally here!

The deadline for submission has now passed, however the recipe is still very much valid, bake away! Go straight to the ingredients list and recipe.

ESA invites all bakers to try out a special banana bread recipe that contains the main chemical elements found on the Moon. The social media challenge kicks off on 17 May, inspired by World Baking Day.

While banana and chocolate will add in the magnesium, oats will stick on some silica and iron, with the baking powder bringing up the oxygen. Yoghurt and almonds will transport us to the calcium on the Moon.

Moon bread chemical elements. Credits: ESA–K. Oldenburg

The three best entries will receive a lunar prize from the ESA Space Shop. Since the jury won’t be able to taste the lunar creations, we will rate other aspects such as presentation, creativity and recipe variations with a link to the next mission to the Moon.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xjbKjSF5rA8%3Ffeature%3Doembed

There’s no better space cake than a stand tall moon, smiley planets, stars, a rocket, astronaut and even an alien flying around the moon. All the WOW factor, with ease.

Our DIY Space Cake Kit is perfect for busy parents and first time bakers to create themselves, or together with little people (& big!) people in the kitchen. Everything you need comes in the kit including the all-natural dry ingredients (organic cake mix, plant based food colouring, natural sprinkles and pure icing sugar), disposable round baking pans, piping kit  and edible images to apply to the cake like stickers. Whilst you can eat the images, simply peel them off before serving to keep the cake 100% natural. Gluten free, allergy and vegan friendly options available. Serves 20-24 people. 

Why natural? It tastes so good you’ll be back for seconds and it’s gentler on tummies as it is free from nasties. We try our best to make sure all our packaging is biodegradable, recyclable or reusable where possible too.

Magic is something you Bake & Believe xx

• Organic vanilla or chocolate cake mix(s) (unrefined sugar). Gluten-free^ wholefood available too.  View ingredient list HERE
• Pure Icing Mix: 100% Cane Sugar
• Plant-Based Food Colouring: Ingredient list HERE
• Natural Sprinkles: Ingredient list HERE
• All images are 100% edible but we like to keep things natural and peel off before serving. If you would like to see the Ingredients for the edible images click HERE

^ Packed in a facility that also handles Nuts, Trees Nuts, Gluten, Dairy and other allergens. Not suitable for people with Coeliac Disease.

Zero gravity and little storage space seriously limits astronauts’ menu options. Here’s what’s off limits in outer space.

Bread

Crumbs—from bread, crackers, cookies, etc—don’t do well in space. They float around, and can fly into an astronaut’s eyes and interfere with important equipment. That’s why you’ll find tortillas used instead of bread on all crafts traveling out of orbit. Though the creation of crumb-free bread in 2017 means this rule could be changing soon.

Soft drinks

A funny thing happens to carbonation without gravity—nothing. On Earth, a big part of soda’s appeal is in its effervescence, but with bubbles in a state of “free float,” fizzy drinks don’t fizz. As astronauts found out in the 1980s and ’90s when soda made brief appearances in space, warm, flat carbonated drinks don’t go down quite as easily as they do back home. Can’t go without soda? Stay earthbound, and stick to watching the moon during the day.

Salt & pepper

There’s no “sprinkling” in space. Small particles of salt, pepper, or other seasonings would simply float, rather than land on food. Space shuttles do stock salt- and pepper-infused liquid, though.

Fresh milk

In place of fresh milk, the dehydrated kind, which takes up only a little space and doesn’t require refrigeration, has been a staple of international space missions since the 1960s.

Ice cream

The real stuff can’t make the trek to outer space—there are no freezers on space shuttles—but freeze-dried astronaut ice cream can and has gone up as dessert. By the way, in case you were wondering—this is what outer space smells like.

Pizza

While not exactly banned from space, pizza isn’t on astronauts’ most requested foods list. “You can’t get a crispy crust,” says Vicki Kloeris, NASA’s Johnson Space Center space food manager. “It’s always soggy or chewy. It doesn’t meet anyone’s expectations.”

Alcohol

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was an all-natural sweetener that aligned with consumers’ needs for guilt-free indulgence in the baking space? Great news! There is. It’s honey.

