2001 Grained and Ungrained Confections - staging.files.cms.plus.com

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Grained and Ungrained Confections In hard candy the viscosity of the syrup is so high that the sugar molecules in it cannot come together to form crystals. Examples of Fat-based Confections Figure 1 Examples of Fondants and Cremes Figure 2 Examples of Hard Candy Figure 3 dissolved in water to form the familiar, deliciously sweet syrup. Honey is normally a clear liquid with a pale amber color, but sometimes honey becomes opaque. It changes in character from a free-flowing liquid to a paste, sometimes called honey butter.The least soluble of the sugars in honey butter, dextrose, has crystallized because its solubility in water is only 48 percent at 70°F, compared with fructose (79.3% at 70°F), and the syrup is said to have grained.The dextrose crystals reflect light, so that the syrup becomes opaque.They also have a large surface area which has to be lubricated by the remaining syrup still holding the structure together, so that the grained product does not readily flow. There are fundamental differences between syrup-based confections with uncrystallized syrup holding or gluing the confection together and those in which one or more of the ingredients dissolved in the syrup have crystallized, changing its character in several ways.This simple example demonstrates clearly the change in physical character from a thermoplastic material that will flow, to one with internal friction between crystallized particles that inhibits flow. Honey butter is the earliest example of a fondant — a dextrose fondant.We will be examining sugar versions of this and discussing the technology of fondants and cremes, examples of which are shown in Figure 2. We can also change the character of a syrup by taking some of the water out of it. As we do so, it becomes more and more viscous. Finally, when we reduce the water below 3–4 percent, the syrup becomes so viscous that when it is cooled it forms a glass-like product, forming the basis of the hard candy section of our industry. In hard candy, the viscosity of the syrup is so high that the sugar molecules in it cannot come together to form crystals, and it has thermoplastic characteristics — glass-like when cold and softening when warmed. If we warm it enough to agitate or mix it, some sugar microcrystallization can take place, and we use this in pulled-sugar products to change the texture and appearance of the hard candy, examples of which are shown in Figure 3. ➤ 42 55 th PMCA Production Conference, 2001
If we take a simple syrup, add air and a protein material — a whipping agent — to help air mix into it, numerous small bubbles are formed, which weaken the syrup glue. Its density is also decreased and at the same time it becomes opaque, because the air bubbles reflect light.This gives us marshmallow confections. We can also cause some of the sugar in the syrup to crystallize, further weakening the syrup and changing its texture, producing grained marshmallows, examples of which are shown in Figure 4. We can also take this whipped syrup, uncrystallized or crystallized, add fat and flavoring ingredients (such as cocoa powder) to produce the ever-popular nougats or nougatines. These vary in texture from hard torrone to the soft nougats that make up a major part of bar lines — Snickers, Milky Way, Baby Ruth and many other products, as shown in Figure 5. When we add milk to the syrup and cook it, characteristic flavors are produced. Milk protein and reducing sugars (such as dextrose, maltose or fructose), along with the sugar in the milk (lactose), react together via the Mailliard reaction to produce the flavor of caramel confections. When the syrup is made to crystallize to break up its structure, the texture becomes short and less chewy, leading to the whole range of fudges. Their texture varies with the amount of crystallization of the syrup, ranging from a grained caramel with sufficient crystallization to give the product good stand-up properties and machinability, to heavily grained hard fudge. Examples of caramel and fudge products are shown in Figure 6. Finally, if we add a gelling agent (such as gelatin, starch, pectin, etc.) the syrup is changed from one that flows to one that is immobilized in a gel structure. The resulting texture depends mainly on the gelling agent used. The molecules of sugar are effectively Grained and Ungrained Confections Examples of Marshmallows Figure 4 Examples of Nougats and Taffy Figure 5 Examples of Caramels and Fudges Figure 6 55 th PMCA Production Conference, 2001 43 ➤
Page 1: Grained and Ungrained Confections T
Page 5 and 6: Concentration The concentration of
Page 7 and 8: syrup in the finished product are b
Page 9 and 10: to cool and set before demoulding,
Page 11 and 12: generally has a coarser particle si
Page 13 and 14: designed to grain — to give a sho

2001 Grained and Ungrained Confections - staging.files.cms.plus.com

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?