JP6845110B2 - How to make blonde chocolate - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing blonde chocolate.

Blond chocolate is attracting attention as the fourth chocolate after black chocolate, white chocolate and milk chocolate, and is characterized by its caramel and biscuit-like flavor (hereinafter referred to as "caramel flavor").

General blonde chocolate can be obtained by heating white chocolate and turning it brown. This browning is due to the caramel and / or Maillard reactions, resulting in a distinctive flavor such as caramel or biscuit with the color change.

However, when white chocolate is heated at a high temperature, fats and oils are separated and the texture is deteriorated, and color spots are likely to occur. Therefore, in order to produce high-quality blonde chocolate, it is necessary to constantly stir during heating or to promote browning at a low temperature (generally 100 ° C. or lower) over a period of about one day.

Salon du Chocolat Japan Official Website, TOP> Glossary> Blonde Chocolate, {Search on August 21, 2017}, Internet (http://www.salon-du-chocolat.jp/pages/glossary/3002)

The present invention relates to a method for easily and stably producing blonde chocolate.

The inventors are a method for producing blonde chocolate using at least cocoa butter, sugar and protein as raw materials, and after mixing the raw materials and before the atomization step, chocolate dough containing at least sugar and protein is prepared. It has been found that the problem of the present invention can be solved by providing a browning step of heating at 120 ° C. or higher and 300 ° C. or lower, and adding 10% by weight or more of cacao butter contained in blonde chocolate after the browning step. It was.

With the completion of the present invention, it has become possible to easily and stably produce blonde chocolate.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described.

1. 1. Blond chocolate Blond chocolate in the present invention refers to chocolate containing at least cocoa butter, sugar and protein, and having a caramel flavor. Therefore, even if cocoa powder is contained and it looks like black chocolate at first glance, it is contained in the blonde chocolate in the present invention when the caramel flavor is imparted by the caramel reaction or the Maillard reaction. Is done.

2. Cacao butter Cacao butter is the fat content of cocoa beans and is obtained by pressing the cocoa liquor with a press and separating the cocoa powder. Cacao butter is composed of three types of fatty acids, 95% oleic acid (C18: 1), stearic acid (C18: 0), and palmitic acid (C16: 0), and has a simple composition, so it is at room temperature (C18: 0). It is solid at 25 ° C), but dissolves rapidly at 30-36 ° C. Therefore, it is an indispensable raw material for producing blonde chocolate that melts in the mouth.

In the present invention, at least 10% or more of the cacao butter contained in blonde chocolate needs to be added after the browning step described later. Oleic acid, which is one of the main components of cocoa butter, is an unsaturated fatty acid that is relatively difficult to oxidize, and is known as a material for preventing and improving lifestyle-related diseases such as arteriosclerosis, but it is not a saturated fatty acid. When exposed to a high temperature for a long time in the browning step, oxidation proceeds and a derivative such as a peroxide or a polymer having a high melting point and poorly melted in the mouth may be produced. Therefore, in the present invention, it is necessary to add a part of cacao butter after the browning step to suppress the oxidation of fats and oils.

The amount of cacao butter added after the browning step is preferably 30% or more, and more preferably 60% or more.
If the amount of fats and oils in the browning step is too small, browning tends to be difficult, but if only the oxidation of fats and oils is considered, it is not necessary to add cocoa butter at all in the browning step.

3. 3. Sugar The sugar in the present invention is a compound having one ketone group or an aldehyde group and having two or more hydroxyl groups. Since sugar is a starting material for caramel reaction and / or Maillard reaction, it is an essential constitution in the present invention. Specific examples of sugars include monosaccharides such as glyceraldehyde, glucose and fructose, disaccharides such as sucrose, maltose and trehalose, and oligosaccharides. In the present invention, these sugars may be used alone or in combination as needed.

Next, the Maillard reaction and the caramel reaction will be described. The Maillard reaction is a reaction that produces a "brown substance (melanoidin)" and a "volatile substance" that is a factor of aroma by the reaction of a reducing sugar and an amino compound. On the other hand, the caramel reaction is a reaction that does not require an amino compound and produces a "cyclic structure" and a "volatile substance", which are factors of browning, by an oxidation reaction caused by sugar. The Maillard reaction and the caramel reaction (hereinafter, both reactions are collectively referred to as "browning reaction") are common in that they turn brown in foods and produce aroma substances, although the reaction mechanism is different, and the reactions proceed at the same time. In many cases.

Since sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and xylitol are not reducing and have poor reactivity, they are not included in the "sugar" in the present invention.

4. Protein In the present invention, a protein is required to induce a browning reaction, particularly the Maillard reaction. As the protein, either animal protein or vegetable protein can be used, but in the present invention, milk protein, which is a kind of animal protein, is preferably used. Milk protein is a general term for proteins derived from milk, and is a protein composed of casein and whey protein.

