Sweet particulate fat-containing powder, its preparation and its use

A process of preparing a powder, comprising, based on dry weight:

• (i) 25-75 wt. % carbohydrates, wherein at least 50% by weight of the carbohydrates is sucrose, and wherein at least 40% of the sucrose is in crystalline form;
• (ii) 10-70 wt. % fat;
• (iii) 0.4-20 wt. % protein;
• wherein at least 80 wt. % of the powder particles comprises 40-75 wt. % of an amorphous matrix and 25-60 wt. % of one or more sucrose crystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix, the process comprising:
• (a) providing a dispersion comprising fat, carbohydrate, protein and water, and having a dry solids content of 50-75 wt. %;
• (b) providing a finely divided particulate sucrose;
• and
• (c) introducing the dispersion and the finely divided particulate sucrose into a spray dryer through a dry powder injection unit consisting of at least two concentric tubes having a central tube equipped with a spray nozzle through which the dispersion is pumped and a mantle or outer tube surrounding the central tube, through which outer tube the finely divided particulate sucrose is pneumatically transported towards the nozzle to insure instantaneous mixing with the dispersion emerging from the nozzle, and wherein the particulate sucrose is provided in an amount of at least 40 wt. % based on the total weight of carbohydrates in the final spray dried product.