Objective: Use single serve coffee makers to make delicious desserts Details: Single serve coffee makers like the Keurig K-Cup and Nespresso have started to expand beyond exclusively making coffee. For example, these devices can now make hot chocolate, and other warm blended drinks. There is great potential to leverage single serve coffee makers in other areas - specifically to create ready-to-eat warm desserts. Deliverables: Please submit a solution for a ready-to-eat warm dessert that uses a single serve coffee maker in the preparation process. Solutions must include:

1) Some artistic rendering (ex. picture, diagram, video) that breaks down the steps needed to make your dessert.

2) A written description that explains the preparation steps, ingredients used, and food types/name brands used.

3) Specify the amount of water used, size of the mug/cup/bowl used, and the necessary preparation to consumption time.

Criteria:

1) Desserts must be served in a 12-16 fl.oz mug or cup or bowl 2) Dessert must be consumed with a fork, spoon, or straw. NOT interested in watery or

drinkable desserts. 3) Special consideration will be given to ideas that leverage the Keurig K-Cup Home Brewer.

Christopher Cho

Stony Brook University, Class of 2014 Mechanical Engineering, B.E.

thechumcho@gmail.com

Solution:

My design to create a ready-to-eat warm dessert utilizes the unique K-Cup brew method of the Keurig K-Cup Home Brewer. Because this single serve machine delivers hot water, I found that the best way to create a warm dessert was to combine a pre-frozen dessert with the high temperature water that the Keurig dispenses.

The dessert itself is packaged in a circular container with a plastic airtight seal over the contents. The container itself has two compartments connected by a perforated edge for easy removal. Once the smaller compartment is removed, it is the perfect size to be inserted and used by the Keurig K-Cup Home Brewer. Inside this smaller compartment is an instant-mix powder that becomes a hot chocolate fudge when mixed with the correct amount of hot water.

The larger compartment, containing a frozen dessert such as ice cream, frozen berries and fruit, or a frozen yogurt, would be placed under the dispenser of the K-Cup Home Brewer. With a simple push of a button, hot water enters the detached K-Cup and hot fudge dispenses onto the contents of the larger compartment, bringing the entire dessert to a warmer equilibrium temperature.

This concept allows for a wide variation of contents for the K-Cup. The dispensed fluid could range from a sweet fruity syrup to a heart-stopping s’mores fudge, but it would generally be a viscous fluid that was prepackaged as a powder. The larger compartment may not necessarily have to contain a frozen dessert, as the powder in the K-Cup may not require such temperatures to be preserved. The larger compartment could contain graham crackers, granola, or preserved fruit. Regardless of the contents, these diverse options still follow a similar procedure in preparation.

Attached are CAD images of the pre-packaged dessert designed using SolidWorks. The larger compartment of the dessert will contain 10-12 fluid ounces of the main dessert, while the contents dispensed from the K-Cup will be roughly 2-4 fluid ounces of fudge/syrup. The contents of the dessert can be eaten directly from the package, removing any need to clean a bowl. To further convenience, the dessert may come pre-packaged with a disposable plastic spoon. The package material is made up of a disposable, if not recyclable, plastic.

Image 1: Pre-Packaged Dessert in Original Form

Image 2: Zoomed Image of Perforated Edges

Image 3: Side View of the Pre-Packaged Dessert

Image 4: Pre-Packaged Dessert after K-Cup is removed from the original packaging

Image 5: The extra flap is removed at its perforated edge to create a bowl that can be placed under the Keurig K-Cup Home Brewer. The plastic seal can be removed to reveal the main contents of the dessert. The K-Cup can then be placed in the Keurig K-Cup Home Brewer and the

syrup/fudge can be dispensed over the main contents of the dessert.