Common blonde chocolate contains milk protein, which contributes to the unique flavor of blonde chocolate. Therefore, also in the present invention, by adding milk protein, a flavor close to that of general blonde chocolate can be realized.

5. Other Materials In the present invention, other materials other than cocoa butter, sugar and protein can be used. Specifically, fats and oils other than cocoa butter such as butter and shortening, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and xylitol, emulsifiers such as lecithin, cocoa powder and flavors can be appropriately added.

6. Production method Generally, chocolate is produced through a raw material mixing (mixing step), a atomization step (refining), a refining step (continging), and a temperature control step (tempering). In the present invention, after the raw materials are mixed. , It is necessary to provide a browning step before the atomizing step. A detailed description will be given below.

6-1. Mixing step In the mixing step, sugar, protein, cacao butter, fats and oils other than cacao butter, additives, etc. are mixed as needed to produce chocolate dough (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as “dough”). It is a process.

In the present invention, it is preferable to adjust the mixed dough into powder or flakes (soboro). Adjusting the dough into powder or flakes creates space in the dough and facilitates heat convection. As a result, heat is evenly transferred to the dough, and a spotless blonde chocolate is obtained.

If too much cocoa butter and other fats and oils (hereinafter simply referred to as "fat and oils") are added in the mixing step, the fluidity of the dough increases and the dough becomes a paste. When the dough becomes a paste, the space for air convection is reduced, heat is not transferred uniformly, and color spots are likely to occur. Further, as described above, cocoa butter may be deteriorated in the browning step, and fats and oils other than cocoa butter may be deteriorated as well. Therefore, from the viewpoint of stable hue and prevention of deterioration of fats and oils, it is preferable that the total amount of fats and oils contained in the chocolate dough during the browning step is 22% by weight or less.

On the other hand, if the total amount of fats and oils in the chocolate dough is too small during the browning step, browning is less likely to occur. Therefore, from the viewpoint of promoting browning, it is preferable that the total amount of fats and oils contained in the chocolate dough during the browning step is 10% by weight or more.

6-2. Browning step The browning step is a step of applying heat to the chocolate dough to cause a Maillard reaction and / or a caramel reaction. The browning step realizes the browning of chocolate and the addition of caramel flavor, which is an essential step in the present invention.

Conventionally, white chocolate was put into a roaster to produce blonde chocolate, but when heated in the state of white chocolate, color spots are likely to occur because heat does not convection, and it is necessary to stir frequently. In addition, agglutinating substances were formed on the surface, which tended to cause poor melting in the mouth. Therefore, in the present invention, it has been realized that the formation of color spots and agglomerates can be suppressed by providing a browning step after mixing the raw materials and before the atomizing step.

The cause of the formation of agglomerates by the conventional method is not clear, but (1) the state before the fats and oils whose viscosity has decreased due to heating are separated from other raw materials (proteins, etc.) and undergo the atomization step or refining step. (2) Unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid contained in white chocolate are oxidized to produce derivatives having a high melting point such as peroxides and polymers.

In this respect, in the present invention, since the total amount of fats and oils contained in the chocolate dough during the browning step is suppressed to 22% by weight or less, the generation of agglomerates due to the oxidation of fats and oils can be suppressed. Further, since the atomization step and the refining step are provided after the browning step, it is not necessary to consider the separation of fats and oils from other raw materials in the first place. Further, in the present invention, since the total amount of fats and oils is suppressed and the fats and oils are browned in a state where the fats and oils and other raw materials are not familiar with each other, the dough tends to be in the form of powder or flakes. Therefore, as described above, heat is easily convected and color spots are less likely to occur.

In the present invention, it is preferable to use a hot air dryer for the browning step. When a hot air dryer is used, hot air is blown onto the dough, so that air convection is promoted and heat is easily transferred uniformly. The wind speed during hot air drying is not particularly limited, but care must be taken not to scatter the dough. Therefore, it is preferable to adjust so that the dough does not scatter and the wind speed is the fastest.

In the browning step, it is necessary to heat the dough to 120 ° C or higher and 300 ° C or lower. When the heating temperature is less than 120 ° C, the dough does not easily turn brown and the productivity is low. On the other hand, when the temperature exceeds 300 ° C., carbonization and oxidation of fats and oils occur in addition to the browning (Maillard reaction and / or caramel reaction), and the flavor is deteriorated.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable to heat the dough at 140 ° C. or higher and 260 ° C. or lower, and more preferably 170 ° C. or higher and 210 ° C. or lower. Within this range, it is possible to stably produce chocolate dough with less color unevenness and less offensive taste. The heating time in the browning process is not particularly limited, and the heating may be stopped when the dough turns yellow to light brown.

