Process for the production of a chocolate snack and snack which can be obtained using this process

Abstract

Process for the production of a soft pastry bakery product in the form of an oblong bread roll, filled with a chocolate layer in the form of slab is disclosed. The steps include providing a semifinished product in the form of an oblong bread roll, obtained from a flour-based dough, leavened with natural yeast, followed by a baking step and then by a step of injecting a hydro-alcoholic solution so as to obtain a bakery product with a controlled moisture content. Thereafter a longitudinal cut on the bakery product is made so as to obtain a lower portion and an upper portion. A layer of melted chocolate is deposited on the upper surface of the lower portion. Also described is a snack obtained by means of the process.

Claims

1. A process for the production of a snack comprising a soft pastry bakery product in the form of an oblong bread roll, filled with a chocolate layer in the form of and with the consistency of a slab, comprising: a) providing a semifinished product in the form of an oblong bread roll, obtained from a flour-based dough, leavened with natural yeast, b) baking said semifinished product, obtaining a bakery product in the form of an oblong bread roll having a moisture content of between 22% and 24% by weight of the total weight of said bakery product, c) injecting a hydro-alcoholic solution into said bakery product, while said bakery product has a temperature of between 85 C. and 95 C. in its central part, in such a quantity as to bring the moisture content of said bakery product to a value of between 30% and 33% by weight of its total weight, d) carrying out a longitudinal cut on the bakery product at or below half of its height (h) and in such a way as to involve at least 80% of its length, thus obtaining a lower portion and an upper portion, e) depositing a layer of melted chocolate onto the upper surface of said lower portion; and f) cooling said layer of chocolate to room temperature whereby the melted chocolate forms a layer in the form of and with the consistency of a slab.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said bakery product obtained by baking in step b) has a value of A.sub.w equal to 0.81-0.85 and, following step c), has a value of A.sub.w equal to 0.85-0.89.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein said baking step b) is carried out at a temperature of between 190 C. and 210 C. for a time period of between 9 and 11 minutes.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein said hydro-alcoholic solution is a water solution of ethanol with a quantity of alcohol of between 5% and 10% of the total weight of the solution.

5. The process according to claim 4, wherein said hydro-alcoholic solution is a hydro-alcoholic solution of a flavoring for bakery products.

6. The process according to claim 4, wherein the ratio by weight between the hydro-alcoholic solution to be injected into the bakery product in step c) and the latter is between 1:5 and 1:14.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein said flour-based dough comprises a percentage of mono- and/or disaccharides between 10% and 12% by weight of the total weight of the dough.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein said longitudinal cut in step d) is carried out at a level of between 2/10ths and 5/10ths of the height (h) of the bakery product and involves from 80% to 90% of the width of the bakery product.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein said longitudinal cut is carried out after cooling the bakery product, said cooling occurring after the injection of step c).

10. The process according to claim 9, wherein said bakery product is cooled down to a temperature lower than or equal to 25 C.

11. The process according to claim 1, wherein said step c) of injecting a hydro-alcoholic solution is carried out by means of the insertion of a plurality of injectors into the bakery product, on its upper surface, said injectors being vertically inserted top-down to a level of between 5/10ths and 9/10ths of the height (h) of the bakery product.

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein said baking step b) is preceded by a superficial cutting step a), said superficial cut being carried out lengthwise on the upper surface of said semifinished product.

13. The process according to claim 12, wherein said superficial cut has a depth lower than the height (k) of said upper portion.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein, before said baking step b), said semifinished product is subjected to a step of dusting durum wheat flour over the upper surface of said upper portion.

15. The process according to claim 1, wherein said melted chocolate is previously tempered.

16. The process according to claim 1, wherein said melted chocolate comprises a percentage of mono- and disaccharides of between 50% and 60% by weight, and a percentage fat content of between 24% and 32% by weight.

17. The process according to claim 1, wherein the ratio by weight between the chocolate layer and said bakery product is between 1:2 and 1:2.5.

18. The process according to claim 1, wherein, in deposition step e), said melted chocolate is dispensed through a dispenser nozzle, comprising at least one hole, and deposited in the form of at least one strip on the upper surface of the lower portion of the bakery product.

