Method For Producing Chocolate Crumbs For Calorie Reduced Chocolate, Method For Producing Such Chocolate, And Chocolate Produced By This Method

Abstract

The method for preparing crumb used for producing chocolate comprises combining milk products, water and a mixture of sugar alcohols and edible fibers in a mixer, then heating the prepared mass to 60-80 C. at a pressure from 20 to 30 kPa for 60 minutes, holding for 15 minutes, cooling the prepared mass down to 60 C., drying at a pressure from 20 to 25 kPa and temperature of 60 C. for 30-35 minutes for achieving a moisture content from 0.5% to 5% wt %, and cooling for 60 minutes. The method for producing chocolate comprises mixing crumb and at least one component: cocoa products, butterfat, nut paste and filling fat, refining the produced mass, conching with the addition of at least one cocoa product and at least one emulsifier, tempering the produced mass, pouring the producing mass into molds. The composition of chocolate.

Claims

1. A method for preparing crumb used for producing chocolate with reduced energy value, comprising combining milk products, such as non-fat dried milk, whole milk, dried whole milk, concentrated milk with a fat content from 8 to 10% in a quantity from 6 to 80 wt %, water in a quantity from 0.5 to 40 wt %, a mixture of sugar alcohols in a quantity from 6 to 70 wt % and edible fibers in a quantity from 3 to 45 wt % in a mixer; heating the prepared mass to a temperature from 60 to 80 C. at a reduced pressure from 20 to 30 kPa for at least 60 minutes; holding for at least 15 minutes to ensure transformation of said mass from pasty to powdery state; cooling the prepared mass down to 60 C.; drying at a pressure from 20 to 25 kPa and temperature of 60 C. for 30-35 minutes to achieve a moisture content from 0.5% to 5% wt %; and cooling for 60 minutes.

2. The method for preparing crumb according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one substance from the group, which comprises erythritol, maltitol, sorbitol, isomalt and lactitol, is used as the sugar alcohols.

3. The method for preparing crumb according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one substance from the group, which comprises polydextrose, inulin, fructooligosaccharides, fructans, maltodextrin and similar glucose polymers, glucose fiber, pectin, carrageenan, agar, gums, such as guar gum, glucomannan and the like, and microcrystalline cellulose, is used as edible fibers.

4. A method for producing chocolate with reduced energy value, comprising: mixing crumb prepared according to the method of claim 1 and at least one component selected from cocoa products, butterfat, nut paste and filling fat; then refining the prepared mass, conching it with addition of at least one cocoa product and at least one emulsifier, tempering the prepared mass, pouring the prepared mass into molds.

5. The method for producing chocolate according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one substance, which is selected from lecithins, PGPR, sorbitan tristearate, ammonium phosphatides, or a combination thereof, is used as the emulsifier.

6. The method for producing chocolate according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one product selected from cocoa butter, ground cocoa and cocoa powder is used as said cocoa products.

7. The method for producing chocolate according to claim 4, characterized in that said components are mixed in any suitable apparatus, preferably in a screw-type mixer or a mixer with horizontal or vertical stirring.

8. The method for producing chocolate according to claim 4, characterized in that said refining is two-stage refining in double roller and/or five-roller mills or single-stage refining in any equipment suitable for this purpose.

9. A chocolate with reduced energy value produced by a method according to claim 4, which composition comprises the crumb in a quantity from 50 to 90 wt %, as prepared by the method according to claim 1, cocoa products selected from ground cocoa and/or cocoa butter in a quantity from 35 to 40 wt %, and at least one component of the following, in wt %: butterfat0-5, emulsifiers0.2-1.5.

10. Chocolate according to claim 9, characterized in that chocolate may additionally comprise fat filling which composition comprises the crumb, as prepared according to the method of claim 1, in a quantity from 50 to 75 wt %, nut paste in a quantity from 10 to 20 wt %, filling fat in a quantity from 15 to 25 wt %, cocoa butter in a quantity from 0.5 to 2 wt %, emulsifiers in a quantity from 0.2 to 1.5 wt %.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0045] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 1 illustrates a dependence of moisture content change in milk chocolate crumb in time.

