Exponential Chocolate^6 Cupcake





My inspiration for this concoction was a dessert called a Chocolate Castle, but it was partly related to having many varieties of chocolate on hand and a serious chocolate craving. The objective of this experiment was to multiply chocolate by itself as many times as possible (you know, like exponents) to concoct one cupcake. My hypothesis: How can anything go wrong with loads of chocolate?



Exponents are used in math to indicate the multiplication of a number by itself. The exponent, usually depicted as a tiny number above the base number on the right, also known as a superscript (Example: 53) indicates the number of times the item is multiplied by itself. Simply put, using exponents is a shortcut to writing the same base number and the multiplication signs over and over.

When an exponent is used it communicates that the base number is being raised to the power of the exponent. In the example above, three is the exponent of five which is the base number. This can be read as five to the power of three, or five cubed. It can also be read as 5x5x5 which is equal to 125 (5x5x5 = 125) In the case of these Super Chocolate Cupcakes which are also referred to as Chocolate to the six or Chocolate6 , there are six forms of chocolate in this one cupcake concoction!


It all began with a buttermilk chocolate chip cupcake. After baking, I hollowed out the centers and added dark chocolate hot fudge, I slathered half of the cupcake with white chocolate buttercream and the other half with milk chocolate buttercream. Last, I mixed chocolate sprinkles with 99% Cacao nibs to add some crunch to the top of the cake.

Exponents date back to the 15th century and the word itself, rooted in Latin: Expo meaning to make out, and ponere: to place.  However, in English the word exponent's root is expound, meaning to explain or interpret or even to advocate for, in addition to its symbolism in mathematics. The book Arithemetica Integra by Micheal Stifelio is said to be the first modern use of exponents in mathematics. So I guess that makes this post the first use of exponents in cupcake making? :)

Here's the equation:

(unsweetened chocolate baking blocks in cake) x (white and milk chocolate chips) x (milk and white chocolate buttercream) x (dark chocolate hot fudge) x (chocolate sprinkles) x (cacao nibs)

                                                                  =
                                ChocolateCupcake aka  Super Chocolate Cupcake

If you want to get very technical and count the milk and white chocolate separeately you might call this concoction Chocolate8   ...  But I won't want to give anyone a heart attack before they even bite into the delicate, decadent moist chocolate cake and buttercream, crunch on the rich chocolate sprinkles and cacao nibs and hit the smooth hot fudge center!

The first tasting of these cakes yielded responses like: "This is the BEST cupcake I've ever had!" So I guess my hypothesis was right! You can't go wrong with too much chocolate!
 

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