COATED FROZEN CONFECTION

Abstract

An aerated frozen confection coated in a coating, the frozen confection comprising a plurality of substantially flat faces, each substantially flat face having a radius of curvature substantially across the whole of the face of greater than 50 mm, and wherein the relatively flat faces meet to form edges, wherein substantially all or all of the edges have a radius of curvature of from 5 mm to 20 mm.

Claims

1. A product comprising an aerated frozen confection coated in a coating, the aerated frozen confection comprising a plurality of relatively flat faces, each relatively flat face having a radius of curvature substantially across the whole of the face of greater than 50 mm, and wherein the relatively flat faces meet to form edges, wherein substantially all or all of the edges have a radius of curvature of from 5 mm to 20 mm, and at least 70%, of the total surface area of the aerated frozen confection is made up of the faces.

2. A product according to claim 1, wherein the level of overrun of the aerated frozen confection is from 50 to 150%.

3. A product according to claim, wherein the edges have a radius of curvature of from 6 mm to 15 mm, more preferably from 7 mm to 13 mm, or even from 8 mm to 12 mm.

4. A product according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the thickness of the coating substantially across all of the relatively flat faces to that at the edges is from 1.5:1 to 1: 1.5, more preferably from 1.3:1 to 1:1.3.

5. A product according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the coating on the relatively flat faces is from 0.5 to 3 mm, preferably from 1 to 2 mm.

6. A product according to claim 1, wherein at least 80% of the total surface area of the aerated frozen confection is made up of the relatively flat faces.

7. A product according to claim 1, which is generally rectangular cuboid with relatively flat faces at the front, back and/or sides.

8. A product according to claim 7, which comprises two essentially parallel relatively flat side faces which are joined together by their respective perimeters by a circumferential face, the circumferential face being relatively flat in the dimension normal to the surfaces of the side faces but curves in an orthogonal dimension, in order to join together the perimeters of said side faces.

9. A product according to claim 1, wherein the frozen confection is frozen yoghurt or an ice cream.

10. A product according to claim 1, wherein the coating is chocolate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0042] FIG. 1 is a chart showing the ratio of the coating thickness at the faces to the coating thickness at the corners as a function of corner radius.

[0043] FIG. 2 is a chart showing the percentage of samples that showed cracking as a function of the pressure the samples were taken to.

EXAMPLES

Example 1—Coating Thickness

[0044] Ice cream confectionery compositions were produced by extruding the ice cream and cutting the extruded ice cream into pieces with a wire. It was found that such ice cream confectioneries were naturally produced with edges and corners having a radius of curvature of approximately 3 mm.

[0045] Each ice cream composition comprised two essentially parallel relatively flat side faces which are joined together by their respective perimeters by a circumferential face. The circumferential face is relatively flat in the dimension normal to the surfaces of the side faces but curves in an orthogonal dimension, in order to join together the perimeters of said side faces.

[0046] The radius of curvature of the edges where the faces join each other was varied by removing a small amount of ice cream from the edges with a heated knife and measuring with radius gauges.

[0047] The ice cream confectioneries were coated in a chocolate composition by dipping the ice cream into a liquid bath of molten chocolate. The coating was formed by removing the ice cream confectionery from the bath and allowing the chocolate coating to crystallise.

[0048] The thickness of the chocolate coating on the flat faces was measured to be approximately 1.4 mm±0.1 mm. This was measured by cutting cross sections of the product, taking pictures of the coating using a microscope and then analysing these pictures (determining magnification factor by taking an image of a graticule and then counting number of pixels over the depth of chocolate) to derive a chocolate thickness. In total, 26 measurements of chocolate thickness were made (13 evenly spaced measurements over the entire face×2 flat faces).

[0049] The thickness of the chocolate coating at the edges was also measured (same method as above), taking 26 (13 evenly spaced measurements over the edges circumference×2 edges) measurements per ice cream confectionery. The results were plotted as a ratio of the thickness at the face to the thickness at the edge as a function of radius of curvature of the edge or corner. The results are shown in FIG. 1.

[0050] Although there is some scatter in the figure, it can be clearly seen that there is a trend towards having more consistent thickness of chocolate coating with increasing radius of curvature at the edges and corners.

Example 2—Altitude Cracking

[0051] In order to simulate potential problems arising when moving to a different altitude, tests were carried out on the produced coated ice cream confectioneries.

[0052] A batch of 20 ice cream confectioneries which all had edges and corners with a radius of curvature of approximately 3 mm were placed in a pressure chamber.

[0053] All samples were equilibrated to −18° C. for 8-12 hours prior to altitude testing. 20 of each sample type were loaded in to an Angelantoni TD 150 C thermostatic altitude chamber at −18° C. and ambient pressure (approx. 1000mbar). The pressure inside the chamber was then reduced by 25 mbar at a rate of 470 mbar min.sup.−1 and held at this pressure for 2.5 hours. Following this, the chamber was returned to ambient pressure, opened and the number of samples with cracked chocolate coating was noted. Following sample inspection, the chamber was re-sealed and pressure reduced by a further 25 mbar (at a rate of 470 mbar min.sup.−1) and holding this pressure for 2.5 hours. This process of reducing the pressure in 25 mbar increments, waiting 2.5 hours and then inspecting the products was repeated until the pressure had been reduced to 775 mbar.

[0054] The percentage of coated ice creams that had a crack in the coating were noted and the results plotted in FIG. 2.

[0055] As can be seen, when the target pressure is 875 mbar, 100% of the coated ice creams had cracked coatings.

[0056] The experiment was repeated with ice cream confectioneries with edges and corners having a radius of curvature of 10 mm. The results are also shown in FIG. 2.

[0057] As can be seen, when the target pressure is 875 mbar, only 5% of the coated ice creams had cracked coatings.