New icing stabilisers provide better melting and spreadability

Icings for bakery products such as cakes and pastries can either be produced at the bakery and applied directly after manufacture, or produced elsewhere for later application.

The company expects its pectin-based Unipectin PG 335 CS range to be of particular interest to bakers in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, where icings are most often prepared off-site and then softened or melted for application in the bakery.

Cargill has also released Satialgine OGI, a cold soluble alginate range of stabilisers, for use in icings produced on-site and directly applied to baked goods, the preferred system in the United States.

The new stabilisers are intended to deal with issues beyond the appearance and flavour of the finished product, also focussing on the temperature issues which are a main cause of icing instability.

They are specifically targeted at providing a consistent application texture and product stability under various storage conditions.

Confectionery category manager Lynda Macfadyen at Cargill Texturizing Solutions Europe, Middle East and Africa told FoodNavigator.com: “The new range contains products that are more easy to apply cold or after a gentle re-heating. However, they tend to provide a slightly softer icing than the traditional direct use icing.”​

Maintaining balance​

Icings are comparatively unstable products because part of the sugar needs to remain insoluble in a saturated solution. Stabilisers ensure that this balance is retained, controlling the amount of moisture absorbed from the baked product into the icing after cooling, and preventing cracking. They are also used to prevent textural alteration of products during freezing and subsequent thawing, a process which can result in the formation of ice crystals.

Although direct-use icings are still susceptible to cracking and moisture absorption issues, remotely-produced icings also need to be spreadable cold, or able to re-melt without compromising on texture.

Macfadyen said: “Because the classical gums used in systems intended for on-site production do not provide these melting or cold spreadability properties, Cargill experts have used their extensive expertise in gums’ behaviours to develop another, new range of texturizers to suit these additional needs.”​

Cargill said that the new ranges are designed to build on its existing Lygomme stabiliser range by providing functionality targeted at specific bakery issues.

Macfadyen said: “Cargill's stabilisers are not just single ingredients, but are optimised combinations of different ingredients.”​ These include various mixtures of pectin, agar, starch and hydrocolloids.

The latest stabiliser ranges are based on the company’s developments in North America, which were then adapted for off-site bakery suppliers’ requirements in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.