Honey is up to one-and-a-half times sweeter than sugar, allowing bakers to reduce their overall sweetener usage when using honey in their formulations. And consumers are familiar with honey as both a friendly sweetener — who doesn’t love that iconographic imagery — that is all-natural, thus making it a win-win for bakers and consumers alike, according to Catherine Barry, director of marketing for the National Honey Board, Erie, Colorado.

Taste Paired with Ingredient Listings

Baked goods traditionally have great taste, but consumers now want more than just great taste. They want to know where ingredients are being sourced, why they’re chosen and even why the product itself is being made. Honey is a great ingredient when it comes to telling the story of your product’s flavor. There are more than 300 varietals of honey in the U.S. alone, each with a unique color, taste and flavor, allowing for endless combination opportunities. Further, consumers don’t have to compromise when looking at ingredient listings. Honey is easy to pronounce and easy to recognize. 

Occasions Driving Consumer Wish Lists

What other sweetener delivers multiple benefits: sweetness, flavor, functionality and marketability? By using honey, bakers can pare down their ingredient listing and appeal to consumers that want all-natural products.

But honey isn’t about humans. It’s the natural product made by bees—one of our planet’s most important animals. Honey bees visit millions of blossoms in their lifetimes, making pollination of plants possible and collecting nectar to bring back to the hive.

There are a few new baked goods on the market that meet consumer trend demands while taking advantage of honey’s popularity.

Honey Kookies, Mary’s Gone Kookies

Mary’s Gone Crackers expanded its line this year to include Kookies, graham-style, plant-based, organic and gluten-free snacking cookies. They launched at Sprouts stores and recently announced wider distribution, thanks in part to the commitment to providing consumers with a better-for-you snack that satisfies consumer cravings. 

Paleo Cookies, Jack’s Paleo Kitchen

As we mentioned, consumers are loving the “gift” aspect of baked goods this year, and a great idea is Jack’s Paleo Kitchen’s Cookie Club. All of Jack’s Paleo Cookies are sweetened with honey, so consumers don’t have to worry about making the choice between Lemon Zing, Cinnamon Raisin, Sunflower Seed Butter or Double Chocolate. The gift that keeps on giving!

Honey Whole Wheat, Inked Bread Co. 

The iconographic Queen Bee is front and center on Honey Whole Wheat’s packaging, making this honey-sweetened bread a standout on store shelves. Organic honey and organic whole cracked wheat are the star ingredients of this natural, earthy and delicious loaf.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey Cake, Great Spirits Baking Company

Fresh out of the oven, Great Spirits Baking Company is releasing its Tennessee Honey Whiskey Cake variety at the end of the summer season. Making its debut at the Summer Fancy Food Show, this honey-infused cake is perfect for adult gatherings heading out of summer barbecue season and into holidays that need an amped up dessert. It was one of our favorite finds at the show, and we’re excited to see it hit supermarkets later this year.

ESA Bakes

Space is certainly a cold place, but spacecraft have to face extremely high temperatures when they are exposed to the Sun’s radiation. The European Space Agency has a wide expertise in cooking spacecraft and comets, as well as exploring piping hot planets like Venus.

Temperature control is vital to keep astronauts warm. The European Service Module is the powerhouse that fuels and propels the Orion capsule beyond the Moon and back. The first Artemis uncrewed flight will take place later this year to test everything needed to keep astronauts alive in the upcoming missions, including water, oxygen, power and temperature sensors.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=z8I8u4_R2fI%3Ffeature%3Doembed

ESA spacecraft and instruments often feel the heat of strict sterilisation protocols to prevent microbial lifeforms hitching a ride on missions to other planets and moons in our Solar System. Planetary protection measures ensure that we do not bring back anything harmful from other worlds and that we don’t contaminate other planets.

A Moon bread recipe challenge

Are you hungry yet? Gather your ingredients and join the challenge.

