Baking & Snack - December 2014 - 58

FLAVORS

Inspiration comes from all over and drives innovation
in everything from breads and crackers to cakes and
cookies. Snack foods, too.
"Bakers have started adding sophistication to products buy using 'mocktail' flavors, which are alcoholinspired flavors for non-alcoholic applications," said
Devon Edmonson, marketing coordinator, Mother
Murphy's Laboratories, Greensboro, NC. "These flavors
add an exciting twist to familiar taste profiles." Examples

In many food categories - bakery
included - a leading-edge trend favors
botanicals, such as ginger, because
many have healthful associations.
include margarita cake, champagne cookies, gin-andtonic tarts and bourbon brownies.
Complementing popular spice-enhanced beverages
and sweets, the flavor of speculoos, a cookie from
The Netherlands, is starting to become popular in the
States. "Speculoos is a short-crust cookie with a sweet
butter-and-spice profile," Ms. Edmonson said. The
traditional spice blend in speculoos includes cardamom, cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg.
Updating this traditional taste, today's innovative
bakers are adding their own twist to speculoos through
Vegetable extracts added coatings or inclusions, usually caramel, chocolate or
to ciabatta will enhance the nut based. Speculoos crumbs are also being used in pie
perception of their flavors. crusts and streusels.
Flavorchem
Ginger, which is an important flavor in speculoos,
is driving all types of innovation because it provides

two types of heat, one that's refreshing and another that's
spicy. "There's also a healthful halo surrounding ginger,
and it has strong ethnic associations," Ms. Edmonson
said. "Ginger can be incorporated into so many baked
items. It can provide a refreshing heat to sweet tastes
and a spicy twist to classic desserts." Think crystallized
ginger cheesecake.
In many food categories - bakery included - a
leading-edge trend favors botanicals, such as ginger,
because many have healthful associations. "Floral botanicals, such as lavender, orange blossom, honeysuckle
and elderflower, add sweet, subtle, aromatic and unique
flavors to baked goods," Ms. Edmonson said.

Relaxing tea, lavender
The same is true of tea. "Tea is not just for sipping anymore," Ms. Edmonson said. "Tea can bring a flavorful
twist to foods and is starting to be found in desserts and
cakes. If you add tea extract to melted butter, it will enhance the flavor of the bakery product."
Döhler Group, Darmstadt, Germany, offers tea flavor
profiles that range from the spicy taste of the Orient to
the flowery notes of Darjeeling to the sweet and aromatic character of Ceylon. Also, the company most recently
introduced a line of blossom flavors, including jasmine,
lavender, rose and violet. Lavender makes sense in a
bedtime biscuit because it is considered to have a relaxing effect while rose complements berries and can add
an element of surprise to a fruit pie.
Mint has long been widely used for its medicinal
properties and fresh taste. Flavorchem recently partnered with renowned growers of mint to produce peppermint and spearmint oils that are pure and natural
with a smooth, crisp, cool flavor profile.
"We offer a wide range of mint profiles, from cooling
agents to candy-like notes," said Ed McIntosh, marketing
manager at Flavorchem. They can be used in all types of
baked goods, in the actual batter or dough, or in other
components, such as coatings, fillings and frostings.

Heat and smoke
In the past year, the hot-sauce trend omnipresent in
many other food categories made its way into baked
goods and especially snacks.
"Hot-sauce-type flavors are in demand and
are currently saturating the market, so there
is potential for more brand extensions focusing on what hot sauce is made of, such as
vinegar," Ms. Edmonson said. Think bagels
with sea-salt-and-vinegar flavor.
Kalamazoo, MI-based Kalsec developed a
line of ingredients that combine heat and pungency with unexpected flavor elements such as

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