PROCESS FOR PREPARING A CONFECTIONERY COMPOSITION

Abstract

A process for the preparation of a confectionery composition and compositions producible by the process. Molten chocolate and a liquid filling are supplied to a nip (12) defined by the juxtaposition of a pair of forming elements (10). The chocolate and the liquid filling are passed through said nip (12) by motion of said forming elements (10). At least one of said pair of forming elements has a plurality of recesses in its peripheral surface and the liquid filling is supplied in pulses above the nip so as to coincide with the presentation of recesses at the nip. In this way the chocolate envelops the liquid filling and thereby forms liquid-filled chocolate capsules interconnected by a web of chocolate. The capsules may be separated from the web and may be placed in a chocolate shell.

Claims

1. A process for the preparation of a confectionery composition comprising supplying molten chocolate and a liquid filling to a nip defined by the juxtaposition of a pair of forming elements, at least one of said pair of forming elements having a plurality of recesses in its peripheral surface; and passing the chocolate and the liquid filling through said nip by motion of said forming elements; wherein the liquid filling is supplied in pulses above the nip so as to coincide with the presentation of recesses at the nip; so as to cause the chocolate to envelop the liquid filling and thereby form liquid-filled chocolate capsules interconnected by a web of chocolate.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein each of said pair of forming elements has a plurality of recesses in its peripheral surface; the forming elements being arranged so that respective recesses in the two forming elements are in register at the nip.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the liquid filling is released from a nozzle.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the pulse lasts from 0.1 to 2 seconds.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the pulse rate is from 15 to 400 pulses per minute.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein the molten chocolate is supplied directly to the nip.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein at least one forming element is a cylindrical roller having a plurality of recesses over its peripheral surface.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein the forming elements are cooled to a temperature of from 20 C. to 10 C.

9. The process of claim 1 further comprising a step of separating the liquid-filled chocolate capsules from the web.

10. The process of claim 9 further comprising a step of placing the separated liquid-filled chocolate capsules in an edible shell.

11. A confectionery composition comprising a web of interconnected liquid-filled chocolate capsules wherein the chocolate capsules are interconnected by a web of uniform thickness.

12. The composition of claim 11 wherein each chocolate capsule in the web comprises a bubble of liquid filling and the bubble is substantially spherical.

13. A confectionery composition comprising a liquid-filled chocolate capsule wherein the wall of the chocolate capsule has uniform thickness.

14. A composition comprising a plurality of chocolate capsules having a liquid filling therein, wherein each of the chocolate capsules has substantially the same diameter; and/or each of the capsules has a capsule wall of substantially the same thickness.

15. A composition comprising an edible shell having a plurality of liquid-filled chocolate capsules therein, wherein the capsules have an average outer diameter of at least 4 mm.

16. The composition of claim 15 wherein at least one capsule comprises from 10 to 22 vol % liquid filling.

17. The composition of claim 15 wherein the liquid filling is selected from the group consisting of fruit juice; vegetable juice; fruit puree; vegetable puree; fruit sauce; vegetable sauce; honey; sugar syrup; polyol syrup; hydrogenated starch hydrolysates syrup; emulsions; vegetable oil; glycerin; propylene glycol; ethanol; liqueurs; dairy-based liquids such as milk or cream; fondant; an isomalt-comprising solution; and combinations thereof.

18. The composition of claim 15 where the liquid filling has a pour point of less than 10 C.

19. The composition of claim 15 wherein the liquid filling is a Newtonian liquid and has a viscosity measured at 25 C. of no more than 1 Pa.Math.s.

20. The composition of claim 15 wherein the liquid filling has a viscosity measured at 10 s.sup.1 of less than 85 Pa.Math.s at 25 C.; of less than 35 Pa.Math.s at 35 C.; and/or less than 15 Pa.Math.s at 45 C.

21. The composition of claim 15 wherein the liquid filling has a viscosity measured at 30 C. of less than 15 Pa.Math.s at 1 s.sup.1, less than 13 Pa.Math.s at 10 s.sup.1 and/or less than 7 Pa.Math.s at 100 s .sup.1.

Description

[0103] Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only in which:

[0104] FIGS. 1a and 1b show a process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

[0105] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the pulsing of the liquid filling.

[0106] FIG. 3 shows a process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

[0107] FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of a product in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0108] Referring to FIG. 1a, there is shown a perspective view of an apparatus for use in the present invention. The apparatus comprises a pair of cooled cylindrical rollers 10, each having a large number of hemispherical recesses (not shown) on its peripheral surface. In use, each roller 10 rotates about its longitudinal axis and a nip 12 is formed in the space between the rollers 10. A hopper 14 is located above the rollers 10 and has a long thin opening to flood the space between the rollers 10 with molten chocolate. A series of nozzles 16 is arranged to pass through the hopper 14 and thereby dispense liquid filling just above the nip 12.

