Icings & Toppings

Much of the appeal of cakes is due to their appearance. Cakes are a perfect medium in which a
baker can express artistry and imagination.
A cake need not be elaborate or complex to be pleasing. Certainly, a simple but neatly finished
cake is better than a gaudy, over-decorated cake that is done carelessly or without any plan for a
harmonious overall design. There are, of course, many styles of cake decorating, and within each
style, hundreds or thousands of designs are possible.

Icings, also called frostings, are sweet coatings for cakes and other baked goods. Icings are done
for various reasons. These are:
a. They add sweet taste to the cakes and pastries.
b. They improve the appearance of the product
c. They help in preserving cakes, as it covers all the sides and top of the cake, thus preventing
the cakes from drying out.
d. They add moistness and flavour to the cakes and pastries.

The basic types of icings are as follows:

1. Whipped Cream
2. Fondant
3. Buttercreams
4. Foam-type icings
5. Fudge-type icings
6. Flat-type icings
7. Royal icing
8. Glazes
9. Ganache
Use top-quality flavorings for icings so they enhance the cake rather than detract from it. Use
moderation when adding flavors and colors. Flavors should be light and delicate.

1. Whipped Cream
Whipped cream is not only one of the most useful dessert toppings and fillings but also an
ingredient in many desserts. Cream with a fat content of 30% or more, but preferably over 35%,
can be whipped into a foam. One part of cream produces about 2 to 2½ parts whipped cream. In
the classical pastry shop, sweetened, vanilla-flavored whipped cream is known as Crème Chantilly.
During warm weather, it is sometimes helpful to add gelatin or a commercial stabilizer to whipped
cream so it will hold up. This is especially true of whipped cream–topped items displayed on a
buffet.

2. Fondant
Fondant is a sugar syrup that is crystallized to a smooth, creamy white mass. It is used as icing for
Napoleons, Éclairs, Petits Fours, Danish Pastries, etc.
Because it is difficult to make in the bakeshop, fondant is almost always purchased already
prepared, either in the ready-to-use moist form or in the dry form, which requires only the
addition of water. The consistency of this icing is such that it can be rolled and then used for
covering cakes and pastries. After setting it becomes smooth, shiny and non-sticky.
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Guidelines for Using Fondant
a. Heat fondant over a warm water bath, stirring constantly, to thin the icing and make it
pourable.
b. Do not heat it over 100°F (38°C) or it will lose its shine.
c. If it is still too thick, thin it with a little simple sugar syrup or water.
d. Flavorings and colorings may be added as desired.
e. To make chocolate fondant, stir melted bitter chocolate into warm fondant until the
desired color and flavor are reached (up to about 3 oz bitter chocolate per lb of fondant, or
190 g per kg). Chocolate will thicken the fondant, so the icing may require more thinning
with sugar syrup.
f. Apply the warm fondant by pouring it over the item or by dipping items into it.

3. Buttercream
Buttercream icings are light, smooth mixtures of fat and sugar. They may also contain eggs to
increase their smoothness or lightness. These popular icings for many kinds of cakes are easily
flavored and colored to suit a variety of purposes.
There are many variations of buttercream formulas.
a. Simple buttercreams are made by creaming together fat and confectioners’ sugar
to the desired consistency and lightness. A small quantity of egg whites, yolks, or
whole eggs may be whipped in. Pasteurized eggs should be used for safety. Some
formulas also include non-fat milk solids.
Decorator’s buttercream (sometimes called rose paste) is used for making flowers
and other cake decorations. It is creamed only a little, as too much air beaten into it
would make it unable to hold delicate shapes.
b. Meringue-type buttercreams are a mixture of butter and meringue. These are very
light icings.
c. French buttercreams are prepared by beating a boiling syrup into beaten egg yolks
and whipping to a light foam. Soft butter is then whipped in. These are very rich,
light icings.
d. Pastry cream–type buttercream, in its simplest form, is made by mixing together
equal parts thick pastry cream and softened butter. If more sweetness is desired,
mix in sifted confectioners’ sugar. To give it the necessary body, a little gelatin is
added.
e. Fondant-type buttercream is simple to make with only a few ingredients on hand.
Simply cream together equal parts fondant and butter. Flavor as desired.

Buttercreams can be easily flavoured with Chocolate, Coffee, Marron (Chestnut puree), Praline,
Almond paste, Extracts & Emulsions (Orange, lemon, etc) and Spirits & Liqueurs (Kirsch, Orange
liqueur, rum, brandy).

4. Foam-Type Icings
Foam icings, sometimes called boiled icings, are simply meringues made with boiling syrup. Some
also contain stabilizing ingredients like gelatin. Foam icings should be applied thickly to cakes and
left in peaks and swirls.
These icings are not stable. Regular boiled icing should be used the day it is prepared.
Marshmallow icing should be made just before using and applied while still warm, before it sets.

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 5. Fudge-Type Icings
Fudge-type icings are rich and heavy. Many of them are made somewhat like candy. They may be
flavoured with a variety of ingredients and are used on cupcakes, layer cakes, loaf cakes, and sheet
cakes.
Fudge icings are stable and hold up well on cakes and in storage. Stored icings must be covered
tightly to prevent drying and crusting. To use stored fudge icing, warm it in a double boiler until it
is soft enough to spread.

6. Flat Icings
Flat icings, also called water icings, are simply mixtures of confectioners’ sugar and water,
sometimes with corn syrup and flavouring added. They are used mostly for coffee cakes, Danish
pastry, and sweet rolls.
Flat icings are warmed to 100°F (38°C) for application and are handled like fondant.

7. Royal Icing
This icing, also called decorating or decorator’s icing, is similar to flat icings except that it is much
thicker and made with egg whites, which make it hard and brittle when dry. It is used almost
exclusively for decorative work.

8. Glazes
Glazes are thin, glossy, transparent coatings that give a shine to baked products and help prevent
drying.
The simplest glaze is a sugar syrup or diluted corn syrup brushed onto coffee cakes or Danish
pastries while it is hot. Syrup glazes may also contain gelatin or waxy maize starch.
Fruit glazes for pastries, the most popular of which are apricot and red currant, are available
commercially prepared. They are melted, thinned with a little water, syrup, or liquor, and brushed
on while hot. Fruit glazes may also be made by melting apricot or other preserves and forcing
them through a strainer. It helps to add some melted, strained preserves to commercial glazes
because the commercial products usually have little flavour.

9. Ganache
Ganache is a rich chocolate cream filling with many uses. When freshly made and still warm, it can
be used as a glaze or icing for cakes, much like fondant; pour it over the product to be iced and it
will set into a soft icing. When cooled, ganache is used to make chocolate truffles or a filling for
other candies. It can also be whipped to make a filling for cakes, tortes, and meringue pastries.
In its simplest form, ganache is a mixture of heavy cream and melted chocolate couverture. Butter
can also be included.

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 Recipes of Icings

Crème Chantilly
Yield: 290 gm

Ingredients Quantity
Heavy Cream 250 gm
Confectioners’ sugar 40 gm
Vanilla Extract 2 ml

Procedure:
1. Make sure that the cream and all equipment and utensils are chilled.
2. Whip the cream by hand or machine until it forms soft peaks.
3. Add the sugar and vanilla. Continue to whip until the cream forms stiff peaks but is still
smooth. Do not overwhip or the cream will become grainy and then separate to form
particles of butter.

Fondant
Yield: 3-3.5 Kg

Ingredients Quantity
Sugar 3000 gm
Water 750 gm
Glusose 570 gm
Or
Cream of Tartar 15 gm

Procedure:
1. Clean a marble slab well and moisten it with water. Set four steel bars on the slab in the
shape of a square to hold the hot syrup when it is poured onto the marble.
2. Combine the sugar and water in a heavy kettle and heat to dissolve the sugar. Boil until the
temperature reaches 225°F (105°C).
3. If glucose is used, warm it. If cream of tartar is used, disperse it in a little warm water. Add
the glucose or the cream of tartar to the boiling syrup.
4. Continue to boil the syrup until it reaches 240°F (115°C).
5. Pour the boiling syrup onto the marble slab and sprinkle it with a little cold water to
prevent crystallization.
6. Let the syrup cool undisturbed to about 110°F (43°C).
7. Remove the steel bars and work the sugar with a steel scraper, turning it from the outside
to the center. It will turn white and begin to solidify.
8. Continue to work the fondant, either by hand or by putting it in a mixing bowl and working
it slowly with the paddle attachment, until it is smooth and creamy.
9. Keep the fondant in a tightly covered container.

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 Simple Buttercream Icing
Yield: 950 gm

Ingredients Quantity
Butter 250 gm
Shortening 125 gm
Confectioners’ sugar 500 gm
Egg Whites 38 gm
Lemon juice 2 gm
Vanilla Extract 4 gm

Procedure:
1. Using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar until well
blended.
2. Add the egg whites, lemon juice, and vanilla. Blend in at medium speed. Then mix at high
speed until light and fluffy.
3. For a softer buttercream, blend in water.

Plain Boiled Icing

Yield: 935 gm

Ingredients Quantity
Sugar 500 gm
Corn Syrup 60 gm
Water 125 ml
Egg whites 250 gm

Procedure:
1. Heat the sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the
mixture boils. Boil until a candy thermometer placed in the syrup registers 243°F (117°C).
2. While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites in a mixing machine until they form soft
peaks.
3. With the machine running, very slowly beat in the hot syrup.
4. Continue beating until the meringue is cool and forms firm peaks.
5. Flavor the icing to taste with vanilla.

Fudge Icing
Yield: 1 Kg

Ingredients Quantity
Sugar 750 gm
Glucose 90 ml
Butter 188 gm
Salt 2 gm
Vanilla Extract 8 ml

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Procedure:
1. Combine the sugar and glucose in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Boil the mixture until it reaches 240°F (115°C).
2. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a mixer. Let it cool to 110°F (43°C).
3. Turn on the machine and mix at low speed with the paddle attachment.
4. Add the butter, salt, and vanilla and continue to mix at low speed until cool. Beat the icing
until it is smooth and creamy in texture. If it is too thick, thin it with a little water.