19. The process according to claim 18, wherein, in depositing step e), said melted chocolate is dispensed through a dispenser nozzle, comprising at least two holes suitably spaced from each other, and deposited in the form of two strips onto the upper surface of the lower portion of the bakery product, said strips undergoing widening sufficient for them to come into contact with one another to create a continuous chocolate layer, but not to cause spilling of the chocolate beyond the edges of the deposition surface.

20. The process according to claim 1, wherein said dough comprises soft wheat flour, vegetable oils or fats, mono- and disaccharides, in particular sucrose, water, natural yeast, eggs and wheat gluten.

21. The process according to claim 20, wherein said dough further comprises salt, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, malted barley flour, ascorbic acid and milk powder.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the figures:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a snack according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a partially cross-sectioned view of the snack according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) With reference to the process for the production of a snack according to the invention, the semifinished product in the form of an oblong bread roll for a soft pastry bakery product provided in the first step of this process was obtained by means of an entirely conventional process known to the person skilled in the art.

(5) This semifinished product consists of a raw dough flour- and natural yeast-based, which was divided up and formed into semi-spherical portions with a weight of between 23 and 29 g. These semi-spherical portions were then processed until the desired shape, for example an elongated shape, typical of a sfilatino or filoncino, was obtained. In particular, once worked into an elongated form, the aforementioned spherical portions assume a length comprised between 100 mm and 120 mm.

(6) Finally, the dough portions, thus formed, were placed on a tray and left to rise, for a period of between 2 and 3 hours, at a temperature of between 33 C. and 37 C. and in an environment with a relative humidity of between 80% and 90% until a semifinished product in the form of an oblong bread roll, with a substantially flat lower surface and a convex upper surface, is obtained.

(7) Optionally, at this point of the process a step is carried out where the semifinished product is subjected to a further cutting operation, similar to the cutting operation known as scarpatura which is traditionally performed during preparation of panettone, lengthwise along its upper surface 6. Preferably the cut made has a depth less than the height k of the aforementioned upper portion 2, conveniently equal to no more than of this height k.

(8) As a result of this operation, after the subsequent oven baking step, the upper surface 6 of the bread roll will have a cut zone 3, slightly below the surface, defining a region 4 of the upper surface 6 of the bread roll which is lighter in appearance than the rest of the upper surface 6.

(9) Thereafter this may be followed by a further operation where the upper surface 6 is dusted with ground durum wheat flour; in particular the quantity by weight of ground durum wheat flour applied onto each part is less than or equal to 0.3 g.

(10) Then, the aforementioned semifinished product is baked at a temperature of between 190 C. and 210 C., for a period of between 9 and 11 minutes until a bakery product in the form of an oblong bread roll having a moisture content of between 22% and 24% by weight of the total weight of said bakery product, and a water activity (A.sub.w) with a value between 0.81 and 0.85, is obtained.

(11) Thereafter, a hydro-alcoholic solution is injected into said bakery product, when it is still warm, in an amount such as to bring the moisture content of said bakery product to a value comprised between 30% and 33% by weight of the total weight, with a water activity comprised between 0.85 and 0.89.

(12) Preferably, in the aforementioned step where a hydro-alcoholic solution is injected, the bakery product has a core temperature of between 85 C. and 95 C.

(13) In particular, the aforementioned step of injecting a hydro-alcoholic solution may be carried out by means of insertion of a plurality of injectors into the bakery product, along its upper surface 6, said injectors being inserted vertically top-down until a level comprised between 5/10ths and 9/10ths of the height h of the bakery product is obtained.

(14) The height of the bakery product is understood as meaning the distance between the lower surface of the bakery product and the upper surface thereof, calculated from the bottom.

(15) From FIG. 1 it can be noted that the insertion of the aforementioned injectors into the bakery product causes the formation of a plurality of holes 7 on the upper surface 6 thereof. Moreover, during the aforementioned injection step, a more or less identical amount of hydro-alcoholic solution is dispensed from each of the aforementioned injectors.

(16) For example, if the aforementioned injection step is carried out by means of insertion of three injectors into the bakery product with a total amount of 3 g of hydro-alcoholic solution, firstly the formation of three holes in the upper surface thereof occurs, then about 1 g of hydro-alcoholic solution is dispensed by each injector.

