Baking&Snack - October 2013 - 65

FORMULATION
Ingredient App

When seeking alternatives to molasses and corn syrup …

It’s All About
the Label

by Laurie Gorton

When at a trade show, do you ever wonder how — and
why — companies decide which prototypes to offer
visitors to their booths? Of course, these finished foods
demonstrate their ingredients, but when Judie Giebel
and her colleagues at Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.,
Chilton, WI, picked Caramel Puffed Corn and Maltlasses Cookies made with the company’s tapioca syrup
and malt extract, they had another goal in mind.
“It’s all about the label — non-GMO, gluten-free,
healthy and nutritious,” said Ms. Giebel, Briess, technical
services representative and AIB Certified Baker. The formulators deliberately chose alternatives to the corn syrup
and molasses normally used. “Tapioca syrup, sorghum
syrup and malt extracts are all non-GMO. Tapioca and
sorghum syrups are gluten-free, and malt extracts are nutritive sweeteners for a healthy, nutritious label,” she said.
These words are exactly what consumers increasingly
want to see on food labels.
As for the prototypes themselves, Ms. Giebel selected
snack foods that continue to see market growth.
“Knowing how these two ingredients — BriesSweet
Tapioca Syrup and Maltoferm CR-45 caramel-flavored
malt extract — function in other applications, I was able
to replace existing ingredients with basically no formula
adjustments,” she said.
Both prototypes substituted all of the targeted sweeteners with Briess alternatives. “The great thing is that there are
no differences for preparation,” Ms. Giebel said. “Tapioca
syrups have very similar carbohydrate profiles to corn syrups, DE to DE. This makes it easy to replace corn syrup
1:1 with tapioca syrup in almost any application, and it
will function the same. The only process-related consideration is the amount of solids/moisture of the sweetener.
Most syrups have solids in the range of 79 to 81%, so it’s
important to check the original sweeteners’ solids and the
replacement and make adjustments as necessary.”
Tapioca syrups come in a range of sugar profiles from
28- to 63-DE in liquid and powder forms. The all-natural, enzyme-produced syrups have a clean, neutral flavor
with varying degrees of sweetness and functionality.

Malt extracts are different
because they add flavor, color
and functionality. “Malt extracts, especially specialty malt
extracts like Maltoferm CR-45,
are exceptionally underutilized in the baking and snack
communities,” Ms. Giebel noted. They can be used for browning, as fermentation aids and
for flavor and color in breads,
bagels, muffins and pizza crusts.
The Caramel Puffed Corn prototype took its cues from kettle
corn: popcorn with a sugary coating applied late in the process.
This old-fashioned state-fair treat
recently turned into a very trendy
snack food, now found on store
shelves nationwide.
For this item, Briess exchanged
BriesSweet Tapioca Syrup for the 42-DE corn
syrup in the coating. “We wanted to demonstrate
the effectiveness of tapioca syrup as 1:1 substitute for
common corn syrup,” Ms. Giebel said. Sweetened puffed
corn doesn’t have a complex flavor profile, thus showcasing the clean, rich flavor of tapioca syrup as an alternative sweetener.
With the cookies, the company sought to highlight
the full, rich flavor and color of specialty malt extract. “It
gives a new twist to this traditional style of cookie,” Ms.
Giebel observed. “And that’s another thing consumers
want — products that taste homemade like grandma’s
but with a new, gourmet taste.” Formulators switched
all the molasses in the original product to Maltoferm
CR-45. The specialty extract provided not only natural
sweetness but also a pronounced caramel flavor.
For more information about clean-label tapioca
and other syrups and specialty malt extracts,
visit www.briess.com/food.

When a specialty malt
extract replaces
molasses in Malt-lasses
Cookies, they acquire
a milder flavor and
softer bite.
Shutterstock

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October 2013 / Baking & Snack / 65

http://www.briess.com/food

Baking&Snack - October 2013

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