Flat Icing
Yield: 630 gm

Ingredients Quantity
Confectioner,s Sugar 500 gm
Water, hot 90 ml
Corn syrup 30 gm
Vanilla Extract 4 gm
Cream of Tartar 15 gm

Procedure:
1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth.
2. To use, place the desired amount in a double boiler. Warm to 100°F (38°C) and then
apply to the product to be iced.

Royal Icing
Yield: 1.25 kg

Ingredients Quantity
Confectioner,s Sugar 1 Kg
Cream of Tartar 1 gm
Egg Whites 125 gm

Procedure:
1. Place confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl. Add cream of tartar (for whiteness).
2. Beat in egg whites, a little at a time, until the sugar forms a smooth paste.
3. Keep unused icing covered with a damp cloth or plastic film at all times to prevent hardening.

Fruit Glaze
Yield: 342 gm

Ingredients Quantity
Gelatin 12 gm
Sugar 90 gm
Water 60 ml
Glucose 30 gm
Fruit puree 150 gm

Procedure:
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 1. Soften the gelatin in cold water.
2. Heat the sugar, water, and glucose until dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the
gelatin until dissolved.
3. Add the fruit purée.
4. Strain through a chinois or fine strainer.
5. To use, rewarm if necessary. Pour over the top of a cake or charlotte and quickly spread to
the edges of the cake with a palette knife.

Ganache
Yield: 875 gm

Ingredients Quantity
Dark Chocolate 500 gm
Heavy Cream 375 gm

Procedure:
1. Chop the chocolate into small pieces.
2. Bring the cream just to a boil, stirring to prevent scorching. (Use very fresh cream; old
cream is more likely to curdle when it is boiled.)
3. Add the chocolate. Remove from the heat, stir, and let stand for a few minutes. Stir again
until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. If necessary, warm
gently over low heat to completely melt the chocolate. At this point, the ganache is ready
to be used as an icing or glaze. Apply it by pouring it over the item to be iced, like Fondant.
4. If the ganache is not to be used warm, let it cool at room temperature. Stir from time to
time so that it cools evenly. Cooled ganache may be stored in the refrigerator and
rewarmed over a water bath when needed.
5. For whipped ganache, the mixture should first be cooled thoroughly, or it will not whip
properly. Do not let it become too cold, however, or it will be too hard. With a wire whip or
the whip attachment of a mixer, whip the ganache until it is light, thick, and creamy. Use at
once. If stored, whipped ganache will become firm and hard to spread.

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 Frozen Desserts

Frozen desserts have remained popular through the ages. One of the earliest known frozen
desserts was made with winter snow (from the mountains of what is now Turkey) mixed with fruit
and drizzled with molasses.
In AD 62, the Roman emperor Nero sent slaves to the mountains to retrieve ice, which was then
flavored with nectar, fruit pulp, and honey to be enjoyed by him and his court.
Marco Polo brought the formula for water ices to Europe from Asia, where they had been enjoyed
for at least a thousand years.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both reputed to have made ice cream in their
homes, and Dolly Madison is known to have served ice cream at the White house in 1812 (20). By
1840, ice cream had moved from palaces and mansions to the streets of America’s largest cities.
The ice cream scoop was invented 66 years later, and by 1921 ice cream was served to immigrants
arriving on Ellis Island as part of their first American meal.

Frozen Desserts

Churn-Frozen Desserts Still-Frozen Desserts

The various kinds of frozen desserts are mainly classified on the basis of method employed for
preparing them. The two most commonly adopted methods for preparing frozen desserts are
churn freeze and still freeze.
In case of churn freeze, the mixture is allowed to freeze while it is being churning all the time. This
method helps in producing a product that is smooth on the palate because of very small ice
particles. Churning also incorporates air into the mixture, thereby making it light and foamy.
Still-frozen desserts are mixed and frozen without churning; they also need a smooth texture and
soft mouth feel. Depending upon the kind of dessert, the mixture is churned prior to freezing or air
is incorporated in many ways such as adding whipped eggs and crean.

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 CHURN-FROZEN DESSERTS
These desserts are churned constantly during the freezing cycle. The process of churning and
freezing at the same time does not allow water crystals to form and the resulting dessert is smooth
and creamy.
Ice cream and sherbet are churn-frozen, meaning they are mixed constantly while being frozen. If
they were not churned, they would freeze into solid blocks of ice. The churning keeps the ice
crystals small and incorporates air into the dessert.

Types of Churn-Frozen Desserts

a) Ice cream: Ice cream is made from cream, milk, sweeteners,
flavourings, stabilizers and emulsifiers. It must contain at least 10%
milk fat and 20% milk solids by weight.
b) French Ice-cream (Frozen Custard): This type of ice-cream is
commonly enriched with egg yolks and butter. Full-cream milk is
combined with dairy cream and sugar and is cooked with whipped
egg yolks until a thick sauce is formed. Thereafter, flavours and stabilizers are added and
the mixture is allowed to cool in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before it can be
churned.
c) Low Fat Ice Cream (Ice Milk): These are ice-creams made with dairy products that have
low butterfat content. Eggs and butter are never added to these ice-creams.
d) Frozen Yoghurt: This ice cream can be made in French, American or Ice milk style. It
contains yoghurt in addition to the milk and cream.
e) Sherbet: Sherbet, made from milk, fruit or fruit juice, stabilizers, and
sweeteners, has about twice as much sweetener as ice cream in order to
provide the proper texture. Since fat is in part responsible for smoothness
and a pleasant texture, sugar is added to make up for its absence or
reduced quantities. Sherbet must have 1 to 2 percent milk fat and 2 to 5
percent milk solids. The French word sorbet is sometimes used
for these products. Granité is coarse, crystalline ice, made without egg whites. Italian
versions are called sorbetto.
f) Gelato: This is the Italian version of Ice-cream. It is generally made with very low fat
content and are often made using only milk and no dairy cream. Some fruit-based gelati
are made by combining fruit puree, sugar, stabilizers, and cream and churned until smooth.

Manufacture of Churn-frozen Desserts

There are six major steps involved in the manufacture of dairy-based frozen desserts. These steps
hold true regardless of the size of production.
1. MAKING THE BASE: The desired ingredients are scaled out based on formulation, and the base is
made according to the appropriate method (Eggless method or Custard method)
2. PASTEURIZATION: In this step, the liquid is heated to a certain temperature for a certain amount
of time, which will destroy all pathogenic bacteria. The preferred method for small batch production
is known as HTST (high temperature, short time). The base is heated to 85°C / 185°F, taken off the
heat, and then stirred for 2 minutes. This stirring accomplishes three things: it ensures that the base
is evenly pasteurized, that the ingredients are homogenized and that certain ingredients, such as
stabilizers and proteins, are hydrated. Another form of pasteurizing is performed in batch
pasteurizers, which have the same purpose of killing bacteria, but the process is slower since the
liquid doesn’t get as hot as with the HTST method. In vat pasteurization , the mixture maintains a

Page 9
 65°C / 149°F temperature for 30 minutes. This process is more convenient for industrial production,
where larger amounts of liquid will take longer to bring down to safe temperatures and the base
spends less time in the danger zone. It is also used for bases with ingredients that are sensitive to
higher temperatures
3. HOMOGENIZATION: A fat emulsion is formed through constant agitation (or stirring) of the mix
at pasteurization temperatures, because the fat globules break up more readily and do not tend to
clump at that point. Clumps of fat will cause a thick base, and thinner bases incorporate air better
and form smaller, more uniform air bubbles. This in turn will make for a smoother, more stable, and
more heat-shock resistant product.
4. AGEING: After the product has been homogenized, strained, and cooled down over an ice bath to
4°C / 39°F, it needs time to “age.” During this time the proteins and stabilizers get fully hydrated and
the fat cools down and crystallizes. Protein and emulsifier networks are developed during this time.
Ageing or “maturing” will improve the whipping properties of the base, which in turn will make for a
smooth frozen product with a high tolerance to heat shock. Ageing time ranges from 4 hours
minimum to 24 hours maximum. If there is a flavor being steeped, this time will also allow it to infuse
a stronger flavor into the base.
5. CHURNING OR FREEZING: This is the process in which the base’s water is partially frozen and air
is whipped into the mix. This particular process takes place in a batch freezer. With the Pacojet, the
base is frozen solid, then shaved in the machine, where minuscule air bubbles are formed.
6. HARDENING: When, for example, an ice cream is extracted from a batch freezer, it is frozen, but
not frozen enough to serve. The consistency is too soft to be scooped, since it is around −4°C / 25°F.
It needs to reach −10°C / 14°F or a maximum of −12°C / 10.4°F to make it hard enough to scoop
easily, but still have it retain a smooth texture. The time it takes for a frozen product to reach this
ideal temperature depends on the freezer. A good compressor equals quick hardening. A blast
freezer set to −30°C / −22°F will harden 2 liters (2 quarts approximately) of finished product in 5
minutes. A conventional freezer can take up to 2 hours. Do not set the blast freezer any lower than
−30°C / −22°F, because no matter how well you made your base and no matter what sort of
stabilizers and emulsifiers you have added to it, it will become too hard to scoop.

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Overrun is the increase in volume due to incorporation of air when freezing ice cream. It is
expressed as a percentage of the original volume of the mix. (For example, if it doubles in volume,
then the amount of increase is equal to the original volume and the overrun is 100%.)
Some overrun is necessary to give a smooth, light texture. If ice cream has too much overrun, it
will be airy and foamy and will lack flavor. It was once thought that ice cream should have from
80% to 100% overrun and that less would make it heavy and pasty. This may be true for ice creams
containing gums and other stabilizers. However, some high-quality manufacturers produce rich
(and expensive) ice cream with as little as 20% overrun.
Overrun is affected by many factors, including the type of freezing equipment, the length of
churning time, the fat content of the mix, the percentage of solids in the mix, and how full the
freezer is.