(17) Once the bread roll has been cooled to a temperature less than or equal to 25 C. (this requiring about 35 minutes), the subsequent longitudinal cutting step is performed so as to divide up the oblong bread roll into a lower portion 1 and an upper portion 2.

(18) Finally, a layer of melted chocolate is deposited on the upper surface of the lower portion, said chocolate being at a temperature of between 28.5 C. and 30 C. so as to form a layer of chocolate 5 in the form of a slab.

(19) In particular, the term natural yeast is understood as meaning a substance such as to induce a fermentation process of the biological type, i.e. performed by means of microorganisms without the aid of chemical yeasts. For example, leavening may be performed using beer yeast or a sourdough starter.

(20) The formulation of the raw dough of said semifinished product comprises typically soft wheat flour, vegetable oils or fats, in particular margarine, mono- and disaccharides, in particular sucrose, water, natural yeast, e.g. beer yeast, eggs, in particular fresh eggs, and wheat gluten and may contain also salt, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, malted barley flour, ascorbic acid and milk powder, in particular whole milk powder.

(21) In particular, as known to the person skilled in the art, eggs favour emulsification in the dough of the vegetable oils or the margarine. Gluten, instead, is added with the aim of reinforcing the structure of the pastry of the semifinished product, beforehand, and of the bakery product, afterwards.

(22) The malted barley flour is added as a natural leavening enhancer. This type of flour contains in fact generally different varieties of enzymes, such as alpha and beta amylase, which have the function of depolymerizing the starch contained in the dough into simple sugars which are useful for the metabolism of the yeast and, in this way, are immediately available. Basically, this ingredient not only allows a more rapid and greater expansion of the volume of the bread and the formation of a regular cell structure, but also provides the surface crust with improved organoleptic characteristics and gives it a deeper colour.

(23) The ascorbic acid increases the mechanical tolerance of the dough, avoiding any kneading problems, improves the glutinous network, ensuring a good consistency of the pastry and limiting collapsing of the dough, and also guarantees the further stability of the product under different environmental conditions.

(24) The milk, furthermore, has the function of favouring the Maillard reaction so as to facilitate the formation of the typical golden-brown colouring on the surface of the roll after baking.

(25) With reference to the chocolate mixture used for the filling, this mixture comprises preferably a percentage of milk chocolate and a percentage of plain chocolate.

(26) As already mentioned previously, this mixture may preferably be subjected to a tempering operation in order to improve the properties both of the melted chocolate and of the chocolate layer in the finished product, also in terms of storage.

(27) Tempering is the last of the operations which is normally carried out on the chocolate during its production.

(28) Since it consists mainly of a crystalline solid composed of molecules of certain particular triglycerides, cocoa butter is the ingredient which gives the chocolate its structure. It can crystallize in different ways, or rather, in different polymorphous forms; however, not all the possible crystalline forms give the finished product, i.e. the chocolate, the desired properties, such as crunchiness and shininess, stably over time.

(29) Tempering consists in heating the mixture of ingredients for formulation of the chocolate, or the chocolate previously produced, to a temperature such as to break the crystal structures of the cocoa butter present therein. Then, the mixture is cooled so as to form only specific crystal forms and finally is reheated again with the aim of destroying once more the less stable and undesirable crystal forms which otherwise, during the shelf life of the chocolate obtained, would reappear on the surface of the chocolate in the form of white crystals.

(30) The chocolate used in the process according to the invention is obtained by combining plain chocolate with milk chocolate, and the mixture thus obtained is heated to a temperature of 45 C. Thereafter, this mixture of melted chocolate is cooled. The mixture is then allowed to cool to a temperature for use, ranging between 28.5 C. and 30 C., as mentioned above. Then, the chocolate is distributed and deposited melted in accordance with the process of the present invention.

(31) Finally, the finished product, understood as meaning a snack comprising a soft pastry bakery product in the form of an oblong bread roll, filled with a chocolate layer in the form of a slab, generally with a weight of not more than 50 g, preferably a weight of between 35 g and 40 g, is obtained.

Example 1

(32) Preparation of a Snack According to the Invention.

