Confectionary with improved opacity
AssigneeGeneral Mills, Inc.
InventorsDavid J. Domingues, Ruiqi Li, Vani Vemulapalli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A confectionary that contains 3.0% to 3.5% of a short fiber length cellulose is described. The confectionary maintains a good opacity and texture after heating and good visual and textural stability over shelf life or at least one freeze/thaw cycle. A confectionary can typically have a relatively high moisture content, relatively low fat content, and relatively low non-fat solids content and retain the desired stability, opacity, and texture attributes. In some cases, a confectionary can exclude certain ingredients that consumers prefer to avoid.
Claims14
A confectionary, comprising:
- a. cellulose in an amount of 3.0% to 3.5% by weight of the confectionary, the cellulose having an average fiber length of 20 μm to 25 μm;
- b. a fat content of 10% to 20% by weight of the confectionary, with at least 75% of the fat content being provided by a structuring fat having a melting point above room temperature;
- c. a water content of 45% to 55% by weight of the confectionary;
- d. a non-fat total solids content of 35% to 45% by weight of the confectionary;
- and
- e. 0% to less than 0.01% by weight of the confectionary titanium dioxide and 0% to less than 0.01% by weight of the confectionary calcium carbonate, wherein the confectionary is a frosting, an icing, or a filling.
A method of making a confectionary, the method comprising:
- a. combining non-fat liquid ingredients at sufficient shear to produce a homogeneous aqueous composition;
- b. combining the aqueous composition with a liquid fat with sufficient shear to produce a homogeneous fat suspension, the liquid fat comprising a structuring fat having a melting point above room temperature, and the fat suspension being at a temperature at or above the melting point of the structuring fat;
- c. combining the homogeneous fat suspension with dry ingredients with sufficient shear to produce the confectionary, the dry ingredients including cellulose having an average fiber length of 20 μm to 25 μm, the confectionary being homogeneous including:
- i. the cellulose in an amount of 3.0% to 3.5% by weight of the confectionary;
- ii. a fat content of 10% to 20% by weight of the confectionary, with at least 75% of the fat content being provided by the structuring fat;
- iii. a water content of 45% to 55% by weight of the confectionary;
- iv. a non-fat total solids content of 35% to 45% by weight of the confectionary;
- and
- v. 0% to less than 0.01% by weight of the confectionary titanium dioxide;
- and
- d. cooling the confectionary to a temperature at or below room temperature, wherein the confectionary is a frosting, an icing, or a filling.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.