POPULAR ICE CREAM DESSERTS

Parfaits are made by alternating layers of ice cream and fruit or syrup in tall, narrow glasses. They are
usually named after the syrup or topping. For example, a chocolate parfait has three scoops of vanilla or
chocolate ice cream alternating with layers of chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream and shaved
chocolate.
Sundaes or coupes consist of one or two scoops of ice cream or sherbet placed in a dish or glass and
topped with any of a number of syrups, fruits, toppings, and garnishes. They are quick to prepare, unlimited
in variety, and as simple or as elegant as you wish—served in an ordinary soda fountain glass or in a silver
cup or crystal champagne glass.
Coupes are often elegant, attractively decorated desserts. Many types have been handed down from the
classic cuisine of years ago. The following are some classic coupes and similar desserts that are still popular
today.
Coupe Arlesienne In the bottom of the cup, place a spoonful of diced candied fruits that have been
soaked in kirsch. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, top with a poached pear half, and coat with apricot
sauce.
Coupe Black Forest Place a scoop of chocolate ice cream in the cup and add sweet, dark cherries
flavored with a little cherry brandy. If desired, add a few chopped walnuts. Decorate with rosettes of
whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
Coupe Edna May Top vanilla ice cream with sweet cherries. Decorate with whipped cream mixed with
enough raspberry purée to color it pink.
Coupe Gressac Top vanilla ice cream with three small almond macaroons that have been moistened
with kirsch. Top with a small poached peach half, cut side up, and fill the center of the peach with red
currant jelly. Decorate with a border of whipped cream.
Coupe Jacques Place a scoop each of lemon sherbet and strawberry ice cream in a cup. Top with a
mixture of diced, fresh fruit flavored with kirsch.
Coupe aux Marrons Top vanilla ice cream with candied chestnuts (marrons glacés) and whipped
cream.
Coupe Orientale Place diced pineapple in the bottom of the cup and add pineapple sherbet.Top with
apricot sauce and toasted almonds.
Peach Melba Top vanilla ice cream with a poached peach half covered with Melba sauce and topped with
slivered almonds.
Pear Belle Hélène Top vanilla ice cream with a poached pear half covered with chocolate sauce and
garnished with toasted, sliced almonds.
Among other popular ice cream desserts are Meringues Glacées and Frozen Éclairs and Profiteroles
.Another popular festive dessert is called Baked Alaska. Although no one is surprised by it any more, one of
the classic names for this dessert is Soufflé Surprise, so called because it looks like baked whipped eggs on
the outside but is frozen inside

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 STILL-FROZEN DESSERTS
A still-frozen dessert is one that is not stirred during freezing.
The air mixed into ice cream by churn-freezing is important to its texture. Without this air, the ice
cream would be hard and heavy rather than smooth and creamy. Desserts that are still-frozen—
that is, frozen in a container without mixing—also must have air mixed into them in order to be
soft enough to eat. In this case, the air is incorporated before freezing by mixing in whipped
cream, whipped egg whites, or both.

Types of Still-Frozen Desserts

Still-frozen desserts include bombes, frozen soufflés, and frozen mousses.

a) Parfait: In North America, the term parfait usually means an ice

cream dessert consisting of layers of ice cream and topping in a tall,
thin glass. The original parfait, however, is a still-frozen dessert
frozen in a tall, thin mold and unmolded for service. The mixture for
parfaits consists of three elements: a thick, sweet egg-yolk foam, an
equal volume of whipped cream, and flavorings.
b) Bombe: The parfait mixture is also called a bombe mixture because
it is used in the production of a dessert called a bombe. The bombe
is one of the most elegant frozen desserts, and it is often
elaborately decorated with fruits, whipped cream, petits fours secs,
and other items after unmolding. It is made by lining a chilled mold
(usually spherical or dome-shaped) with a layer of ice cream or
sherbet and freezing it hard. The center is then filled with a bombe mixture of compatible
flavor and then frozen again. Mixtures for frozen mousses can also be used to fill bombes,
as can regular ice cream or sherbet, but a special bombe mixture is most often used.
c) Semifreddo: Semifreddo is the Italian word for “semi-cold” or “half-
cold.” It is a partially frozen dessert that is made from all three
foams—yolks, whites (French meringue), and whipped heavy
cream—plus the addition of flavor typically added in a liquid form,
which makes it incredibly light. It is usually frozen and served in a
vessel (cup, glass, bowl), but not necessarily. As with a parfait, it can
be frozen into any mold (such as a sheet pan extender or terrine mold), then extracted and
portioned into the desired shape and size. The French equivalent is known as a biscuit
glacé or ice-sponge. In Spanish they are known as semifríos.
d) Frozen Mousses and Frozen Soufflés
Frozen mousses are light frozen desserts containing whipped cream. Although they are all
similar in character because of their whipped cream content, the bases for them are made
in several ways. Three types of preparations are included here:
• Mousse with Italian meringue base
• Mousse with syrup and fruit base
• Mousse with custard base
The mixture for bombes and parfaits can also be used for mousses. The simplest method
for serving mousse is to pour the mixture into individual serving dishes and freeze them.
The mixtures can also be poured into molds of various shapes. After unmolding, the

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 mousse is cut into portions and decorated with whipped cream and appropriate fruits,
cookies, or other items.
Frozen soufflés are simply mousse or bombe mixtures frozen in
soufflé dishes or other straight-sided dishes. A band of heavy
paper or foil is tied around the mold so it extends 2 in. (5 cm)
or more above the rim of the dish. The mousse or bombe
mixture is poured in so that it comes within 1⁄2 in. (12 mm) of
the top of this band. After the dessert is frozen, the band is removed. The dessert thus
looks like a hot soufflé that has risen above its baking dish.
Other items may be incorporated in the frozen soufflé, such as sponge cake, ladyfingers,
baked meringue, fruits, and so forth.

Meringue

Meringues are whipped egg whites sweetened with sugar.

Meringues are made by whipping egg white into foam and adding sugar, the amount of which
determines whether the meringue is soft or hard. Soft meringues, those used for pie toppings,
may be made with as little as 1 lb sugar per pound of egg whites. Hard meringues, those baked
until crisp, are made with up to twice as much sugar as egg whites.

Uses of Meringues
 They are frequently used for pie toppings and cake icings.
 They are also used to give volume and lightness to buttercream icings and to such
preparations as mousses and dessert soufflés.
 Another excellent use for meringues is to bake them in a slow oven until crisp. In this form,
they can be used as cake layers or pastry shells to make light, elegant desserts. To add
flavor, chopped nuts may be folded into meringues before forming and baking.

Basic Meringue Types

Meringues may be whipped to various degrees of stiffness as long as they are not overbeaten until
they are too stiff and dry. For most purposes, they are beaten until they form stiff, or nearly stiff,
moist peaks.

1. French meringue, also called Common meringue, is made from egg whites at room
temperature, beaten with sugar. It is the easiest to make, and it is reasonably stable due to

Page 13
 the high percentage of sugar.

2. Swiss meringue is made from egg whites and sugar that are warmed over a hot water bath
while they are beaten. This warming gives the meringue better volume and stability.

3. Italian meringue is made by beating a hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. This meringue is
the most stable of the three because the egg whites are cooked by the heat of the syrup.
When flavoured with vanilla, it is also known as boiled icing. It is also used in meringue-
type buttercream icings.

Page 14
Guidelines for Making Meringues
a) Fats prevent whites from foaming properly This is very important. Make sure all
equipment is free of any trace of fat or grease, and that the egg whites have no trace of
yolks in them.
b) Egg whites foam better if they are at room temperature than if they are cold Remove
them from the cooler 1 hour before whipping.
c) Do not overbeat Beaten egg whites should look moist and shiny. Overbeaten meringues
look dry and curdled; they are difficult to fold into other ingredients and have lost much of
their ability to leaven cakes and soufflés.
d) Sugar makes egg white foams more stable Meringues are thicker and heavier than
unsweetened egg white foams, and they are more stable. However, egg whites can hold
only a limited amount of sugar without sacrificing some volume. For this reason, when
making common meringues, many cooks prefer to whip the egg whites with no more than
an equal weight of sugar. Additional sugar can be folded in after the meringue is whipped.
e) Mild acids help foaming A small amount of cream of tartar or lemon juice is sometimes
added to egg whites for whipping in order to give them more volume and stability. This is
especially helpful when the whipped whites are folded into other ingredients to provide
lightness or leavening, as in the case of angel food cakes. Use about 2 tsp cream of tartar
per pound of egg whites (15 g/kg).

Baking Meringues
Egg whites are beaten to the stiff stage, the sugar is beaten in, and the resultant meringue is
shaped, placed on a parchment covered baking sheet, and baked at the low temperature of 225°F
(107°C) for about an hour or longer, depending on the size of the individual portions. When the
meringue is delicately browned and the end product firm, the oven is turned off, the door left
open, and the meringue left in the cooling oven for at least 5 minutes. Once the meringue is
removed from the oven, the remainder of the cooling period should occur in a warm place free of
draft s.

Meringue Problems: Weeping, Grittiness, Stickiness Meringues can go wrong in a number of ways. Under-
or overbeaten foams may weep syrup into unsightly beads or puddles. Beads also form when the sugar
hasn’t been completely dissolved; residual crystals attract water from their surroundings and make pockets
of concentrated syrup. Undissolved sugar (including invisibly small particles present in an undercooked
syrup that then slowly grow at room temperature) will give a gritty texture to a meringue. Too high an oven
temperature can squeeze water from the coagulating proteins faster than it can evaporate and produce
syrup beads; it can also cause the foam to rise and crack, and turn its surface an unappealing yellow.
Weeping (syneresis) The escape of liquid to the bottom of a meringue or the formation of pores filled with
liquid.
Beading The formation of tiny syrup droplets on the surface of a baked meringue.

Page 15
 BREAD MAKING
In its simplest form bread is wheat flour and water mixed together to form dough and
baked. Bread, as we think of, it is leavened with yeast, and yeast grows and splits the sugars that
are present to form carbon dioxide. This expands the dough as the dough bakes, the gluten and
starches present in the dough becomes firm on baking, and we have bread.
Bread, as we usually make it, contains salt, milk, shortening, and sugar and may have eggs
added to it.
Sweet doughs are similar to bread doughs except that flavourings and more sugar have
been added. Some sweet dough formulas call for the addition of cake or pastry flour; this result in
less gluten being developed and a less chewy product.
Rolls coffee cake, and Danish pastry are similar to bread in that the basic ingredients are
flour, yeast, and water. Dozens of varieties of rolls and breads are possible, all similar in that the
basic structure depends upon the flour and water dough.

Yeast Product Types

Although all yeast doughs are made according to essentially the same basic principles, it is useful
to divide products into categories such as the following.