(33) Firstly a semifinished product for a soft pastry bakery product was prepared. It was obtained from a raw dough prepared using the following ingredients:

(34) TABLE-US-00001 Ingredient Percentage (%) Soft-wheat flour 53 Wheat gluten 0.6 Whole milk powder 1 Vegetable margarine 6 Fresh eggs 8.6 Beer yeast 2.4 Water 15.5 Salt 0.6 Mono- and diglycerides 1.1 of fatty acids Sucrose 11.2

(35) The percentages shown above are to be understood as being by weight in relation to the total weight of the ingredients.

(36) Using the aforementioned ingredients a dough was obtained by means of mixing in a fork kneader with a variable mixing speed. In particular, a slow mixing step was carried out for a period of 3 minutes, followed by a fast mixing step for a period of 20 minutes, in turn followed by a slow mixing step for a period of 4 minutes, so that the dough underwent mixing for a total time of 27 minutes. Then the dough was divided up and formed into semi-spherical portions with a weight of 26 g. These semi-spherical portions were then worked into the oblong form typical of a sfilatino with a length of about 100 mm.

(37) Finally, the dough portions, thus formed, were placed on a tray and allowed to rise during 150 minutes at a temperature of 35 C. in an environment with a relative humidity of 85% until a semifinished product was obtained.

(38) The semifinished product, once it had risen, was baked at a temperature of 200 C. for a period of 10 minutes. A soft pastry bakery product in the form of a sfilatino with a moisture content of 23% by weight, a water activity (A.sub.w) of 0.83 and a weight of 23.5 g was thus obtained. Then, 3 g of a hydro-alcoholic solution, comprising 7% by weight of ethanol relative to the total weight of the solution, were injected into said bakery product, while said product was still warm, more precisely at the temperature of 90 C. A bread roll with a moisture content of 31.5% by weight, a water activity (A.sub.w) of 0.87 and a weight of 26.5 g was thus obtained. Then, the bakery product was allowed to cool for a period of 35 minutes until it reached a temperature of 24 C.

(39) Thereafter, using conventional cutting means, a longitudinal cut was performed so as to divide said bakery product into an upper portion and a lower portion.

(40) The cut was carried out at a height of 1 cm, the height of said bakery product being equal to 3.5 cm. In particular, this cut was performed so as to involve 85% of the width of the product.

(41) The melted chocolate was prepared from a chocolate mixture comprising 40% milk chocolate and 60% plain chocolate.

(42) Plain chocolate comprising ingredients in the following percentage amounts by weight relative to the total weight of the plain chocolate was used: 54.5% sucrose, 44% cocoa paste, 1% cocoa butter and 0.5% vanillin plus sunflower lecithin. Together therewith milk chocolate comprising ingredients in the following percentage amounts by weight relative to the total weight of the milk chocolate was also used: 42.5% sucrose, 22.2% whole milk powder, 17% cocoa butter, 13% cocoa paste, 5% lactose and 0.3% vanillin plus sunflower lecithin.

(43) Said plain chocolate and said milk chocolate were mixed and subsequently were melted at a temperature of 45 C. until a mixture in fluid form was obtained. Then the fluid chocolate thus obtained was cooled. Finally, the mixture was brought to a temperature of 29 C. so that it could be used for the following bread roll filling operations.

(44) Then, 11.5 g of melted chocolate were deposited, at the temperature of 29 C., on top of the upper surface of the lower portion of the bakery product. The melted chocolate was thus subject to a fast solidification and compaction process from the moment of initial contact with the moist surface of the aforementioned lower portion, so as to form a continuous slab of chocolate.

(45) In this way, the snacks obtained had a weight of 38 g, a moisture content of 22% by weight of the total weight of the finished product and a water activity (A.sub.w) with a value of 0.82.

(46) The aforementioned snacks were individually packaged in sealed polypropylene wrappers and tested for their shelf life at room temperature.

(47) After a period of 75 days no microbiological alterations or significant variations in the organoleptic properties of the products were determined.

Example 2

(48) Preparation of a Snack According to the Invention.