In the present invention, it is preferable to stir the dough as needed. As described above, in the present invention, since the total amount of fats and oils is suppressed, there is a space in the dough and heat convection is likely to occur. However, since the fats and oils are contained although they are suppressed, the fats and oils move to the lower layer of the dough with the progress of the browning process, and the heat convection in the lower layer of the dough is hindered, which may cause color spots. Therefore, it is preferable to stir the dough on a regular basis to suppress color spots and stabilize the quality.

The stirring frequency is adjusted by the heating temperature and the total amount of fats and oils. Specifically, when the heating temperature is high or the total amount of fats and oils in the dough is high, the stirring frequency is increased, and when the heating temperature is low or the total amount of fats and oils in the dough is low, the stirring frequency is reduced.

6-3. Atomization process (refining)
The chocolate dough after the browning process is in a state where sugars and proteins are dispersed, but there are many coarse particles having a diameter of 100 μm or more, and at this point, the texture becomes rough. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously pass the dough between several rolls (roll mills) and miniaturize the particles until the diameter of the particles becomes 30 μm or less (micronization step).

It should be noted that the dough needs to have an appropriate viscosity and fluidity in order to pass through the roll mill, but the dough after the browning step has a low oil and fat content due to the above-mentioned reasons, so that the dough has a low viscosity and fluidity. Is often lacking. Therefore, it is necessary to add cacao butter or the like to the dough before passing it through the roll mill to adjust the dough into a paste having appropriate viscosity and fluidity.

Next, the state of the dough after the atomization step will be described. Even if the dough is oil-added and adjusted into a paste, the surface area increases and the oil absorption amount also increases when the particles are made finer by passing through a roll mill. Then, the amount of fats and oils that can freely flow decreases, so that the fluidity of the dough decreases. For this reason, the dough sent to the smelting process is generally in the form of a hard paste or flakes.
6-4. Refining process (continging)
The refining process (conting) is a process in which flaky chocolate dough is stirred with a powerful stirring blade or roller and kneaded at a high temperature (45 to 80 ° C.). In the refining process, fats and oils ooze out from raw materials containing fats and oils such as cocoa powder and whole milk powder to improve fluidity. In addition, excess water and unpleasant scents volatilize, which enhances the original aromatic aroma of chocolate.

Further, in the refining step, fats and oils such as cacao butter, emulsifiers such as lecithin, and other materials such as flavors can be added as needed. After the addition, continue refining for a while and knead until it becomes a smooth emulsified state. In general, the refining process before adding other materials is called dry conching, and the refining process after adding other materials is called wet conching.

6-5. Temperature control process (tempering)
After refining, a temperature control step (tempering) is performed to induce the cacao butter contained in the chocolate dough into a fine and stable crystal structure. Cacao butter has six types of crystals, but the quality may deteriorate during storage unless a temperature control process is provided to adjust to the best crystal type.

(Example 1)
(A. Mixing step)
395 parts of sucrose, 45 parts of lactose, 0 parts of cacao butter (100% fat content), 185 parts of whole milk powder (25% fat content), 40 parts of skim milk powder (0% fat content) are made uniform with a mixer. The mixture was stirred to prepare chocolate dough 1 having a fat content of 7%. Although the cacao butter used in the present invention contains a small amount of flavor and water, it is extremely small compared to the amount of fat and oil, so it was ignored when calculating the fat and oil content.

(B. Browning step)
The chocolate dough 1a was poured into a stainless steel square tray (height 20 mm × width 190 mm × depth 140 mm) and adjusted to have a uniform thickness. Next, the dough 1a was put into a hot air dryer (temperature 200 ° C.) together with the tray and heated for 50 minutes with stirring at intervals of 10 minutes to obtain a yellow chocolate dough 1b.

(C. Atomization step)
190 parts of cacao butter was added to the chocolate dough 1b (additional oil) to adjust the viscosity so that it could be refined, and then three rolls were used to obtain a chocolate dough 1c having a particle diameter of 30 μm or less.

(D. Refining process, temperature control process)
110 parts of cacao butter and 03 parts of lecithin are added to 1c of chocolate dough, and conching is performed at 50 to 60 ° C. for 30 minutes, and then tempering is performed according to a conventional method to make chocolate 1 having a fat content of 36% (Example 1). Got

(Examples 2 to 6)
The raw materials and the heating time in the browning step were changed as shown in Table 1 to obtain chocolates 2 to 6. The heating time was adjusted so that the hue (yellow to orange) was about the same as that of chocolate 1.

(Example 7)
(Mixing process)
Uniformize 395 parts of sucrose, 45 parts of lactose, 90 parts of cacao butter (fat content 100%), 185 parts of whole milk powder (fat content 25%), and 40 parts of skim milk powder (fat content 0%) with a mixer. A chocolate dough 7a having an oil content of 18% was prepared.