LEAN DOUGH PRODUCTS

A lean dough is one that is low in fat and sugar.
 Hard-crusted breads and rolls, including French and Italian breads, Kaiser rolls and other
hard rolls, and pizza. These are the leanest of all bread products.
 Other white and whole wheat breads and dinner rolls. These have a higher fat and sugar
content and sometimes also contain eggs and milk solids. Because they are slightly richer,
they generally have soft crusts.
 Breads made with other grains. Rye breads are the most common. Many varieties of rye
bread are produced, with light or dark flours or with pumpernickel flour, and with various
flavorings, especially molasses and caraway seeds.

RICH DOUGH PRODUCTS

There is no exact dividing line between rich and lean doughs but, in general, rich doughs are those
that contain higher proportion of Fat, Sugar, and sometimes eggs.
 Non-sweet breads and rolls, including rich dinner rolls and brioche. These have a high fat
content, but their sugar content is low enough to allow them to be served as dinner breads.
Brioche dough, made with a high proportion of butter and eggs, is especially rich.
 Sweet rolls, including coffee cakes and many breakfast and tea rolls. These have high fat and
sugar content and usually contain eggs. They generally have a sweet filling or topping.

ROLLED-IN YEAST DOUGH PRODUCTS

Rolled-in doughs are those in which a fat is incorporated into the dough in many layers by using a
rolling and folding procedure. The alternating layers of fat and dough give the baked product a
flaky texture.
 Non-sweet rolled-in dough: Croissants
 Sweet rolled-in dough: Danish pastry.

Page 16
 Contribution of the Ingredients to Bread Making
The essential ingredients of bread-making are Flour, Yeast, Salt, Water and Sugar. And the optional
ingredients are Fat, Milk, Improvers, and Fruit & nuts.

Flour
Flour is the most important ingredient in bread. Wheat flour is mostly used for bread-making. Next
to wheat, Rye is the most popular flour for bread-making. Products milled from other grains are
occasionally used to add variety to baked goods. These include cornmeal, rice flour, buckwheat
flour, soy flour, potato flour, oat flour and barley flour.

Most flours contain all the food necessary for the fermentation of yeast. The most essential food
is dextrose sugar (glucose) which is directly fermented into carbon dioxide by a group of enzymes
in yeast called zymase. Because yeast contains enzymes which are capable of changing cane sugar
(sucrose) into fructose and glucose and malt sugar (maltose) into glucose, almost any sweet
material (except milk sugar) will act as a source of food material.

Wheat flour (Fr. farine) is produced by milling wheat kernels (berries). It is composed of several
layers that protect the endosperm, which contains starches and proteins. The innermost part is
the germ, which contains fat and serves as the wheat seed. During milling, the kernels first pass
through metal rollers to crack them, and then the bran and germ are removed through repeated
stages of sifting and separation. The remaining endosperm is then ground into flour. Flour made
from the portion of the endosperm closest to the germ (also known as patent flour) is finer; flour
made from the portion of the endosperm nearer the bran (clear flour) is coarser and darker.

Flour proteins are of crucial importance because of their gluten-forming potential. Gluten is the
tough, rubbery substance created when wheat flour is mixed with water. Gluten strands are both
plastic (that is, they change shape under pressure) and elastic (they resume their original shape
when that pressure is removed). Gluten is responsible for the volume, texture and appearance of
baked goods. It provides structure and enables dough to retain the gases given off by leavening
agents. The proteins responsible for gluten formation are glutenin and gliadin. Flour does not
contain gluten; only a dough or batter can contain gluten. Gluten is produced when glutenin and
gliadin are moistened and manipulated, as when they are stirred or kneaded.

The character of the wheat determines the character of the flour. Wheat is classified as soft or
hard depending on the kernel’s hardness. The harder the wheat kernel, the higher its protein
content. Soft wheat yields a soft flour with a low protein content. Soft flour, also called weak
flour, is best for tender products such as cakes. Hard wheat yields a hard flour with a high protein
content. Hard flour, also known as strong flour, is used for yeast breads.

Functions of Flour
1. Acts as a binding find and as an absorbing agent.
2. Gives better volume, softness, texture and flavour.
3. Affects the keeping quality.
4. Builds structure of the products.
5. Holds other ingredients together.
6. Is the backbone of yeast goods.
Page 17
TYPES OF FLOUR AND THEIR COMMON USES
Protein content between 9 and 11%, used for yeasted coffee cakes, doughnuts,
All-purpose flour
enriched sandwich bread.
Bread flour Protein content between 11.5 and 13%, used to make hearth breads.
Protein content 14%, used in combination with bread or all-purpose flours, good for
High gluten flour highly machined doughs, combination with grain flours lacking gluten, highly acidic
breads.
Protein content around 13%, used for health breads or to give flavor to hearth
Whole wheat flour
breads.
Patent durum flour Protein content around 12%, particularly good in hearth breads.
Pastry flour Protein content around 9%, used in enriched breads for tenderness.
Wheat bran Used extensively in health breads and in muffins.
Wheat germ Provides nutty, pleasant taste in bread.

Yeast
Yeast is the most common biological leavening agent used. Fermentation is the method by
which the yeast acts on sugar and changes them into carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. This release
of gas produces the leavening action in yeast products. The alcohol evaporates completely during
and immediately after the baking.
Different strains of yeasts are used for different purposes, but the baker’s yeast used is
Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The action of yeast can be represented as follows:-

SUGAR ALCOHOL + CARBON DIOXIDE

Yeast

Fermentable sugar in bread dough comes from two sources:

1. Sugar added to the dough as part of the recipe.
2. Enzyme amylase present in the malt in flour convert the starch into glucose which can be
fermented by yeast, Deficiency of malt in flour is supplemented by addition of diastatic
malt.

HANDLING OF YEAST: Since yeast is a living organism it is sensitive to extreme temperature.

Inactive (storage temp.) 34o F (1o C)
Slow Action 60 to 70o F (15 to 20o C)
Maximum growth (Optimum Fermentation) 70 to 90 oF (20 to 32 oC)
Slowing of growth Above 100o F (38o C)
Yeast is killed 140o F (60o C)

Precaution to be borne while handling yeast.

1. Yeast should not be in direct contact with salt. Too much salt in dough can result in slow
proving.
2. Lower room temperature will slow down the action of yeast.
3. Shorter the proving time more yeast is required and vice versa. Too much yeast will give a
yeasty flavour.
4. More fat content and excess sugar retards the growth of yeast.

Page 18
TYPES OF YEAST
1. Fresh yeast: Fresh yeast has maximum potency but short life. Good yeast has cheese like
texture and on deterioration has a crumbly or watery appearance. It has to be stored in
refrigerator.
2. Dried yeast: has long storage life but least potency. Dried yeast is available in granular
form and has to be activated with little water and sugar before adding to the dough.
3. Activated dried yeast: Activated dried yeast has a long storage and potency similar to that
of fresh yeast.

Functions of Yeast
1. Takes sugar and releases C02 and alcohol. It gives volume and softness.
2. Improves the flavour, grain and texture.
3. For conditioning the dough so that it attains sufficient pressure of CO2 gas and form
the structure of the product.

Salt
Salt plays a very important role in baking. It is more than just a seasoning or flavor enhancer.
Functions of Salt
1. Gives salty taste and enhances the sweetness.
2. Gives flavour.
3. Controls the yeast activity.
4. Is a toughener. Without salt the dough is wet.
5. Keeps the product moist and fresh for a long time.
6. More salt in the bread formula will make the top crust dark in colour.
7. Gives strengthening effect to the protein, which improves the gas retention power.
8. Improves the flavour, texture and grain,
9. Enhances the natural flavour of other ingredients.
10. Helps prevent the formation and growth of undesirable bacteria at a certain level
in the yeast-raised dough.
11. Improves the shelf life.

Water

Functions of Water
1. Gives moisture to the products.
2. Helps distribute the dry ingredients evenly into the dough.
3. Helps build the structure.
4. Controls the dough temperature.
5. Controls the dough consistency which may affect the volume and texture.
6. Helps form the gluten when mixed with flour and kneaded.
7. Wets and swells starch and renders it digestible.
8. Keeps the product palatable longer.
9. Improves the shelf life.
10. Is converted into vapour during baking, which requires more space and thus leavens
the products.

Page 19
 Sugar
Any sugar may be added to bread but in practice we usually use the following: Granulated, castor or syrup.
This should first be dissolved into some of the dough water (liquid).
Functions of Sugar
1. Gives sweet taste.
2. Is a food for yeast.
3. Produces C02 that raises the dough fabric (structure).
4. Improves the flavour and taste.
5. Retains moisture for a longer time and increases the shelf life.
6. Helps get crust colour.
7. Gives a smooth, soft, white texture grain and crumbs.
8. Improves the toasting quality, the colour and flavour of the toast by caramelization.

Fat
Fat incorporated into the fl our mixture physically interferes with the development of gluten, creating a
more tender crumb. The fats most commonly used in baking are shortenings, unsalted butter, and
margarine. Oil and lard are sometimes used.
Functions of Fat
1. Improves the nutritional value.
2. Helps retain the moisture which improves the sliceability of the bread.
3. Makes the product lender and more palatable.
4. Improves the eating quality, shelf life and texture quality.
5. Gives a characteristic flavour.
6. Improves the crumb structure and crust.
7. Gives softness and taste.
8. Keeps the flour gluten.
9. Provides extensibility to the dough.

Milk
In addition to contributing water, milk adds flavor and nutrients (complete protein, B vitamins, and
calcium), and contains certain compounds that help produce a velvety texture, a creamy white crumb, and
a browner crust. Doughs made with milk are easier to shape, le ss sticky and heavy, and retain their shape
better. They also tend to expand during fermentation without over- or underdevelopment, and retain gas
better, which results in a higher volume.
Functions of Milk
1. Improves the nutritional value.
2. Gives the gas retention power of dough and helps in producing soft and silky
structure.
3. Increases the flavour and taste.
4. Improves the crust colour and water retention power of bread by the presence of
lactose.
5. Enhances the texture quality.
6. Keeps the product moist and increases the shelf life.
7. Contains butterfat, which adds unique flavour to the products.
8. Helps bind the flour protein.
9. Has a buffering action on dough but excessive fermentation may produce undesirable
quantity of lactic acid which may break down the gluten resulting in bread having
a very coarse and dark crumb and unpleasant sour taste and flavour.

