CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTION

Abstract

A method for preparing a heat tolerant confectionery product comprising a fat and a sweetener, said method comprising combining together a confectionery composition comprising a fat and a sweetener and a non-aqueous solvent, and wherein the non-aqueous solvent is one in which the sweetener is partially soluble, such as ethanol. Enhanced hardness is achieved by ensuring that either (a) the average particle size of the sweetener is less than 50 m, for example from 4-20 m; or (b) the non-aqueous solvent contains less than 4% w/w water. Confectionery such chocolate obtained by this process forms a further aspect of invention.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a heat tolerant confectionery product comprising a fat and a sweetener, said method comprising combining together a confectionery composition comprising a fat and a sweetener and a non-aqueous solvent, and wherein the non-aqueous solvent is one in which the sweetener is partially soluble and wherein either: (a) the average particle size of the sweetener is less than 50 m; or (b) the non-aqueous solvent contains less than 4% w/w water.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the non-aqueous solvent contains less than 4% w/w water.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the confectionery product is selected from chocolate and compound chocolate .

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein the average particle size of the sweetener is from 4-20 m.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the average particle size of the sweetener is 12-15 m.

11. A method according to claim 1 any one of the preceding claims wherein the non-aqueous solvent is selected from the group consisting of a C.sub.1-6 alkyl alcohols, a C.sub.1-6 alkyl acetate, a diC.sub.1-6 alkyl ketone, a substituted C.sub.1-6 alkane and a C.sub.10 alkene.

12. (canceled)

13. A method according to claim 11 wherein the non-aqueous solvent is ethanol.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein the confectionery product is chocolate and the amount of ethanol added to the confectionery composition is less than 5 wt %.

15. A method according to claim 1 wherein the confectionery composition is at a temperature in the range of from 25-70 C. when the non-aqueous solvent is added.

16. A method according to claim 15 wherein the confectionery composition is chocolate, and wherein the chocolate is first tempered and then allowed to cool before addition of the non-aqueous solvent.

17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the confectionery composition is at a temperature of about 29 C. when the non-aqueous solvent is added.

18. A method according to claim 1 wherein the non-aqueous solvent is added in an amount of from 0.5-10 wt % of the confectionery product.

19. (canceled)

20. A method according to claim 1 wherein the confectionery composition is allowed to solidify after combination with the non-aqueous solvent.

21. (canceled)

22. A method according to claim 3 wherein the product obtained is subjected to an incubation step to allow some or all of the remaining non-aqueous solvent to evaporate.

23. (canceled)

24. A confectionery product obtainable by a method according claim 22.

25. The use of a non-aqueous solvent comprising less than 4% w/w water in the preparation of heat resistant chocolate.

Description

[0042] The invention will now be particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

[0043] FIG. 1 shows the results of experiments to determine the heat stability of chocolate containing non-aqueous solvents at 3.9 wt % as measured by texture analysis. Error bars indicate standard deviation;

[0044] FIG. 2 shows the results of experiments to determine the heat stability of various chocolate types (crumb and dry-mix (DM)) which had been mixed with various concentrations of ethanol or different particle sizes of sugars, as measured by texture analysis. Error bars indicate standard deviation;

[0045] FIG. 3 shows the results of experiments investigating the heat stability of chocolate with various concentrations of non-aqueous solvent in the chocolate, where 3(A) shows the results after 2 weeks in crumb chocolate and 3(B) shows the results after 2 weeks in dry mix chocolate and where the figures listed correlate with the % w/w ethanol added to the chocolate;

[0046] FIG. 4 shows the results of experiments investigating the effects of particle size of the sweetener on the heat stability of chocolate at 4 weeks incorporating non-aqueous solvent, where crumb chocolate is used for particles of 22 m and under and a compound chocolate is used for particle size of 24 m; and

[0047] FIG. 5 shows the results of experiments investigating the effects of water content of 3.9% w/w of the non-aqueous solvent on the heat stability of a crumb chocolate.

Example 1

[0048] Tempered chocolate (485 g) was placed in a mixer at a temperature of 29 C. and absolute ethanol (EtOH) (19.5 g) or isopropyl alcohol (IPA) (19.5 g) was added. The composition was stirred manually for 1 minute and then the chocolate was placed in a mould. The mould was cooled for 45 minutes at 4 C. at the product was then removed from the mould. After weighing, the chocolate was incubated at 30 C. for 9 days to allow some ethanol to evaporate, before storage at 20 C.

[0049] After two and four weeks in storage, the hardness of the chocolate as well as that of untreated (STD) chocolate stored under similar conditions was tested by texture analysis. A

[0050] Stable Microsystems texture analyser (HD-Plus) inside a 40 C. oven was used to deform the middle of 6 segments of a 33 g chocolate bar consisting of 10 segments in two rows. The chocolate bars were incubated at 40 C. for two hours before being penetrated by a 12.7 mm cylindrical probe. The probe was lowered vertically at a rate of 10 mm/s to a depth of 3 mm and the maximum force (in Newtons) recorded.

