Baking cakes with different recipes can provide an exercise in the application of the scientific method, illustrating the need to vary only one ingredient at a time for correct derivation of conclusions. This experiment, most likely to be performed at home, compares a cake flour with flours from durum wheat, rice and cornflour (gluten-free starch). It leads into discussions about the chemistry of gas production in baking, about the taxonomy (relatedness) of cereal-grain species and about the nutritional aspects of baked goods, especially for people with wheat (gluten) intolerance.