Page 20
 Bread Improvers
We refer to flour as being either strong or weak. The strength of flour varies according to its
strength and also according to factors such as starch content, sugar content, the water absorption
power (WAP) of the flour and even the color. These aspects will affect the final outcome. In order
to make good bread, it is not always possible to use the right type of flour as the availability may
vary. It becomes necessary therefore to add something to the dough in order to bring the product
to a pre-determined standard. This addition should be with discretion on knowledge, otherwise,
the quality of the bread instead of improving, may actually worsen.

Bread improvers are substances, which when added to dough, enables the baker to produce an
improved loaf with better keeping qualities, finer textures, softer crumb, added bloom and
enhanced flavor.
There are three main types of bread improvers:
1. Mineral additives
2. Yeast foods
3. Enriching agents
MINERAL ADDITIVES

Mineral bread improvers are used during the milling of wheat flour. They are commonly used by
the baker during production as well. They will include:
 Perusulphates – used by the miller at the rate of ¼ to ½ oz per 280 lbs (one sack). The
perusulphates used are potassium and ammonium. Flour treated with perusulphates will
take on more water and an increased yield is obtained.

 Glyceral Mono Stearate - The mono glyceral ester of stearic acid, which has remarkable
emulsifying power, is used as an emulsion stabilizer and as a crumb softener in bread.

 Potassium Bromate – It is used by the miller at the rate of 1 lb per sack (280 lbs). Bromate
increases the stability on the gluten to extend. Bromate has an astringent action on gluten
thereby increasing the use of water in the dough. It also increases the gas retaining
properties of the gluten, thus improving loaf volume.

 Phosphates – Acid calcium phosphates and ammonium phosphates both have a tightening
action on gluten and since phosphates are a necessary constituent of yeast food, they are
both fermented stimulants. Acid calcium phosphate (ACP) is used at the rate of 1 lb per
sack (280lbs) which can be increased to 2 lbs per sack to inhibit the development of rope. A
phosphate is added at the rate of 8 oz per sack.

 Lime Water – Lime water was used to retard the fermentation of the dough in hot weather
climates. In addition, it has astringent action on the gluten. As lime is alkaline, it reduces
the acidity of the dough and thus slows the rate of the fermentation. It is used at the rate
of 1 quart per sack.

 Organic acid – Organic acids are natural constituents of fermented dough. They are added
to get the dough better conditioned. Lactic acid can be added at the rate of 8 oz per sack.
Sussinic acid is added at the rate of 2-4 oz per sack.
Page 21
  Lecithin - Another powerful emulsifying agent which when used at the rate of 4-8 oz
per sack, reduces stickiness in a dough and allows more water to be used .

YEAST FOODS

Yeast foods indirectly affect the bread in a number of ways by their effect on fermentation. Malt
not only provides food directly to the yeast but manufactures further supplies as and when
needed whilst simultaneously mellowing and softening the gluten of the flour.

There are two types of malt: diastatic and non diastatic.

Diastatic malt add to the flavor, it increases the sugar content in the dough and provides diastatic
sugar for the fermentation process. Diastatic enzymes also contain proolytic enzymes which
modify gluten. Non Diastatic malt serves the dual purpose of providing sugar as well as adding to
the flavor.

ENRICHING AGENTS

Enrichment is a way of increasing nutritional value of the bread along with improvements in
volume, texture and the keeping quality of the bread

Fats - Fats have a physical rather than a chemical effect on dough. As fat is a shortening agent, it
reduces toughness, thus making the product more mellow. It is particularly valuable for use with
strong flour with tough and harsh gluten content. Fats can be used in small quantities to give
optimum effect. Fat also increases food value. They add to the moistness in bread thereby
retarding staling. They also impart flavor to the bread.

Milk and Milk Products - Whole milk added to dough has the effect of adding fat as well as sugar,
besides calcium salts and casein.

Eggs – The incorporation of eggs in a bread dough results in many improvements. Egg adds to the
increased volume, better texture and better oven spring. It is economical to use as it contributes
immensely to improved quality and volume of the product.

Functions of Bread Improvers

1. Increase the gluten strength and soft and shine texture.
2. Improve the leavening activity.
3. Enhance the dough extensibility.
4. Control the mold growth.
5. Increase the product external and internal qualities (e.g. volume, crust colour,
structure, texture, moisture, aroma, grain, and taste).
6. Improve the nutritional value.
7. Increase the products' shelf life.
8. Help increase the fermentation tolerance.
9. Improve the slicing quality.

Page 22
 Steps in Yeast Dough Production
There are 12 basic steps in the production in yeast breads. These steps are generally applied to all
yeast products, with variations depending on the particular product.

1. SCALING INGREDIENTS
All ingredients must be weighed accurately. Water, milk and eggs may be measured by volume.
Special care must be taken when measuring spices and other ingredients used in very small
quantities. This is particularly important with salt, which affects the rate of fermentation.

2. MIXING
Mixing yeast doughs has three main purposes:
 To combine all ingredients into a uniform, smooth dough.
 To distribute the yeast evenly throughout the dough.
 To develop gluten.
Three principal mixing methods are used for yeast doughs: the straight dough method, the
sponge method (also called the sponge & dough method), and the salt delayed method.
Note:
 Overmixed and undermixed doughs have poor volume and texture. A properly developed
dough feels smooth and elastic. A lean dough should not be sticky. Rich doughs are
generally undermixed slightly because a greater tenderness is desired for these products.
 Overmixing is a common error in breadmaking. Gluten that is developed too long has
stretched nearly as far as it can and loses its elasticity. Then it tears instead of stretches,
and molding is more difficult.
 Salt, used in proper quantities, helps alleviate this problem because it makes gluten
stronger and more elastic.

3. FERMENTATION
Fermentation is the process by which yeast acts on the sugars and starches in the dough to
produce carbon dioxide gas and alcohol.
Gluten becomes smoother and more elastic during fermentation. So it stretches farther and holds
more gas. An underfermented dough will not develop proper volume, and the texture of the
product will be coarse. A dough that ferments too long or at too high temperature becomes sticky,
hard to work, and slightly sour. An underfermented dough is called a young dough. An
overfermented dough is called an old dough.
Doughs with weak gluten such as rye doughs and rich doughs are usually underfermented.
Note: It is important to be aware that fermentation continues during the next steps in yeast dough
production – punching, scaling, rounding, benching, and makeup or molding. Failure to allow for
this time may result in overfermented doughs.

4. PUNCHING
Punching is not hitting the dough with your fist. It is a method of deflating the dough that
 Expels carbon dioxide
 Redistributes the yeast for further growth
 Relaxes the gluten
 Equalizes the temperature throughout the dough
Additional fermentation and punching may or may not be necessary, depending on the product.
Page 23
5. SCALING
Using a baker,s scale, divide the dough into pieces of the same weight, according to the product
being made. During scaling allowance is made for weight loss due to evaporation of moisture in
the oven. This weight loss is approximately 10-13% of the weight of the dough. (Allow an extra 1½
to 2 oz. for each I lb baked bread or 50 to 65 gm per 500gm.)
Actual baking loss depends on baking time, size of the unit, and whether it is baked in a pan or
freestanding. Scaling should be done rapidly and efficiently to avoid overfermenting the dough.

6. ROUNDING
After scaling, the pieces of dough are shaped into smooth round balls. This procedure forms a kind
of skin by stretching the gluten in the outside of the dough into smooth layer. Rounding simplifies
the later shaping of the dough and also helps retain gases produced by the yeast.

7. BENCHING, BENCH PROOFING OR INTERMEDIATE PROOFING

Rounded portions of dough are allowed to rest for 10 to 20 minutes. This relaxes the gluten to
make shaping the dough easier. Also, fermentation continues during this time.
Note: In large operations, the rounded dough is placed in special proofers for this rest. Smaller
operations place the dough in boxes that are stacked on one another to keep the dough may
simply be placed on the workbench and covered – hence the term benching.

8. MAKEUP AND PANNING

The dough is shaped into loaves or rolls and then placed in pans or on baking sheets. Hearth
breads - breads baked directly on the bottom of the oven – may be placed in floured baskets or
other molds after makeup.
Proper makeup or molding is of critical importance to the finished baked product. All gas bubbles
should be expelled during molding. Bubbles left in the dough will result in large air holes in the
baked product.
For both pan breads and hearth breads, the seam must be centered on the bottom to avoid
splitting during baking. For units baked in pans, the pan size must be matched to the weight of the
dough. Too little or too much dough will result in poorly shaped loaf.

9. PROOFING
Proofing is a continuation of the process of yeast fermentation that increases the volume of the
shaped dough. Proofing temperatures are generally higher than fermentation temperatures.
Underproofing results in, poor volume, and dense texture. Overproofing results in coarse texture
and some loss of flavor.
Note: French bread is generally given a long proof to create its characteristic open texture. Rich
doughs are slightly underproofed because their weaker gluten structure does not withstand too
much stretching.

10. BAKING
The most important changes while baking are:
(i) Oven spring, which is the rapid rising in the oven due to production and expansion of
trapped gases as a result of the oven heat. The yeast is very active at first but is killed
when the temperature inside the dough reaches 140°F (60°C)
(ii) Coagulation of proteins and gelatinization of starches. In other words, the product
becomes firm and holds its shape.
(iii) Formation and browning of the crust.
Page 24
Oven Temperature and Baking Timeemperatures must be adjusted for the product being baked. At
the proper temperature, the inside of the unit becomes, completely baked at the same time that
the crust achieves the desired color.
Washes
Many yeast products are brushed with a liquid, called a WASH, just before baking, like water,
starch paste, egg wash, etc.
Cutting or Scoring
A break on the side of the loaf is caused by continued rising after the crust id formed. To allow for
this expansion, the tops of hard crusted breads are cut before baking.
Loading the Ovens
Proofed doughs are fragile until they become set by baking. They should be handled carefully
when being loaded into the ovens, and they should not be distributed during the first part of
baking.
Steam
Hard-crusted breads are baked with steam injected into the ovens during the first part of the
baking period. The steam helps keep the crust soft. The steam also helps distribute the heat in the
oven, further adding to the oven spring. Steam also results in a thin, crisp, glazed crust.

