Chocolate products and ingredients and methods for producing novel oil-in-water suspensions having reduced water activity levels

A method of making a chocolate food product or ingredient comprising:

• providing a fat or oil phase comprising cocoa butter and optionally an emulsifier;
• providing an aqueous or continuous phase comprising water and at least about 4% non fat cocoa solids;
• mixing the oil or fat phase with the aqueous or continuous phase at a temperature above the melting point of the cocoa butter;
• treating or heating the mixed phases under conditions where protein and starch components of the cocoa solids alone are capable of producing a gelatinized network in a stable solid without added emulsifiers or hydrocolloids and having a crystallized and gelatinized structure in an oil-in-water suspension at room temperature;
• and
• drying to reduce the water activity level to about 0.9 or below.

A method of producing an edible product or ingredient or composition comprising:

• providing a fat phase comprising at least one fat component that is at least partially crystallized at room temperature;
• providing an aqueous phase comprising water, at least about 4% non fat cocoa solids, and one or more fruit;
• mixing the phases;
• heating the mixed phases to form a gel network comprised of proteins and/or starch and/or cell wall material components and having a crystallized and gelatinized structure into a stable oil-in-water suspension at room temperature;
• and
• drying the mixed phases to reduce the water activity level, whereby the cocoa solids present are alone capable of producing a Gelatinized network in a stable solid without added emulsifiers or hydrocolloids.