[0047] FIG. 2 illustrates a drying process for (a) chocolate crumb comprising sucrose and (b) chocolate crumb comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers.

[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates a particle size distribution.

[0049] FIG. 4 illustrates dependency examples after measuring plastic viscosity at different spindle rotation rates, as obtained with the use of Brookfield DV3 rotary viscometer, and processing of obtained data with the use of the Casson mathematic model. The curve a characterizes apparent viscosity change in time, the curve b characterizes yield stress change in time.

[0050] FIG. 5 illustrates sensory profiles for chocolate produced with the use of milk chocolate crumb comprising sucrose; milk chocolate crumb comprising polyols; and milk chocolate crumb comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompany drawings.

[0052] Chocolate crumb was prepared in accordance with the invention for producing white chocolate (Example 1), milk chocolate (Example 2), dark chocolate (Example 3) and filled chocolate (Example 4).

Example 1. Production of White Chocolate

[0053] In order to prepare chocolate crumb for subsequent production of white chocolate, milk powder or concentrated milk was used. The composition and the ingredients for the preparation of crumb are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Composition of a chocolate crumb mixture for producing white chocolate with the use of milk powder. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum % maximum, % Water 20 40 Milk powder Milk product 6 38 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 20 69 Polydextrose Edible fibers 6 38

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Composition of a chocolate crumb mixture for producing white chocolate with the use of whole milk. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Concentrated milk Milk product 30 80 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 20 69 Polydextrose Edible fibers 6 38

[0054] After the crumb drying stage is finished, concentrated milk crumb has the composition given in Table 3.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Composition of chocolate crumb after drying process Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 0.5 5 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 10 55 Polydextrose Edible fibers 12 30 Milk powder Milk products 10 30

[0055] The composition and quantity of the components for producing white chocolate mass are indicated in Table 4.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Composition of white chocolate mass. Ingredient Content, minimum, % Content, maximum, % Milk crumb 65 84 Cocoa butter 15 30 Butterfat 1 5 Emulsifiers 0.2 1.5

[0056] The finished product is characterized by the physical and chemical parameters given in Table 5.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Physical and chemical parameters of white chocolate. Parameter Value Butterfat, % 3.5-7.sup. Total fat residual solids, % 20-35 Moisture, % 0.5-5.sup. Energy value, kcal/100 g 240-400

[0057] The fat content was determined according to an extraction and weighting method.

[0058] The content of cocoa product residual solids was determined by a method of calculating a total percent content of cocoa residual solids in each of cocoa-containing ingredients in accordance with its quantity in the final formulation of the finished product.

[0059] The energy value of chocolate mass was determined by summing up the energy values of each ingredient, with due regard to its quantity in the final formulation of the finished product.

Example 2. Production of Milk Chocolate

[0060] In order to prepare chocolate crumb for subsequent production of milk chocolate, milk powder or concentrated milk was used. The composition and the ingredients for the preparation of crumb are shown in Tables 6 and 7.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Composition of a chocolate crumb mixture for producing milk chocolate with the use of milk powder. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 20 40 Milk powder Milk product 9 57 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 6 69 Polydextrose Edible fibers 3 45 Ground Cocoa products 6 38 cocoa

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Composition of a chocolate crumb mixture for producing milk chocolate with the use of whole milk. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Whole Milk product 25 80 concentrated milk Erythritol Sugar alcohols 6 69 Polydextrose Edible fibers 3 45 Ground Cocoa products 6 38 cocoa

[0061] If necessary, a mixture of cocoa butter and cocoa solids in the ratio from 0.8:1.2 to 1.2:0.8 may be used instead of ground cocoa.

[0062] After the crumb drying stage is finished, concentrated chocolate crumb has the composition given in Table 8.

TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Composition of chocolate crumb for producing milk chocolate after drying process. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 0.5 5 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 10 55 Polydextrose Edible fibers 5 35 Ground cocoa Cocoa products 10 30 Milk powder Milk products 15 45

[0063] The composition and quantity of the components for producing chocolate mass of milk chocolate are indicated in Table 9.

TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Composition of milk chocolate mass. Ingredient Content, minimum, % Content, maximum, % Chocolate crumb 65 80 Ground cocoa 2 10 Cocoa butter 10 20 Butterfat 1 5 Emulsifiers 0.2 1.5

[0064] The finished product is characterized by the physical and chemical parameters given in Table 10.

TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10 Physical and chemical parameters of milk chocolate. Parameter Value Residual solids of cocoa products, % 25-65 Total fat residual solids, % 20-35 Residual solids of milk products, % 12-25 Moisture, % 0.5-5.sup. Energy value, kcal/100 g 250-400

[0065] The fat content, residual solids of cocoa products and milk products and the energy value of chocolate mass were determined my methods similar to those described in Example 1.

Example 3. Production of Dark Chocolate

[0066] The composition and quantity of the components for preparing chocolate crumb for dark chocolate are indicated in Table 11.

TABLE-US-00011 TABLE 11 Composition of a mixture for preparing chocolate crumb for dark chocolate. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 20 40 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 9 36 Polydextrose Edible fibers 3 28 Ground cocoa Cocoa products 7 32

[0067] After the crumb drying stage is finished, concentrated chocolate crumb has the composition given in Table 12.

TABLE-US-00012 TABLE 12 Composition of the semi-finished product after the drying process. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 0.5 5 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 15 45 Polydextrose Edible fibers 5 35 Ground cocoa Cocoa products 10 40

[0068] The composition and quantity of the components for producing chocolate mass for dark chocolate are indicated in Table 13.

TABLE-US-00013 TABLE 13 Composition of dark chocolate mass. Ingredient Content, minimum, % Content, maximum, % Chocolate crumb 60 89 Cocoa butter 5 20 Emulsifiers 0.2 1.5 Ground cocoa 5 20

[0069] The finished product is characterized by the physical and chemical parameters given in Table 14.

TABLE-US-00014 TABLE 14 Physical and chemical parameters of dark chocolate. Parameter Value Residual solids of cocoa products, % 35-65 Total fat residual solids, % 20-35 Moisture, % 0.5-5.sup. Energy value, kcal/100 260-390

[0070] The fat content, the content of residual solids of cocoa products and milk products and the energy value of chocolate mass were determined my methods similar to those described in Example 1.

Example 4. Production of Chocolate with Fat Filling

[0071] The composition and quantity of the ingredients for preparing chocolate crumb for subsequent production of chocolate with fat filling are shown in Tables 15 and 16.

TABLE-US-00015 TABLE 15 Composition of a mixture for preparing chocolate crumb for producing chocolate with a fat filling with the use of milk powder. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 20 40 Milk powder Milk product 9 57 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 6 69 Polydextrose Edible fibers 3 45 Cocoa solids Cocoa products 3 18

TABLE-US-00016 TABLE 16 Composition of a mixture for preparing chocolate crumb for producing chocolate with a fat filling with the use of whole milk. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Whole milk Milk product 25 80 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 6 69 Polydextrose Edible fibers 3 45 Cocoa solids Cocoa products 3 18

[0072] After the drying stage is finished, concentrated chocolate crumb has the composition given in Table 17.

TABLE-US-00017 TABLE 17 Composition of chocolate crumb after the drying process. Content, Content, Ingredient Functional property minimum, % maximum, % Water 0.5 5 Erythritol Sugar alcohols 10 55 Polydextrose Edible fibers 5 35 Cocoa solids Cocoa products 5 15 Milk powder Milk products 15 45

TABLE-US-00018 TABLE 18 Composition of the fat filling. Ingredient Content, minimum, % Content, maximum, % Chocolate crumb 50 75 Nut paste 10 20 Filling fat 15 25 Cocoa butter 0.5 2 Emulsifiers 0.2 1.5

[0073] The finished product is characterized by the physical and chemical parameters given in Table 19.

TABLE-US-00019 TABLE 19 Physical and chemical parameters of the fat filling. Parameter Value Residual solids of cocoa products, % 25-65 Total fat residual solids, % 25-35 Moisture, % 0.5-5.sup. Energy value, kcal/100 250-400

[0074] The fat content, the content of residual solids of cocoa products and milk products and the energy value of chocolate mass were determined my methods similar to those described in Example 1.