11. COOLING
After baking, bread must be removed from pans and cooled on racks to allow the escape of the
excess moisture and alcohol created during fermentation..
Small rolls spaced on baking sheets are often cooled on the pans when air circulation is adequate.
On the other hand, if condensation is likely to make the bottoms of the rolls soggy, it is better to
cool them on racks. If soft crusts are desired, breads may be crushed with melted shortening
before cooling. Do not cool bread in a draft because the crust may crack.

12. STORING
Breads to be served within 8 hours may be left on racks. For longer storage, wrap cooled breads in
moisture-proof bags to retard staling. Bread must be thoroughly cool before wrapping or moisture
will collect inside the bags. Wrapping and freezing maintains quality for longer periods.
Refrigeration, on the other hand, increases staling.
Hard crusted breads should not be wrapped (unless frozen) because the crusts will soften and
become leathery.

Page 25
 TYPES OF DOUGH MAKING PROCESSES

1. STRAIGHT DOUGH

By this mean dough is made in one stage i.e. all the ingredients are mixed together in the dough
which will be ultimately made into bread. These may be as follows:
a) No-time dough – Dough which are sealed and moulded immediately they are made i.e.
given no bulk fermentation time.
b) Short Fermentation Process – Dough which is given only a few hours bulk fermentation
e.g. 1 or 2 hours. Most bakers today make their bread on this type of short processes. Not
only can fluctuations of temperatures be more closely controlled but yield is not sacrificed.
c) Medium Fermentation Process – From 3-6 hours.
d) Long Fermentation Process – These are given six or more hour’s bulk fermentation. Bread
from the dough made under such conditions usually had a very good flavor but it was often
either overripe or underripe.

2. SPONGE AND DOUGH

In this process very slack dough is made from most of the water and the yeast but only a
proportion of flour. After the “sponge” as it now called had fermented for the required time, the
rest flour and salt etc. is mixed in it to form the dough. A short process of 2 hours approx. involving
a sponge is called a “flying sponge”.
For overnight sponges it is usual to leave approx. 6-7% of water out of the initial sponge. And add
this at the time of incorporating the rest of the flour. The temperature of the finished dough can
thus be adjusted by the temperature of this added water. It is safer, however, to make up long
sponge processes with cold water to minimize excessive temperature fluctuations.
When making sponge and dough three other points need to be considered.
a) Since a more thorough ripening takes place stronger flour may be used.
b) Considerable softening takes place so that the longer the fermentation , the stiffer it
would be made.
c) The shorter the process the more flour which should be used in the sponge so that a
greater bulk can be ripened.

3. SALT DELAYED METHOD

In this process the salt is omitted at the initial stage of dough making but added by dusting into
the dough at the knock back stage. It is important that the salt should be free flowing to execute
this properly and it might be necessary to sieve it first. Lumps of salt do not easily disperse in a
medium like dough and could find their way into the finished loaf.
The advantages of leaving out the salt for up to 3/4 of the bulk fermentation time is as follows:
a) A more thorough ripening of the gluten results in a finer crumb structure
b) Crumb stability is improved.
c) Fuller fermentation results in a better flavour.
d) The dough behaves when the subjected to automatic plant processing giving better
release characteristics yet exhibiting stickiness to help to seal the seam of the moulded
loaves.

Page 26
 Bread Diseases
Bread is mostly affected by two main diseases, namely, rope and mould. Bread is not affected by
diseases throughout the year but only when the weather is warm and humid, as is the case during
the period during the period from April to August in major parts of the country. In other seasons
the chances of rope disease are very rare.

Rope
Rope is a chief disease of the bread. It is caused by Bacillus mesentericus valgatus which generally
comes from the soil. It is deposited in the crease of the wheat kernel. In spite of thorough cleaning
during milling process, these bacteria do not get removed completely. Hence they get mixed with
the resultant flour. Apart from this basic source, the bacteria may also find their way to the
product from some ingredients (salt, sugar, etc) or if unhygienic conditions prevail in the bakery
premises. The peculiar characteristics of these bacteria is that they are not destroyed during
baking operations and if initially infected the bread will remain as heavily infected even after
baking.

Symptoms
1. At the initial stage of the disease, a peculiar smell develops, which may be similar to
rotten fruit or overripe pineapple.
2. The crumb becomes a little discoloured and sticky.
3. As the time passes, the smell becomes overwhelmingly unpleasant.
4. The crumb becomes brown discolored as well as soft and sticky.
5. While separating two slices from each other, a thin rope-like thread is seen.
6. Very heavy infection may almost liquefy the crumb.
Control
1. Some acid substances may be added to the dough when mixing. Calcium propionate 2-3
gm can be added for 1 kg of flour. Diluted acetic acid 2-5 ml for 1 kg flour and vinegar 2-8
ml for 1 kg of flour.
2. Cleanliness of the bakery (of the utensils, tools, equipments and building)
3. Satisfactory storage conditions for the flour and all other ingredients.
4. Storage room should be well ventilated.
5. Warm and humid conditions should be avoided (temperature between 70 and 95°F and
humidity between 65 and 95% are quite suitable for bread storage)
6. Good vigorous fermentation.
7. Balancing the bread recipe.
8. When packing, the bread should never be superimposed on each other.
9. Cooling the loaves as quickly as possible in wire grids with good air space between in a cool
corridor.
10. Bread always should be well baked having uniform golden brown colour on all the sides.
11. Preventing any infected bread coming into the bakery.
12. In overnight sponge the chance for rope is less.
13. An underbaked bread should never be packed with the well baked bread because it allows
the moisture to escape out.
‘

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 Mould

Spores of various kinds of moulds are always present in the atmosphere. These spores start
growing whenever they find suitable conditions of warmth and moisture in the crumb of the
bread. They enter through the cracks on the surface of the bread and proliferate inside spoiling
the entire crumb.

Bread is normally infected by three kinds of mould:

1. White Mucor mucedo
2. Greening or bluish Penicillium and Aspergillus
3. Black Aspergillus niger

Control
1. When underbaked or undercooled bread is sliced, some of the crumb particles stick to the
slicer blade which is contaminated by atmospheric mould spores. It automatically transfers
to crumb of fresh batch when passed through the slicer. So never slice the bread when it is
underbaked and when it is hot.
2. The storeroom should be well ventilated.
3. Avoid packing the warm bread and storage of bread in a warm and humid atmosphere.
4. Immediately dispose of the spoiled products because it will affect the fresh product.
5. The bread slicer blade should be cleaned before and after slicing the bread.
6. Bakery and equipments should be clean.
7. When packing, the bread should never be superimposed on each other.
8. The bread should be kept on racks spaced about half an inch apart from each other.
9. Personal hygiene is very important.
10. It may be desirable to install exhaust fan in the bread-cooling room.

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 Bread Faults and Their Causes
Sometimes some changes will arise during the production of bread, which will be different
from normal bread quality standard. It is known as bread faults. The following are the
most possible causes for the faults in bread:
1. Wrong quality of raw materials and wrong quantity/inaccurate measurement.
2. Inadequate knowledge about raw materials and their functions
3. Unbalanced formula and wrong processing.
4. Incorrect lime and temperature for fermentation and proofing conditions.
5. Incorrect methods of knock back, dividing moulding and panning.
6. Improper baking temperature, time and humidity.
7. Inadequate cooling before slicing and packing.
8. Improper storage conditions.
9. Less knowledge, skills and experience of the baker.
A skilled baker examines the bread carefully and by reasoning, deductions, elimination
and, if necessary, by experimentation he should be able to detect the cause of fault and
subsequently find the solution.
The bread faults are classified into two ways: External and Internal.

External bread faults and their causes Internal bread faults and their causes
Lack of volume Holes and tunnels
1. Wrong quality of flour 1. Very weak or strong flour
2. Wrong quality and quantity of yeast 2. Too much of yeast
3. Wrong quality of water (alkaline water) 3. Too hard and granular fat
4. Too much salt, fat and sugar. 4. Too little salt
5. High bran content in flour 5. High amount of chemicals
6. Improper mixing 6. Uneven mixing of raw materials
7. Under-fermantation of dough 7. Too slack dough
8. Too chilled dough 8. Too much of raw flour
9. Insufficient dough weight for pan size 9. Very hot oven
10. Improper proofing (underproofing) 10. Improper processing (knock hack,
11. Improper baking temperature (too hot dividing, moulding, etc.)
oven)
12. Too tight dough Poor taste and flavour
13. Improper humidity in proofing room 1. Poor quality of raw materials
14. Too much milk or milk powder, improvers 2. Poor quality of flour
and chemicals. 3. Too much/low salt
4. Too low sugar
Too much volume 5. Too much yeast
1. Too little salt 6. Over-fermented or under-fermented
2. Too much yeast dough
3. Over-fermentation 7. Dough temperature too high
4. Too slack a dough 8. Too low baking temperature and time
5. Dough weight too much for pan 9. Burned crust
6. Loose moulding 10. Uncleaned trays or pans
7. Too much proofing 11. Too much pan/tray greasing
8. Too low oven temperature 12. Poor stale yeast

