Baking & Snack - March 2018 - 66

FATS & OILS

aren't the same if the fat is wrong. "If the fat isn't right
in a puff pastry, it's not going to be a puff pastry," said
Jim Robertson, senior product manager, emulsifiers,
Corbion.
When lamination isn't possible, certain shortenings can
provide a similar effect. "Flaked shortenings are useful
when bakers want to mimic lamination without having
to actually laminate their dough," Mr. Bohm explained.
"They ensure an even distribution of fat and flavor in a
finished product, provide a softer crumb structure and
create air pockets that mimic the lamination effect."

Stabilizing through aeration
Cakes and icing rely heavily on fat and sugar for stability.
However, the specific needs of cakes and icings often require an extra something from their fats. When aeration,
moisture retention and whippability are important, such
as cake and icing applications, Mr. Bohm explained,
shortenings that also have an emulsifier system incorporated can be critical to performing these functions.
The aeration of a cake batter or icing is critical to the
structure of these two components. Incorporating air
delivers proper volume, grain and texture. It keeps cakes
from collapsing in the oven. Trapping that air in a cake
batter falls completely on the fat mixed into the batter.
The fat and its emulsifier trap the air in small cells and
bubbles, which in turn creates the texture, structure and
stability of the cake or icing.
"When we talk about cakes and icings, we typically
use emulsified shortenings that have excellent creaming
properties to help aerate with small uniform air cells,"
Ms. Eagan said.
While cakes have typically used emulsified shortenings, recent developments have opened the door to liquid oils as an option for cake bakers. The solid fat was
necessary for trapping air in the batter, but Corbion
designed its SweetPro emulsifier to impart some of that
functionality into liquid oil. "They can help a baker
move from the semi-solid shortenings to a liquid oil
type of application," Mr. Robertson explained. This allows bakers to take advantage of liquid oil's benefits, including easier storage and handling and reducing overall
fat use. "Liquid oil tends to deliver even more tenderness
than solid fats, so in many cases, when you move from a
solid fat into a liquid oil, you can reduce the overall fat
content in the product without losing any of the functionality of fat," Mr. Robertson said.

Crystallizing structure
In addition to SFC and melting curves, a fat's crystalline structure has an impact on its functionality. "Fats
crystallize in α, β or β' forms, and this has a direct influence on the performance of fats in baked goods,"

66 Baking & Snack March 2018 / www.bakingandsnack.com

Boosting labeling effectiveness
Formulation functionality, processing
and storage may be the most critical factors in determining the best fat
system for a product, but how these
ingredients read on the label is creeping into consideration as well. This can
mean how the fat system impacts the
Nutrition Facts Panel as well as consumer perceptions about sustainability and
being able to claim vegan or non-GMO
on front-of-package labeling.
"Twenty to 40 years ago, no one
cared about where the fat or oil came
from; they just wanted to eat," said
Rick Cummisford, director of quality, Columbus Vegetable Oils. "Now
there is a lot more traceability through
the whole food chain. You get into
non-GMO oils, sustainable palm oils,
organic. It's not just getting an ingredient to perform in your product but also
now about the non-functional aspects of
the ingredient."
Whether a bakery wants to tout
vegan, non-GMO, organic or a commitment to sustainability will all play a role
in dictating which fats and oils are available to them and which are off the table.
"Source and supply chain availability,
along with product cost, are other critical considerations," said John Satumba,
PhD, food ingredients and analytical
chemistry director, Global Edible Oil
Solutions R&D, Cargill.
And the Nutrition Facts Panel cannot
be forgotten either. If a healthy halo is
important to a bakery, then it's important to have a number in mind. "Bakers
should consider the nutritional aspects
of the finished baked good to help
determine the nutritional targets of the
fat system used in the formulation," said
Jim Robertson, senior product manager,
emulsifiers, Corbion. "Do they have a
nutritional target in respect to fat level
in their finished good?" The source of
fat will have a direct impact on saturates. If that's a priority for a baker's
target consumers, it needs to be on
formulators' radar.

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Baking & Snack - March 2018

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