[0109] The formation of the chocolate coated capsules 18 is shown schematically in FIG. 1b. Molten chocolate 20 is supplied continuously to flood the nip. The liquid filling 22 is supplied in pulses through the nozzles 16 just above the nip. The liquid filling 22 displaces the molten chocolate 20 such that a bubble of liquid filling is surrounded by the chocolate. The bubble of liquid filling 22 passes through the rollers 10 and the molten chocolate 20 begins to solidify and therefore seals the liquid filling 22 therein. The chocolate capsule 18 then falls from the forming rollers due to gravity and can be transferred to a preformed chocolate shell.

[0110] Referring to FIG. 2a there is shown a portion of a web 24 of 3 interconnected chocolate capsules 18. The chocolate capsules 18 are spherical and have a spherical bubble of liquid filling 22 therein. The capsule wall is made from chocolate 20 and has uniform thickness. The web 24 does not comprise liquid filling because the liquid filling 22 is pulsed to coincide with the presentation of a pair of recesses at the nip 12.

[0111] FIG. 2b shows the ideal liquid flow rate for obtaining a perfectly spherical bubble of liquid filling. FIG. 2c shows options for obtaining a satisfactory filling

[0112] Referring to FIG. 3 there is shown a method for applying molten chocolate 20 indirectly to the nip 12. The molten chocolate 20 is applied to the recesses 26 in the forming rollers 10 by spraying from nozzles 28. The forming rollers 10 are then rotated so that the chocolate coated recesses 26 are moved to the nip 12. The liquid filling 22 is then delivered in pulses to the nip 12 and enclosed by the chocolate coated recesses 26.

[0113] FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of a chocolate bar 30 comprising a plurality of liquid-filled chocolate capsules 18, 18, 18 therein. There are three sizes of capsules; the capsules 18 have a larger diameter than the capsules 18 which have a larger diameter than the capsules 18. The capsules can be prepared using the method shown in FIG. 1 or 3 using three sizes of recesses 26 on the forming rollers 10. The capsules 18, 18 18 are then deposited in a chocolate shell 32 which is subsequently backed off with additional chocolate 34 to enclose the capsules 18, 18 18.

Methodology

[0114] The viscosity of the liquid filling was determined using a Bohlin CV050 rheometer at constant temperature (25 C.) with shear stress being increased from 1 to 10 Pa. The following example shows the measurement of the viscosity of a commercially available caramel syrup (Le sirop de Monin caramel, available from Monin (Bourges, France)). The syrup has the following ingredients: sugar, water, flavouring, natural plant extracts, colouring agent: E150a, acidifying agent: citric acid.

TABLE-US-00002 Viscosity @ 25 C. (Pa.s) Shear Rate (1/s) Shear Stress (Pa) Viscosity (Pa.s) 16.3 1 0.0612 20.9 1.29 0.0617 26.7 1.67 0.0624 34.3 2.15 0.0628 44.1 2.78 0.0631 56.6 3.59 0.0634 72.9 4.64 0.0636 94.2 5.99 0.0636 121.5 7.74 0.0638 156.5 10 0.0639

[0115] It can be seen that the viscosity of the caramel changes only slightly as the shear rate increases from 16.3 to 156.5 s.sup.1; the viscosity of the caramel is 0.06 Pa.Math.s under the conditions of measurement.

EXAMPLE 1

A Chocolate Bar Consisting of a Chocolate Shell with Chocolate Capsules Having a Liquid Filling (Monin Caramel) Therein

[0116] The chocolate is a conventional milk chocolate (density 1265 kg/m.sup.3) and the caramel is as described above.

[0117] The chocolate capsules were made using the process shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b (drop rolling). The forming rollers each had a diameter of 30 cm and each forming roller had 1224 hemispherical recesses (diameter 10 mm) in its surface. The resulting capsules were spherical, having an outer diameter of 10 mm and a capsule wall thickness of 2 mm. The cavity within the capsule was completely filled with liquid. The volume of the liquid filling relative to the total capsule can be calculated from the formula for the volume of a sphere: 4/3r.sup.3. 4/33.sup.3/4/35.sup.3=3.sup.3/5.sup.321.6%.

[0118] The capsules were placed in a pre-formed chocolate shell having dimensions of 60 mm30 mm30 mm backed off with chocolate. The resulting chocolate bar provided a liquid sensation when bitten into without spillage of the low viscosity caramel syrup.

EXAMPLE 2

A Chocolate Bar Consisting of a Chocolate Shell with Chocolate Capsules Having a Liquid Filling (Raspberry Syrup) Therein

[0119] The chocolate is a conventional milk chocolate and the raspberry syrup has the following properties: water activity 0.8, viscosity: Newtonian, 0.06 at 25 C., density 1333 kg/m.sup.3.

[0120] The capsules were prepared using the process shown in FIG. 3. The forming rollers were as described in relation to example 1 and the resulting capsules were spherical, having an outer diameter of 10 mm and a capsule wall thickness of 2 mm. The cavity within the capsule was incompletely filled with liquid. Each pulse was slightly less than that required to fill the cavity. Hence the volume of the liquid filling relative to the total capsule was approximately 18%.