(Browning process)
The chocolate dough 7a was poured into a stainless steel square tray and adjusted to have a uniform thickness. Next, the dough 7a was put into a hot air dryer (temperature 160 ° C.) together with the tray and heated for 120 minutes with stirring at intervals of 20 minutes to obtain a yellow chocolate dough 7b.

(C. Atomization step)
100 parts of cacao butter was added to the chocolate dough 7b (additional oil) to adjust the viscosity so that it could be refined, and then three rolls were used to obtain a chocolate dough 7c having a particle diameter of 30 μm or less.

(D. Refining process, temperature control process)
110 parts of cacao butter and 03 parts of lecithin are added to the chocolate dough 7c, and conching is performed at 50 to 60 ° C. for 30 minutes, and then tempering is performed according to a conventional method to make chocolate 7 having a fat content of 36% (Example 7). Got

(Examples 8 to 10)
The raw materials, the temperature in the browning step, and the heating time were changed as shown in Table 2 to obtain chocolates 8 to 10. The heating time was adjusted so that the hue (yellow to orange) was about the same as that of chocolate 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
(Mixing process)
Uniformize 395 parts of sucrose, 45 parts of lactose, 90 parts of cacao butter (fat content 100%), 185 parts of whole milk powder (fat content 25%), and 40 parts of skim milk powder (fat content 0%) with a mixer. A chocolate dough 11a having an oil content of 18% was prepared.

(Browning process, etc.)
The chocolate dough 11a was poured into a stainless steel square tray and adjusted to have a uniform thickness. Next, the dough 11a was put into a hot air dryer (temperature 100 ° C.) together with the tray and heated for 360 minutes with stirring at intervals of 60 minutes to obtain a chocolate dough 11b. Then, according to Table 3, the atomization step, the refining step and the temperature control step were carried out to obtain chocolate 11 (Comparative Example 1).

(Comparative Examples 2 and 3)
The heating temperature during the browning step or the fat content during the browning step was changed as shown in Table 3 to obtain chocolates 12 and 13.

Regarding chocolate 11 having a low heating temperature (100 ° C.) during the browning step, the color changed only to pale yellow even when heated for 360 minutes, and the productivity was at the same level as that of the conventional method (Comparative Example 4). Further, for chocolate 12 having a high heating temperature (330 ° C.), the browning changed too quickly and stirring could not be completed in time, and the chocolate 12 was partially carbonized and turned dark orange (brown). Further, the chocolate 12 and the chocolate 13 having a high fat content during the browning step had low productivity because they needed to be constantly stirred.

(Conventional method)
(Comparative Example 4)
White chocolate (reference example 1, chocolate 15), which is the same raw material as chocolate 3, was prepared without carrying out only the browning step. The white chocolate was placed in an oven at 80 ° C. and allowed to stand for 360 minutes to obtain chocolate 14. In the conventional method, it is usually left in the oven for 16 to 32 hours to turn brown, but it was taken out from the oven in 360 minutes (6 hours) to compare the hue with Comparative Example 1.

The hue was evaluated by molding chocolate into a plate shape and grasping the Lab on the surface of the chocolate, in addition to the visual evaluation. A color difference meter X-Rite exact (manufactured by Videojet X-Rite) was used for the Lab measurement. The values shown in Tables 1 to 3 are the average values of Labs at 50 locations (10 samples x 5 locations) (rounded to the first decimal place).

Browning by "increasing the oil and fat content during the browning step (see Examples 1 to 6)" or "increasing the heating temperature in the browning step (see Examples 3 and 7 to 10)" Tended to be faster.
On the other hand, when the heating temperature was low (Comparative Example 1), the browning was only about the same as that of the conventional method (Comparative Example 4), and the reactivity was poor. In addition, when the heating temperature was too high (Comparative Example 2), the decrease in brightness (L component value in Lab), which was thought to be due to carbonization, was remarkable. Furthermore, when the fat content during the browning step was too high (Comparative Example 3), color spots occurred due to the separation of the fat and other materials.

Claims (2)

At least a method for producing blonde chocolate using cocoa butter, sugar, and protein as raw materials.
After mixing the raw materials and before the atomization step, it has a browning step of heating the chocolate dough containing at least sugar and protein to 160 ° C or higher and 250 ° C or lower.
The total amount of fat and oil in the chocolate dough during the browning process was 10% by weight or more and 22% by weight or less.
and,
A method for producing blonde chocolate, which comprises adding 10% or more of cacao butter contained in blonde chocolate after the browning step. The method for producing blonde chocolate according to claim 1, wherein a hot air dryer is used in the browning step.