[0075] The fact that the claimed technical effects are achieved is confirmed by Examples 5-8 described below.

[0076] Chocolate crumb samples comprising sucrose as the sweetness providing component, chocolate crumb samples comprising polyols as the sweetness providing component, and chocolate crumb samples comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component were used for the tests.

Example 5. Influence of Crumb Composition on Effectiveness of its Drying

[0077] The mixture used for preparing chocolate crumb is a concentrated direct emulsion, i.e. an emulsion of oil-in-water type. When cocoa products are added into the mixture protein of cocoa products formed in a chocolate crumb composition significantly changes the flavor of the composition, and a protein-polysaccharide complex provides additional thermodynamic stability of the system due to formation of a structural-mechanical barrier at the phase boundary, which barrier is characterized by high viscosity values. This factor influences the morphology of the drop surface, forming a more stable emulsion and thus resulting in an easier drying process, which may be confirmed by the following experiment.

[0078] In order to confirm that the stated technical effect is achieved, an experiment was conducted wherein chocolate crumb was dried in a mixer provided with a water jacket and a thermostatic sensor at constant temperature of 60 C. for 30 minutes, chocolate crumb samples being taken every five minutes. A moisture content was determined with a moisture analyzer for each sample. The obtained dependencies of a moisture content on time are presented in FIG. 1.

[0079] It follows from the data obtained that in the same effective drying time period (30 minutes) for chocolate crumb, which composition comprises sucrose as the sweetness providing component, it was managed to achieve moisture removal to the level of 2.1% only; for chocolate crumb, which composition comprises polyols as the sweetness providing component, this value is 1.5%; and for chocolate crumb, which composition comprises a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component, this value is 1%.

[0080] On the basis of the data obtained the conclusion may be made that full replacement of sucrose by a mixture of edible fibers and sugar alcohols (polyols) results in making the drying process easier, which also enables to shorten the time period of the chocolate crumb active drying.

Example 6. Influence of a Chocolate Crumb Composition on its Dispersibility as Well as on Shelf Life and Simplicity of Future Processing

[0081] Drop shape and size of an emulsion for preparing chocolate crumb depend on its components. Various shapes and sizes of emulsion drops at the drying stage result in that crystals formed from emulsion drops in the drying process also have various shapes and sizes. FIG. 2a schematically depicts the process of drying chocolate crumb which composition comprises sucrose as the sweetness providing component; FIG. 2b schematically shows the process of drying chocolate crumb which composition comprises a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component.

[0082] It follows from the data presented that in the case of chocolate crumb, which composition comprises sucrose as the sweetness providing component, drop sizes in the formed emulsion are non-uniform which results in forming crystals of various shapes and sizes (FIG. 2a). Meanwhile, the use of chocolate crumb, which composition comprises a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component, enables to form an emulsion with drops of equal sizes, which facilitates formation of more uniform (as to shape and size) crystals of the final product (chocolate) (FIG. 2b).

[0083] Dispersibility of chocolate crumb was determined by laser diffractometry with the use of the SALD-2300 analyzer. For this purpose, a 2 g sample was placed in a container for dispersing, the sample was delivered to the flow cell by a pump, then refracted and scattered light was determined by the sensor, and necessary measurements were taken. The obtained data were presented as particle size distribution graphs with the use of the software (FIG. 3).

[0084] FIG. 3 shows the obtained size distribution graphs for different mixtures: chocolate crumb comprising sucrose as the sweetness providing component; chocolate crumb comprising polyols as the sweetness providing component providing; and chocolate crumb comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component.

[0085] It follows from FIG. 3 that in the case of the chocolate crumb comprising sucrose as the sweetness providing component the mixture mainly contains particles with a size of 400-500 microns, but a significant quantity of fine particles (dust) of 10-50 microns may be observed, which negatively affects the storage of the chocolate crumb due to agglomeration of fine particles.

[0086] When sucrose is fully replaced by a mixture of polyols and edible fibers, only large particles with a size from 300 to 500 microns are present in the mixture, which significantly facilitates not only the process of storage of chocolate crumb, but also its further processing in double roller and five-roller mills.