Page 29
Crust colour too pale Coarse grain
1. Too little sugar or milk and salt 1. Too much yeast
2. Too much of yeast 2. Too much liquid
3. Low diastatic capacity in the flour 3. Uneven mixing of raw materials
4. Under-mixing 4. Under-mixing of dough
5. Too slack a dough 5. Improper fermentation
6. Too much temperature for fermentation 6. Over-proofed
7. Over-proofing 7. Dough weight too much for pan
8. Too much dusting flour used 8. Too low dough temperature
9. Underbaking 9. Improper make up (dividing)
10. Too low oven temperature and time
11. Hot proofing room Gray crumb
1. Excess fat
Crust colour too dark
2. Excess or less salt
1. Too much sugar or milk, egg, fat and salt
3. Excess mineral Improvers
2. Too low dough temperature
4. Less moisture content
3. Too much diastatic activity in the dough
5. Slack dough/ tight dough
4. Very high oven temperature
6. Under-fermentahon
5. Lack of humidity in the oven
7. Over-fermentation
6. Too long baking lime
8. Too high temperature
7. Too young dough (under--fermented or
over-mixed)
Streaky crumb
Cracking of crust 1. Insufficient water
1. Dough skinning before baking 2. Improper mixing
2. Short process of bread preparation 3. Poor makeup (moulding, panning)
3. Over-proofed dough 4. Too much dusting flour used
4. Uneven baking temperature
Crust too thick Poor keeping quality
1. Poor quality or too strong flour 1. Poor quality of flour
2. Too little sugar or fat 2. Insufficient salt, sugar and fat
3. Less diastatic activity in the flour 3. Too much improvers
4. Over-fermented dough (old dough) 4. Too stiff dough
5. Too low oven temperature 5. Too high dough temperature
6. Over-baked (baked too long) 6. Insufficient fermentation
7. Low humidity in oven 7. Too slacky dough
8. Low humidity in proofing area 8. Improper moulding
9. Overproofed
Crust too hard/hardness in bread 10. Too much dusting flour
1. Too strong flour 11. Too low baking time and temperature
1. Low fat in the formula 12. Lack of steam in oven
2. Excess water in the formula 13. Overproofing
3. Over-mixing after water has been added 14. Slicing of hot bread
4. Insufficient fermentation 15. Wrong quality of raw materials
5. Too much of improvers or bleaching 16. Poor storage conditions
agents 17. Without wrapping bread
6. Too tight dough
7. Excess flour while rolling and holding
before baking

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 Poor texture
Crust blisters 1. Too weak flour
1. Too much liquid 2. Too little salt
1. Improper mixing 3. Excess fat/water
2. Loose moulding 4. Insufficient quantity of yeast
3. Young dough (under-fermented dough) 5. Too much improvers
4. Excessive top heat in oven 6. Wrong quality of water (alkaline water)
7. Improper mixing
Leathery crust 8. Too slack dough
1. Too strong flour used 9. Too long or short fermentation time
2. Too slack dough 10. Too much of dusting flour
3. Insufficient cooling before packing 11. Improper moulding
4. Uneven fermentation 12. Too much pan grease
5. Excessive humidity during proofing or 13. Overproofed or underproofed
baking 14. Too low oven temperature
6. Insufficient kneading 15. Slicing of hot bread
16. Improper processing (not given knock
Irregularity of shape back)
1. Too strong or weak flour
2. Wrong quality of water (alkaline water)
3. Less bread improvers
4. Improper mixing (over or under)
5. Rough handling the dough
6. Too slack or stiff dough
7. Over-ripened dough
8. Excess dough as compared to bread pan
size
9. Rough handling of bread
10. Improper fermentation or proofing
11. Overloading in oven
12. Loose moulding

Shelling of top crust

1. Low diastatic activity of the flour
2. Too stiff dough
3. Young dough
4. Under-proofing
5. Insufficient sugar
6. Too high baking temperature

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 BREAD FAULTS AND THEIR CAUSES
Because of the complexity of bread products, many things can go wrong. To remedy common
bread faults, check the following troubleshooting guide for possible causes and correct your
procedures.
Fault Causes Fault Causes
SHAPE TEXTURE & CRUMB
Poor Volume Too much salt Too Dense or Close-grained Too much salt
Too little yeast Too little liquid
Too little liquid Too little yeast
Weak flour Underfermented
Under/over mixing Underproofed
Oven too hot Too Coarse or Open Too much yeast
Too Much Volume Too little salt Too much liquid
Too much yeast Incorrect mixing time
Too much dough scaled Improper fermentation
Overproofed Overproofed
Poor Shape Too much Liquid Pan too large
Flour too weak Streaked Crumb Improper mixing procedure
Improper molding/makeup Poor molding or makeup
techniques
Improper fermentation or Too much flour used for dusting
proofing
Too much oven steam Poor Texture or Crumbly Flour too weak
Split or Burst Crust Overmixing Too little salt
Underfermented dough Fermentation time too long or
too short
Improper molding – seam not Overproofed
on bottom
Uneven heat in oven Baking time or temp. too low
Oven too hot Gray Crumb Fermentation time or temp. too
high
Insufficient steam CRUST
FLAVOUR Too Dark Too much sugar or milk
Flat Taste Too little salt Underfermented dough
Poor Flavour Inferior, spoiled. Or rancid Oven temp. too high
ingredients
Poor bakeshop sanitation Baking time too long
Under or overfermented Insufficient steam at beginning
of baking
Too Pale Too little sugar or milk
Overfermented dough
Oven temp. too low
Overproofed
Baking time too short
Too much steam in oven
Too Thick Too little sugar or fat
Improper fermentation
Baking too long or at wrong
temp.
Too little steam
Blisters on crust Too much liquid
Improper fermentation
Improper shaping of loaf

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 Chocolate
Chocolate is not only one of the world’s most popular confections, it is also a wonderful medium
for decorative work, ranging from simple garnishes for desserts to elaborate showpieces. Many
pastry chefs make a specialty of chocolate work and become well known for their imaginative and
skillful pieces.
Because of its composition, chocolate is difficult to work with. It is sensitive to temperature and
moisture. Proper melting and cooling require accurate temperature control.

Native to tropical America, the cacao tree produces beans that have been cultivated for at least
3,000 years. Though Columbus sent cocoa beans back to Spain, the first anecdotal evidence of
Aztec reverence and consumption of cocoa beverages was given by members of Cortez’s
expedition. Crew members witnessed the emperor Montezuma drinking cup after cup of a bitter
drink made from ground cocoa beans and water. The emperor claimed chocolate to be an
aphrodisiac. The conquistadors were surprised to discover that cocoa beans were prized almost as
much as gold. Indeed, they served as currency and were given to the emperor as tribute payment.
At first, Europe did not hold chocolate in the same esteem as the New World. The Aztec drink
recipe of unsweetened chocolate and ground dried chiles just didn’t take off, despite its
promotion among the upper classes as an exotic novelty. However, when the European colonists
began adding sugar to their chocolate, its popularity.

CACAO CULTIVATION
Today, cacao cultivation extends around the globe, limited to countries near the equator where
the necessary rainfall and warmth prevail. Central and South America, Africa, and Indonesia
dominate production worldwide. In 1737, Linnaeus, the famed Swedish botanist, classified the
species as Theobroma cacao, literally “food of the Gods,” referring to an ancient Aztec legend.
Three varieties of the cacao tree are recognized:
 Criollo, the most rare and difficult to grow;
 Forastero, the most common and hardy; and
 Trinitario, a hybrid of the first two varieties.

Most chocolates are blends of the three types, with each type contributing its own strengths. Like
many wines, great chocolate is the result of skilled blending to achieve complex, but balanced
flavor. For example, forastero lacks the delicate flavor of the criollo, but it gives body to the
chocolate. And, as in wine or coffee, the soil in which the trees are grown imparts its own
distinctive flavor. Sweetness, acidity, and smokiness are all geographically linked characteristics.

Chocolate Production
The steps of producing chocolate include removing the chocolate liquor from the cocoa beans,
developing flavor and consistency through the process of conching, tempering the chocolate to
increase its resilience to temperature changes, and finally molding the chocolate into the finished
product.
1. Harvesting 6. Grinding
2. Fermentation 7. Conching
3. Drying 8. Tempering
4. Roasting 9. Molding
5. Winnowing

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1. Harvesting
The processes that occur on the plantation can have a significant effect on the quality and
flavour of the chocolate. Every chocolate bar you've ever eaten began its life as a pod on the
cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. Each pod contains 30-45 cacao beans encased in a sticky white
pulp. The beans are made up of two parts: a dark nut, known as the nib, and a papery shell.
The chocolate process begins with the pods being cut down from the trees and split open.

2. Fermentation
The beans are then scooped out of the pod and are left to ferment with the pulp for about a
week. The chemical changes that take place during fermentation turn the beans from
yellowish to brown and begin to develop the flavor. Fermentation kills the beans, preventing
them from germinating later, and also develops flavour precursors that are essential to tasty
chocolate. Only the fermented seeds are referred to as Cocoa beans.

During the fermentation period, the sugary pulp is the pod is converted into alcohol by the effects
of anaerobic microorganisms (yeasts) and the build-up of heat – up to 122°F. With the addition of
oxygen, which is provided by mixing and turning the beans, the alcohol turns into acetic acid.

3. Drying
After fermenting, the beans are dried in the sun (moisture is reduced from 50% to between 5
to 7%). This reduces the weight of the beans and makes them less susceptible to moulds.

4. Roasting
Once they have dried, the beans leave the plantation and are shipped to the factory. The first
step is to roast the beans. Roasting accomplishes the following goals:
 Develops the flavour of the chocolate. By roasting the beans, we develop those precursors
into actual flavours. Heating the beans produces a series of chemical reactions known as
the Maillard reactions, in which amino acids and sugars react to form all sorts of tasty
chemicals. Roasting also drives of the more volatile acids that are naturally present in cacao
beans.
 Kills bacteria. The beans have just spent more than a week outside of the pod at the
plantation, either fermenting or drying in the open air. Anything left out for that long in a
tropical atmosphere is practically guaranteed to have some sort of microbes hanging
around on it.
 Puffs up the shells. This will be important for the next step. Roasting causes the water
within the bean to boil (not all of it dried out in the drying step), pu ffing out the shell in
much the same way as a popcorn kernel expands. The puffed-out shell is then easier to
remove from the nib.
Roasting is the step in the process at which we can most directly affect the flavour of the final
chocolate, and is the step in which we can most perfect our craft. It's kind of a big deal, is what I'm
saying. Roasting is also one of the most fun parts of the chocolate process. The smell that starts
coming out of the beans as they roast is absolutely fantastic.
Roast the chocolate for about 20-25 minutes at temperatures between 250° and 350°F. Some
things to look for to determine if the beans are done are the color of the bean (it should be dark,
chocolatey brown all the way through), bendiness (the bean should give a little when bent between
thumbs and forefingers), puffness of the shell (it should come out easily), and taste (it should be
crunchy, not chewy and should not taste raw or nutlike). Another good indicator that the beans are
getting close to done is when they start popping.
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5. Winnowing
Once the beans have been roasted, we need to remove the shell from the nib. The shell is
papery, crunchy, and doesn't contribute any flavour to the final product. As soon as roasted
beans have cooled, they are cracked open in a continuous crushing plant. A powerful current
of air uses the differing specific gravity of the components to blow the broken shell away from
the broken cocoa particles.

