Spongolit ELC, which was introduced at the recent FiE show in Paris, can be used to make a variety of cake products without eggs, including sponge cakes, Swiss roles, Madeira cakes, pound cakes, fruitcakes and chocolate cakes.
The new product would allow manufacturers to adjust formulations in order to cater for consumers who avoid eggs because of allergies, cholesterol content concers or even religious, ethical or cultural reasons.
Eggs contain proteins that are important in building up the crumb structure of cakes during baking. With few alternatives available, omitting eggs from product formulations often sacrifices quality.
Cognis claims its new product "overcomes the technological problem by successfully combining the functionalities of specific milk proteins and emulsifiers into a single ingredient."
According to the company, Spongolit ELC is the only product of its kind in Europe, and the first of its level of quality in the world.
The product, a fine powder that can be added to cake mixes, claims to produce good results in terms of taste, shape, volume, texture and structure.
The company said its product is quick, easy and simple to use.
Cognis also used the FiE as a platform to introduce its Nutilife CCX enzyme range, which promises to improve the production of short-shelf-life yeast-raised baked goods and save food makers money.
The company claims that Nutrilife CCX allows manufacturers to mix doughs that are dry, extensible, highly concentrated and easy to handle in order to achieve higher baking volumes, even when used in very low dosages.
The enzyme works by making it possible to partly degrade the water insoluble pentosanes- flour components that disturb the formation of the gluten network of dough.
Cognis says that the performance of Nutrilife CCX was evaluated in tests carried out on a variety of yeast-raised products such as bread rolls, baguettes, Turkish white bread and Vienna rolls. These showed that the same or better volume could be achieved with an enzyme dosage around ten times lower (between 10 and 30 ppm based on flour) than that of conventional pentosanases.
Although difficult to evaluate as manufacturers' needs differ, the company estimates that the enzymes could increase product volume by up to 35 per cent, compared to products without the use of additional enzymes. Cost savings are estimated to be up to 50 per cent, compared to other pentosanase products on the market.