Example 7. Determination of Product Rheological Properties

[0087] The determination of the rheological properties is an important and integral part of the whole technological process of preparing chocolate crumb and chocolate.

[0088] Quality characteristics of chocolate crumb depend on certain parameters, such as chocolate mass viscosity and yield stress.

[0089] If a viscosity value is selected incorrectly, it may result in manufacturing of products of improper quality, not complying with the visual and organoleptic requirements. Moreover, the use of products having viscosity values and yield stress not complying with the applicable requirements causes difficulties in the process of transporting a mass along the production line, filling tanks, dosing and molding.

[0090] It was found during the experiments that viscosity and yield stress values for low calorie dark and milk masses correspond to average values of the similar parameters for a standard mass.

[0091] FIG. 4 shows examples of dependencies obtained after measuring plastic viscosity at various rotation speeds of the spindle with the use of a Brookfield DV3 rotary viscometer. These values were processed with the use of the most widespread mathematical model in the confectionary industrythe Casson model.

[0092] Two curves may be observed in dependencies shown in FIG. 4 that were obtained after measurements. The curve a characterizes changes in apparent viscosity in time, and the curve bchanges in yield stress in time.

[0093] Strictly speaking, the presentation of chocolate mass viscosity as a curve is inconvenient for describing chocolate delivered by a manufacturer as well as for identifying causes of production problems. An alternative method of presenting viscosity is the use of an equation describing movement of chocolate mass. One of the most widespread models used in the confectionary industry for describing motion of mass is the Casson model. This equation is graphically shown in FIG. 4b. Universal values of plastic viscosity and yield stress may be calculated with the use of a dependency of shear rate on shear stress.

[0094] As a result of processing of the data thus obtained, the following values of plastic viscosity and yield stress were derived: [0095] for chocolate mass of dark chocolate: viscosity 5.5-7 Pa.Math.s, yield stress 13-50 dyne/cm.sup.2; [0096] for chocolate mass of milk chocolate: viscosity 3.9-5.2 Pa.Math.s, yield stress 5-20 dyne/cm.sup.2; [0097] for chocolate mass of chocolate with filling: viscosity 2.5-7 Pa.Math.s, yield stress 50-80 dyne/cm.sup.2.

[0098] The results of a comparative analysis of plastic viscosity values for milk chocolate produced on the basis of chocolate crumb comprising sucrose, chocolate crumb comprising polyols, and chocolate crumb comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers is presented in Table 20.

[0099] The total fat content (a sum total of the fats in the composition of each ingredient in accordance with its quantity in the final formulation of the finished product) of each sample was 27%.

TABLE-US-00020 TABLE 20 Plastic viscosity values of chocolate samples. Chocolate crumb with mixture Milk chocolate Chocolate crumb Chocolate crumb of polyols and sample with sucrose with polyols edible fibers Plastic 5-7 Pa*s 4-6 Pa*s 3-5 Pa*s viscosity value

[0100] It may be concluded on the basis of the data obtained that the full replacement of sucrose with a mixture of polyols and edible fibers and a reduction of total fat content (a sum total of all fats in the composition of each ingredient) do not result in a significant change in the chocolate crumb rheological properties in the method for producing chocolate with reduced energy value according to the claimed invention; and such mass is suitable for transporting, dosing and molding.

Example 8. Organoleptic Characteristics of the Finished Product

[0101] In order to compare organoleptic characteristics of milk chocolate, samples of chocolate produced on the basis of milk chocolate crumb comprising sucrose as the sweetness providing component; milk chocolate crumb comprising polyols as the sweetness providing component; and milk chocolate crumb comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component were used. Thirty persons participated in the taste testing. Sensory profiles were prepared on the basis of data provided by the test participants.

[0102] It follows from the data obtained from the test participants that the milk chocolate with reduced energy value produced with the use of milk crumb comprising a mixture of polyols and edible fibers as the sweetness providing component has more pronounced caramel and milk taste, as compared to the milk chocolate produced with the use of chocolate crumb comprising sucrose as the sweetness providing component and chocolate crumb comprising polyols as the sweetness providing component.

[0103] The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.