6. Grinding
After the winnowing is completed, we are now left with a pile of pure nib. We can now grind
this into chocolate. The nib pieces are grinded into a liquid known as cocoa liquor. The
grinding process separates the cocoa nibs into their constituent parts, cocoa butter and
powder.

Transforming the Chocolate Liquor – Butter and Powder

After the chocolate liquor is produced, the processes for making cocoa butter and cocoa powder
diverge. The warm liquor is heated and compressed to remove most of the fat. Hydraulic rams
press the chocolate liquor, heated to between 176 and 194°F, into chambers against stainless steel
sieves with minute perforations. As the pressure increases, the pale yellow cocoa butter flows out.
When the compressing chambers are opened, the cakes drop onto a conveyor belt, which moves
them immediately le the next stage of production.
The liquid cocoa butter still contains individual particles of cocoa and other impurities, which are
removed in various filtering stages. The chocolate industry uses the cocoa butter in the
manufacture of eating chocolate, icings, and confectionery coatings.
The residual compressed cocoa cakes, which do not contain much fat, are used to make cocoa
powder. But first the crushed cake has to be treated with an alkali salt (potassium carbonate), in
order to increase the pH value and neutralize the acidity. Without this treatment, the cocoa
powder would not be soluble and would float on the surface of liquids. As well as improving
suspension, alkalization makes it possible to determine the color. Lecithin, an emulsifier made
from soya bean, is also usually added to powder to be dissolved in cold drinks. The alkalizing
process can also be carried out on the crushed cocoa kernels (nibs).

7. Conching
In order to bring the taste of the basic chocolate liquor to the peak of perfection and to make
it flow readily, another stage in refining is called for: Conching. Conches were originally long
stone troughs in which the ground chocolate was pounded around and around at a
temperature of 86°F, often for several days at a time. Modern rotary conches reduce the
process to only a few hours, and can handle far larger quantities than the old stone conches.
 In the first stage, dry conching, the moisture content of the liquor is reduced to less
than 1 percent. At the same time, unwanted volatile flavours evaporate, and a soft film
of cocoa butter envelops the particles of the solids.
 After approximately ten hours the liquor is liquefied by adding cocoa butter and it is
then conched even more vigorously in order to obtain a really homogenous substance.
This stage can last up to four hours to achieve the desired quality.
 Three hours before conching ends, more cocoa butter is added together with an
emulsifier, lecithin, which makes the chocolate flow more readily, improving its
pouring quality.

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8. Tempering
At this point, we only need to solidify the chocolate and then sell it. Unfortunately, this is
rather more easily said than done. We still need to pass through the most technically
demanding step of the chocolate process: tempering.
Importance of Tempering
- Demolding
- Snap
- Gloss
- Resistance to bloom
The three basic steps of tempering a chocolate are melting, cooling, and rewarming. A full
understanding of tempering requires a significant knowledge of the chemistry of chocolate.
On the most basic level, tempering is necessary because the particles that make up a
chocolate bar can arrange themselves in many different ways. The different arrangements of
the chocolate particles on a molecular level create different physical properties of the final
chocolate on a much larger scale. Chocolate with the correct molecular arrangement (referred
to as Form V chocolate) is dark brown, glossy, and makes a satisfying snap when broken.
Chocolate with an incorrect molecular arrangement (Form IV chocolate) is lighter in color,
matte, and will crumble when broken instead of snapping.
Mistempered chocolate will also exhibit an unsightly white coating called fat bloom.

The Science of Tempering

To truly understand the tempering process, we begin with a discussion of what chocolate is. Dark chocolate
has two critical ingredients: cocoa liquor and sugar.
Cocoa liquor is what we get when we take nibs and grind them into a liquid. It has two very different
components: the small, polar avor particles that give chocolate its taste and the white, nonpolar lipid
known as cocoa butter that gives chocolate its structure. Tempering is concerned with the structure of the
crystals formed by cocoa butter as it cools.
Cocoa butter is a normal triglyceride fat: it consists of three long fatty acids hanging off of a triglyceride
backbone. You can imagine it as being shaped roughly like the profile of a chair, with two long legs on one
side of the short triglyceride \seat" and a long back on the other. Because of their unusual shapes, cocoa
butter molecules can be packed together into multiple different crystalline arrangements known as forms.

The cocoa butter molecule is a typical triglyceride fat

Page 36
There are six known forms into which cocoa butter can solidify, referred to as Forms I -VI in order of their
stability. A higher form effectively corresponds to a tighter packing of the cocoa butter molecules: a denser
packing has a lower potential energy and therefore requires more energy to undo, allowing the higher
forms to remain stable at higher temperatures.

The different crystalline forms also correspond to different macro-scale physical properties in the final
chocolate. The denser packing of the higher forms produces glossier chocolate, since incoming light is more
likely to reflect off of the dense, uniformly packed crystals of a higher form and more likely to scatter off of
the looser, less even crystals of the lower forms. Chocolate that has crystals of the higher forms is also
harder and more likely to snap when broken, as opposed to the lower-form chocolate that is pastier or
crumbly.

Methods of Tempering
The three most common tempering methods are tabliering, seeding, and the cold-water method.

Tabliering Method Melting the chocolate pieces is the first step in the tabliering technique. It is never done
over direct heat; a double boiler is used in order to keep temperatures from escalating too high. A bowl
placed over a saucepan of simmering water might also be used. The bowl should not touch the water and
should be large enough to prevent steam escaping from the saucepan from condensing and coming in
contact with the chocolate. In either case, the chocolate is stirred constantly to promote melting and
prevent burning. The spoon or spatula should be wooden or plastic because these materials are poor
conductors of heat. A metal utensil will conduct heat away from surrounding areas of the chocolate,
cooling them and making them more saturated.
For the same reason, as well as to prevent lumping, cold liquids in the form of milk, cream, or liqueur
should never be directly added. Melting the chocolate at too high a temperature or too quickly can scorch it
or cause the cocoa butter to separate out, forming undesirable lumps.
When the temperature reaches about 115°F to 120°F (46°C to 49°C), it is ideally kept there for about 30
minutes with continued stirring. The temperature should not be allowed to exceed 125°F (52°C). The
chocolate is then cooled by removing it from the heat and placing one-third of it on a marble slab . It is
scraped back and forth until it cools to just under 80 °F (26°C), at which point it will crystallize and thicken,
signaling that it is to be added back to the other two-thirds. Then it is again warmed slowly to 85°F to 90°F
(29°C to 32°C), where it reaches a consistency that can be worked. The entire process should be repeated if
the temperature is allowed to rise above 91°F (33°C).
Seeding Method Slight variations of the tabliering method have resulted in two other tempering
techniques, the seeding and cold-water methods. In seeding, already tempered chocolate is melted in the
double boiler, but then removed from the heat source, at which time more unmelted chocolate pieces are
added. The chocolate is cooled to 80°F (26°C) and stirred for 2 minutes at this temperature before being
warmed again to 85°F to 90°F (29°C to 32°C).
Cold-Water Method The cold-water method consists of cooling the heated chocolate by placing the bowl of
chocolate of pouring it onto a slab. The chocolate must be stirred as the bowl is lowered into the ice water,
because it starts to set immediately. As in the other methods, the chocolate is then rewarmed to 85°F to
90°F (29°C to 32°C) so that it can later be cooled and shaped.

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9. Molding
The liquid chocolate is poured into moulds and cooled. Once the bars are cooled, they are
wrapped in their inner wrapper to keep the chocolate fresh for 12-24 months. They are then
labeled, packed in cases and stacked on pallets ready to be shipped to and to be eaten.

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 TYPES OF CHOCOLATE AND COCOA
 Unsweetened Chocolate, also called bitter and baking chocolate, is pure chocolate liquor. It
must contain 50 to 58 percent cocoa butter. Depending on the brand, other flavorings such as
vanilla or salt may be present.
 Bitter-Sweet and Semi-Sweet Chocolate both must contain at least 35 percent chocolate
liquor. Sugar, added cocoa butter, lecithin (usually derived from soybeans), and vanilla are
other typical ingredients. Strangely, there is no official distinction between the two
chocolates. Some assume that bittersweet is less sweet than semisweet, but one company’s
semisweet may be less sweet than another’s bittersweet.
 Milk Chocolate contains at least 12 percent milk solids and 10 percent chocolate liquor. The
sweetest of the chocolates, it is also the most popular plain eating chocolate. Milk chocolate
also contains lecithin, vanilla, and, sugar.
 White Chocolate, made from cocoa butter, contains no cocoa solids, and hence lacks the
characteristic chocolate flavour. Sugar, vanilla, milk solids, and lecithin are added to cocoa
butter to create white chocolate.
 Couverture denotes a coating chocolate with a high cocoa butter content, usually 32 to 39
percent, useful for making chocolate candies, decorations, and ultra-smooth glazes. The
higher percentage of cocoa butter promotes the flow of melted, tempered chocolate,
enabling the pastry chef to create thin chocolate coatings or decorations that have a good
snap when set. Couverture is available for any type of chocolate, white or dark.
 Dutch-Process Cocoa, also known as alkalized cocoa or European-style cocoa, is processed
with an alkali to neutralize the natural acidity of cocoa powder. Dutchman Conrad van Houten
invented this process in 1828, hence the name. Until van Houten’s machine, which separated
cocoa solids from cocoa butter, chocolate beverages had been made from ground cacao
beans. Remember, the beans have an inherent cocoa butter content of 54 percent, making
previous chocolate beverages oily. By alkalizing the cocoa, increasing its pH from 5.5 to
between 7 and 8, he improved cocoa’s ability to disperse in a liquid and also mellowed the
flavour. Dutchprocess cocoa is darker in color than regular cocoa powder, and its flavour is
smoother.
 Chocolate Chips are included in this section to differentiate them from basic chocolate. They
contain different vegetable fats and special stabilizers that help them retain their shape
during baking. They are not interchangeable with regular chocolate, whose cocoa butter
behaves (and tastes) differently from other fats. The additional stabilizers mean that sauces,
puddings, and mousses will set firmer than ones made with regular chocolate.

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