(49) Firstly a semifinished product for a soft pastry bakery product was prepared. It was obtained from a raw dough prepared using the following ingredients:

(50) TABLE-US-00002 Ingredient Percentage (%) Soft-wheat flour 52 Wheat gluten 1.3 Whole milk powder 1.1 Vegetable margarine 8 Fresh eggs 9.5 Beer yeast 2.4 Water 13.5 Salt 0.6 Mono- and diglycerides 0.8 of fatty acids Sucrose 10.8

(51) The percentages shown above are to be understood as being by weight in relation to the total weight of the ingredients.

(52) Using the aforementioned ingredients a dough was obtained by means of mixing in a fork kneader with a variable mixing speed. In particular, a slow mixing step was carried out for a period of 3 minutes, followed by a fast mixing step for a period of 20 minutes, in turn followed by a slow mixing step for a period of 4 minutes, so that the dough underwent mixing for a total time of 27 minutes. Then the dough was divided up and formed into semi-spherical portions with a weight of 27 g. These semi-spherical portions were then worked into the oblong form typical of a sfilatino with a length of about 105 mm.

(53) Finally, the dough portions, thus formed, were placed on a tray and allowed to rise during 155 minutes at a temperature of 35 C. in an environment with a relative humidity of 85% until a semifinished product was obtained.

(54) The semifinished product, once it had risen, was then cut lengthwise along its upper surface. This cut was made to a depth of 0.8 cm relative to the upper surface of the semifinished product, this semifinished bakery product having a vertical height of about 2.5 cm. At the same time, 0.25 g of durum wheat flour were dusted over the upper surface of the semifinished product.

(55) Then, this semifinished product was baked at a temperature of 195 C. for a period of 11 minutes. A soft pastry bakery product in the form of a sfilatino with a moisture content of 22.8% by weight, a water activity (A.sub.w) of 0.84 and a weight of 24.5 g was thus obtained. Then, 2.5 g of a hydro-alcoholic flavouring solution, comprising 7% by weight of ethanol relative to the total weight of the solution, were injected into said bakery product, while said product was still warm (90 C.). A bread roll with a moisture content of 31.1% by weight, a water activity (A.sub.w) of 0.86 and a weight of 27 g was thus obtained. Then, the bakery product was allowed to cool for a period of 20 minutes until it reached a temperature of 24 C.

(56) Thereafter, using conventional cutting means, a longitudinal cut was performed so as to divide said bakery product into an upper portion and a lower portion.

(57) The cut was made at a height of 1.3 cm, the height of said bakery product being equal to 3.5 cm. In particular, this cut was made so as to involve 85% of the width of the product.

(58) The melted chocolate was prepared from a chocolate mixture comprising 40% milk chocolate and 60% plain chocolate.

(59) Plain chocolate comprising ingredients in the following percentage amounts by weight relative to the total weight of the plain chocolate was used: 54.5% sucrose, 44% cocoa paste, 1% cocoa butter and 0.5% vanillin plus sunflower lecithin. Together therewith milk chocolate comprising ingredients in the following percentage amounts by weight relative to the total weight of the milk chocolate was also used: 42.5% sucrose, 22.2% whole milk powder, 17% cocoa butter, 13% cocoa paste, 5% lactose and 0.3% vanillin plus sunflower lecithin.

(60) Said plain chocolate and said milk chocolate were mixed and subsequently were melted at a temperature of 45 C. so as to obtain a mixture in fluid form. Then, the fluid chocolate thus obtained was cooled. Finally the mixture was brought to a temperature of 29 C. so that it could be used for the following bread roll filling operations.

(61) Then 11.3 g of melted chocolate were deposited on top of the upper surface of the lower portion of the bakery product; this operation was carried with the aid of two nozzles so as to deposit the chocolate in the form of two separate strips.

(62) The melted chocolate was thus subject to a fast solidification and compaction process from the moment of initial contact with the moist surface of the aforementioned lower portion, so as to form a continuous slab of chocolate.

(63) In this way, the snacks obtained had a weight of 38.3 g, a moisture content of 22.8% by weight of the total weight of the finished product and a water activity (A.sub.w) with a value of 0.82.

(64) The aforementioned snacks were individually packaged in sealed polypropylene wrappers and tested for their shelf life at room temperature.

(65) After a period of two months no microbiological alterations or significant variations in the organoleptic properties of the products were determined.