Consumers' nutritional concerns are affecting sales of cakes and cake-related products, says Frans Sarneel, application expert for Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties Europe.
Obesity on the continent has soared during the last decade (from 10 per cent to 40 per cent), and sales of healthier bakery products (low fat/low sugar, vitamin/fibre enriched) have strongly increased.
Within the overall cake market, sponge cake represents an important product category. Whole egg, together with flour and sugar, are the key ingredients in its formulation. Yet, along with health awareness, consumer demand for low cholesterol cakes has accelerated.
In response, starch manufacturer Cerestar has developed a new modified starch to replace whole egg. Whole egg has important emulsifying, foaming and texturising proporties, but its shelf-life, cholesterol content and price can be prohibitive.
Cerestar has explored a number of possibilities to replace whole egg with modified starch. The company believes it has found new applications which would be of particular use to cake formulation.
For example, C*EmTex 06328 is a cook-up starch with emulsifying properties. In addition to its emulsion and foam stabilisation it plays a critical role in optimising the texture of sponge cakes and can replace up to 100 per cent of the whole egg.
Cerestar says that industrial trials with C*EmTex 06328 have proven that 50 per cent of the whole egg can be replaced without any adaptation of the process. The starch is easily dispersible in the batter, shows a positive effect on the viscosity development of the dough and is stable during mixing.
Cake manufacturers who want to focus on healthy products can replace 100 per cent of the whole egg by adapting the processing. Due to the fact that sponge cake recipes contain a high amount of free water, it is recommended to decrease the baking temperature.
Baking time can be adapted until the required moisture content of the final product is reached. Specific dough volume and sponge height after baking are comparable to the standard product, claims the company. An additional benefit, says Cerestar, is the improved softness and the fine internal crumb structure.