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

Grained and Ungrained Confections
The higher the
sugar content of
fondant, the
higher the water
activity, with the
greater danger of
mold growth
and yeast
fermentation.
gives out heat. If this is not removed by
cooling, the syrup temperature will rise,
affecting the crystal size and amount of
crystals formed. Generally the higher the
crystallization temperature the larger the
sugar crystals which are formed.
This leads us to specific grained confections,
which hopefully will reinforce these
general factors.
FONDANTS AND CREMES
Fondants are the simplest of grained confections.They
are normally based on sugar,
although sugarfree ones based on maltitol or
other polyols are being made.Their structure
consists of sugar crystals dispersed in a saturated
solution of sugar and other carbohydrates
such as invert sugar and corn syrup.
Those other carbohydrates are sometimes
essential to the shelf stability of the product.
Normally there is 50–60 percent sugar
crystals dispersed in 40–50 percent syrup.
Fondant recipes consist of three main
ingredients: sugar, water and corn syrup.
These are combined with other ingredients
such as invert sugar, fructose, sorbitol and
glycerol. Sometimes mold-inhibiting chemicals,
such as sorbic acid, are added where a
formulation gives a product with a water
activity greater than 0.65.You can avoid this
by using the correct formulation, if possible.
Even with this simple recipe, there are
many variables.
Moisture Content
The water content of the finished fondant
is the most critical variable, because
it affects the efficiency of using it, and its
shelf life. Generally water content is in
the range of 12–15 percent but should be
controlled accurately, i.e., within ± 1 ⁄2 percent
of that specified.
Type of Corn Syrup
Corn syrups now cover a wide range of compositions.
The major components are dex-
trose, maltose and dextrins — mainly consisting
of long molecular chains of dextrose.
The quantity of dextrose plus maltose
on a dry solids basis is expressed as dextrose
equivalent (de). Now that enzymes
are also used to produce corn syrup, it is
possible to change the ratio of dextrose to
maltose and achieve higher de. High-maltose
and high-dextrose corn syrups can also
be produced. In addition, it is possible to
produce high-fructose syrups, which are
sweeter.These are increasingly used in confectionery,
although mainly in the beverage
industry.
High-de syrups have less dextrins in
them; they are particularly important in
fondants because they affect the viscosity
and the crystallization of sugar from the
fondant syrup. Low-de corn syrups lead
to more viscous fondant syrups with slower
crystallization of sugar from them, and
high-de corn syrups do the opposite. The
choice of corn syrup therefore is a very
important variable.
Amount of Sugar
The sugar content of the recipe,which
increases the ratio of sugar to corn syrup,
is a key variable.The higher the sugar content
the more sugar crystals are formed
and the harder the fondant, for a given
water content.
Amount of Other Materials
The quantities of humectants, such as sorbitol,
glycerol and invert sugar, are also
important.They reduce the viscosity of the
fondant syrup, increase sugar crystallization
rates and lower water activity.
Commercially available fondants are
generally made to simple recipes, using
sugar, water and 42 de acid-converted corn
syrup. They are often referred to by the
ratio of sugar to corn syrup, e.g., 8:1 fondant
contains eight parts of sugar and one
part of corn syrup.The soluble solids of the ➤
46 55 th PMCA Production Conference, 2001