Moon bread recipe. Credits: ESA–K. Oldenburg

• 3 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 yoghurt (125 ml)
• 80 g flour
• 30 g oat or plain flour [tip: you can make your own oat flour just by blending regular porridge oats]
• 40 g almond powder
• 100 g chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 handful of nuts

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C
2. Mash 2.5 bananas and add the eggs. Reserve half a banana for later.
3. Add the yoghurt, maple syrup and vanilla extract and continue beating.
4. Mix the flour, almond powder, baking powder and salt.
5. Add to egg mixture and beat until smooth.
6. Add the chocolate chips and nuts.
7. Pour the mixture into an ovenproof tin, ideally a round one like the Moon, and place slices of the remaining half of a banana on top.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 °C.

Fun Moon Facts

• Scientists think the moon formed when a Mars-sized object crashed into Earth.
• When the moon formed, it was much closer to Earth. It must have looked giant in the sky!
• The moon is getting about 1-1/2 inch farther away from Earth every year.
• The moon is bright because it reflects sunlight.
• There is no air on the moon. The Apollo astronauts had to bring their own!
• The moon’s gravity is only about 1/6 as strong as Earth’s. When Apollo astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon in 1971, it probably landed over two miles away!

Discovering Bake Space in Cebu City

Bake Space, a DIY Baking Studio has opened its doors now to Cebuanos in Paseo Arcenas in Cebu City. In here you get to learn how to design and make your own choice of baked treats in a given time which is a first in Cebu. If you have heard of Baking Studios in Manila, they are similar in many ways.

The first thing you need to do when you step foot in Bake Space is head to the front desk and register yourself. You would need to choose which baked goods you’d want to make. You could choose from regular-sized cakes, bento cakes, cupcakes, brownies, and even cookies.

After that, you’ll be given your own tray that has your apron and some baking essentials. The staff will also lead you to your own station and guide you on the steps of how to start baking.

In Bake Space, aside from having your own station, you will also be assigned to your own oven. This is where you’ll bake and where you’ll focus on where you’re making your chosen dessert already.

As for me, I chose to make Bento Cakes. As this is one of the most affordable things to do here and the easiest to look at (based on my instinct). For bento cakes, you have the option to choose which flavor you want: Chocolate, Ube, and Vanilla. And yes, I went for the Ube one as it’s my favorite as well.

After baking, I was a bit unsure because my cake’s color was not violet lol. But it did taste Ube! It was pretty good and moist too. After cooling it down, we made our own frosting and I still chose purple as my frosting’s color.

Before I forgot, in Bake Space, you’ll also be given the freedom to choose two sprinkles and a topper if you’re making a cake.

Terms and Conditions

Please check our Terms and Conditions before joining the Moon Bread social media challenge.

A condition of being featured as a winner is that the entrant declares their consent in writing, in accordance with the privacy notice of this contest. Please also see ESA’s privacy notice for social media.

If you win any prizes, we will connect with you via private message so we can make arrangements for your prize. You *must* declare that you agree with our privacy notice before providing your personal details and receiving any prizes.

A Must-Try Baking Experience

Overall experience in Baking was pretty fun! Aside from making my own bento cake, I also had a memorable experience with my friends who made their first baked goods as well. The price here also was reasonable! Indeed a very great place to spend time with your friends, your loved one, or even your family!

Operating Hours: Open every day from 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Cutoff at 6 PM)

What to do

1. Measure out all of the ingredients and dump them into the large bowl.



2. Mix ingredients very well with a spoon. When the ingredients get too stiff to mix with a spoon, you can continue mixing and kneading the dough with your hands!

   Tip: If you wet your hands, it will be easier to work with the dough.





3. Next, use your hands to shape the dough into small round balls or moons. You can also shape the dough into crescent moons!





4. Pour powdered sugar into the small bowl. Roll each moon in the powdered sugar.



5. They’re now ready to eat! Store leftover cookies in a covered storage container in the refrigerator.

   Note: This recipe makes about five dozen moons.

We would like to thank the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Missouri, for sharing this recipe for delicious Moon Cookies!

Download a PDF of this activity.

What you need

For the cookie dough:

• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1-1/2 cups peanut butter (Allergen note: Nut-free butters, such as sunflower seed butter, can be used instead.)
• 1-1/2 cups honey
• 3 cups dried milk
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 large bowl
• 1 spoon or spatula
• Dry measuring cups
• 1 tray or storage container (not pictured)

• 1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 small bowl