[0051] The results are shown in FIG. 1

[0052] While the hardness of both treated chocolates was improved compared to the untreated control, the results obtained with ethanol were significantly improved. In this instance, the hardness equates directly with heat stability of the chocolate.

[0053] The water content of the ethanol used in the process was also tested and found to be less than 1.1 w/w total solvent.

Example 2

[0054] The methodology of Example 1 was repeated with different types of chocolate (crumb and dry-mix) and with differing amounts of ethanol added. Unless stated otherwise, the average size of the sucrose particles used in the chocolate manufacture was 14 m. The average particle size in the compound chocolate tested was 24 m. In one experiment, the size of the sucrose used in the chocolate manufacture was 18 m.

[0055] The results after 2 weeks are shown in FIG. 2. These show that ethanol provides good heat stability to both crumb and dry mix chocolates. It appears, certainly in dry mix chocolate that increasing ethanol concentration above 4 wt % has no added benefit. However, in crumb chocolate heat stability was increased by increasing the ethanol concentration from 1 to 4 wt %, indicating that this may be a particularly beneficial concentration.

[0056] The results also show that sweetener particle size plays a role in heat stability. The improvement in the heat stability in the compound chocolate containing a higher average particle size was low. Furthermore, by increasing average particle size from 14 to 18 m, heat stability was reduced by about half.

Example 3

[0057] Effect of Further Water Reduction

[0058] The method of Example 1 was repeated using absolute ethanol which had been subjected to a specific drying procedure so that the ethanol was substantially free of water. In particular, sodium sulphate was added to ethanol in a sufficient amount to form a free flowing suspension without clumps. The mixture was left for one day, after which, the ethanol was decanted off.

[0059] The hardness of the chocolate was tested after 3 days. The results are shown in Table 1 below, alongside those obtained in Example 1 after 2 weeks. The dried ethanol produced firmness values very similar to that of the product of Example 1 after 2 weeks. Since chocolate tends to get harder and more heat stable with time, this suggests that reducing the water content of the non-aqueous solvent to a value that is as low as possible, will be beneficial.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Sample type Standard IPA EtOH Dried EtOH Time 2 weeks 3 days Average (6 1 3 52 43 segments Standard deviation 0 0 8 14 Relative Standard 9 14 15 32 Deviation

Example 4

[0060] Evaluation of the Addition of Different Ethanol Concentrations to Various Chocolate Compositions

[0061] Absolute ethanol (Fisher Scientific) was added to either crumb or dry mix chocolate formulations in amounts varying from 1-8 wt %. The chocolate was weighed out and allowed to cool down to 33 C. before being tempered down to 29 C. on a marble slab. Once tempered, the ethanol in various amounts, also as specified below, was added. The mixture was stirred by hand for around 1 minute until the solvent appeared to be incorporated into the mixture. It was then moulded into 33 g bar conformance moulds. The chocolate was spread into the corners of the mould using a spatula and tapped against the bench to remove air bubbles. The moulds were placed in a fridge for 45 minutes before the bars were removed. Once the bars were de-moulded, they were stored open in an incubator at 30 C. to evaporate the solvent. Four bars from each batch were weighed periodically until weight loss reached a plateau (9 days), after which they were removed and stored at 20 C. for four weeks. After two weeks, the heat stability of the samples was measured as described in Example 1.

[0062] The results are shown in FIG. 3 where FIG. 3A shows the results for crumb chocolate and FIG. 3B shows the results for dry mix chocolate. These results show that in the case of crumb chocolate, the heat stability increased with increasing ethanol concentration to a value of 4 wt %, whereas in dry mix chocolate, a concentration of 3 wt % ethanol appeared to be optimum for heat stability.

Example 5

[0063] Evaluation of Particle Size on the Heat Stability of Various Chocolate

[0064] The methodology of Example 4 was repeated using crumb chocolate prepared with a variety of particle sizes of sweetener ranging from 7 m to 22 M and with 3.9% ethanol added as described in Example 4. A sample of compound chocolate with a particle size of 24 M was also included in the test to increase the particle size range studied.

[0065] The decreased heat stability with particle smaller than 14 microns might be due to a full dissolution of the particles by the solvent inhibiting the formation of a solid matrix leading to heat stability.

Example 6

[0066] Effect of Water Content of Non-Aqueous Solvent on Heat Stability

[0067] The methodology of Example 4 was repeated using crumb chocolate and 4% w/w ethanol, but in this case, the ethanol used contained varying amounts of water from 0% to 8% w/w.

[0068] The results of hardness/heat stability tests after 2 weeks are shown in FIG. 5. The results show that, in this experiment, the optimum water concentration was 1.1 wt %.