By adding a viable lactic acid bacterium to a fat or oil composition, the present invention has succeeded in producing a lactic acid bacterium-containing fat or oil composition that has a high viability of the lactic acid bacterium and an excellent resistance to acids. By adding lactic acid bacteria powder or a chocolate with a high lactic acid bacterium concentration to a chocolate dough after tempering and before molding, moreover, the present invention has succeeded in producing a lactic acid bacterium-containing chocolate including a viable lactic acid bacterium by a simple producing method. Thus, provided is a lactic acid bacterium-containing chocolate with high palatability that contains a viable lactic acid bacterium.

A chocolate for frozen desserts having manufacturing suitability when combined with the frozen desserts, good hardness, good flavor, and good melting feeling in the mouth is provided. The chocolate for frozen desserts comprises 15% by mass or more of a cacao component, 3 to 9% by mass of cocoa butter, and 43 to 50% by mass of oils or fats, wherein the oils or fats comprised in the chocolate satisfy the following conditions (a) to (c): (a) comprise 10% by mass or less of a straight-chain saturated fatty acid having 14 or less carbon atoms as a constituent fatty acid; (b) comprise 10 to 25% by mass of a straight-chain saturated fatty acid having 16 to 18 carbon atoms as a constituent fatty acid; and (c) comprise 65 to 85% by mass of an unsaturated fatty acid as a constituent fatty acid.

The invention relates a confectionery product comprising chocolate, wherein the chocolate has a fat phase comprising 60.0-99.9% by weight of triglycerides, 40.0-99.0 by weight of triglycerides having C16-C20 saturated fatty acids in the sn-1 and sn-3 positions of the triglyceride and oleic acid in the sn-2 position of the triglyceride, wherein the chocolate has a texture ratio of between 0.8 and 1.1, wherein the texture ratio determines the increase between an initial texture value and a subsequent texture value, wherein the initial texture value is measured prior to a temperature treatment and wherein the subsequent texture value is measured subsequent to the temperature treatment, wherein the temperature treatment is obtained by providing five samples said chocolate and storing these at 25+/0.5 degrees Celsius for 24 hours and then inserting them into a temperature cabinet and subjecting them to a heat treatment at a high temperature of 37+/0.5 degrees Celsius for 10 hours followed by a low temperature of 25+/0.5 degrees Celsius for 24 hours and wherein the initial and the subsequent texture values are measured on a texture analyzer.

The invention relates a confectionery product comprising chocolate, wherein the chocolate has a fat phase comprising 60.0-99.9% by weight of triglycerides, 40.0-99.0 by weight of triglycerides having C16-C20 saturated fatty acids in the sn-1 and sn-3 positions of the triglyceride and oleic acid in the sn-2 position of the triglyceride, wherein the chocolate has a texture ratio of between 0.8 and 1.1, wherein the texture ratio determines the increase between an initial texture value and a subsequent texture value, wherein the initial texture value is measured prior to a temperature treatment and wherein the subsequent texture value is measured subsequent to the temperature treatment, wherein the temperature treatment is obtained by providing five samples said chocolate and storing these at 25+/0.5 degrees Celsius for 24 hours and then inserting them into a temperature cabinet and subjecting them to a heat treatment at a high temperature of 37+/0.5 degrees Celsius for 10 hours followed by a low temperature of 25+/0.5 degrees Celsius for 24 hours and wherein the initial and the subsequent texture values are measured on a texture analyzer.

The present invention relates to a method of preventing, inhibiting or mitigating bloom in a filled chocolate product, said method comprising: a) An inline heating step comprising at least one of heating the chocolate shell at a heating temperature of at least 25 C., heating the center-filled chocolate shell at a heating temperature of at least 25 C. and heating the filled chocolate product at a heating temperature of at least 25 C. and said method comprising at least one of b) A shell cooling step comprising cooling said chocolate shell at a cooling temperature below 20 C., c) A filling cooling step comprising cooling said center-filled chocolate shell at a cooling temperature below 20 C., d) A final cooling step comprising cooling said filled chocolate product at a cooling temperature below 20 C., said in line heating step being comprised in at least one of step b)-d) or being arranged between step b) and c) or between steps c) and d). The invention further relates to products obtained by said method, and a system for obtaining such product.

The invention relates to a Heat stable chocolate comprising a fat phase, said fat phase of said heat stable chocolate comprising: 0.1-15% by weight of crystalline seed, 0.01-5% by weight of an emulsifier not being lecithin, said fat phase of said heat stable chocolate further comprising 25-94.9% by weight of a cocoa butter, a cocoa butter equivalent or combinations thereof, and at least 5% by weight of a cocoa butter improver, wherein said crystalline seed comprises SatOSat-triglycerides in an amount of between 40-95% by weight of said crystalline seed and StOSt-triglycerides in an amount of 30-85% by weight of said crystalline seed, wherein the main endotherm melt peak position of said crystalline seed is about 40? C. or higher when measured by Differential Scanning Calorimetry by heating samples of 10?1 mg of crystalline seed from 20? C. to 50? C. at a rate of 3? C./min to produce a melting thermogram defining said main endotherm melt peak position, and wherein Sat stands for a saturated fatty acid, St stands for stearic acid and O stands for oleic acid.

The present invention relates generally to the field of aerated fat-based confectionery material. One aspect of the invention provides an aerated fat-based confectionery material having a continuous lipid phase and a porosity of between 1 and 80%, wherein, at a temperature at which the lipid phase has a solid lipid content between 0.1 and 80, the fat-based confectionery material comprises gas bubbles having at least 50% of their surface occupied by crystals, the crystals comprising a glyceride selected from the group consisting of monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, esters of monoglycerides, esters of diglycerides and combinations of these. Further aspects of the invention are a confectionery product comprising an aerated fat-based confectionery material and a process for forming an aerated fat-based confectionery material.

The present invention relates generally to the field of aerated fat-based confectionery material. One aspect of the invention provides an aerated fat-based confectionery material having a continuous lipid phase and a porosity of between 1 and 80%, wherein, at a temperature at which the lipid phase has a solid lipid content between 0.1 and 80, the fat-based confectionery material comprises gas bubbles having at least 50% of their surface occupied by crystals, the crystals comprising a glyceride selected from the group consisting of monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, esters of monoglycerides, esters of diglycerides and combinations of these. Further aspects of the invention are a confectionery product comprising an aerated fat-based confectionery material and a process for forming an aerated fat-based confectionery material.

Provided is a powdered chocolate containing a fat and/or oil composition in a powder form wherein the fat and/or oil composition contains: 65 to 99% by mass of a XXX triglyceride having fatty acid residues X, each with x carbon atoms, at positions 1 to 3; and 35 to 1% by mass of one or more types of X2Y triglycerides each having a fatty acid residue Y with y carbon atoms in place of one of the fatty acid residues X of the XXX triglyceride, provided that a total triglyceride content is 100% by mass, where x number of carbon atoms is an integer selected from 8 to 20, and y number of carbon atoms is each independently an integer selected from x+2 to x+12 and satisfying y22.

A confectionery product having a shell optionally containing a filling that is fluid or flowable at ambient temperature and a coating that is solid at ambient temperature is provided. The coating at least partially covers the shell and melts at a temperature of 28 C. or more. The confectionery product has an outer coating anchored to the coating and having a mixture of chocolate grains and of grains consisting of a sugar- and protein-based confectionery substance which is solid, foamed and water-soluble, having organoleptic features corresponding or equivalent to those of a traditional meringue.