GB2176088A

GB2176088A - Cream powder

Info

Publication number: GB2176088A
Application number: GB08514171A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth John Burgess; Ralph Early
Original assignee: Milk Marketing Board
Current assignee: Milk Marketing Board
Priority date: 1985-06-05
Filing date: 1985-06-05
Publication date: 1986-12-17
Also published as: GB2176088B; GB8514171D0

Abstract

A powder comprising, in weight percent of the total weight of the powder on a dry weight basis: (a) from 4 to 14% sodium caseinate, (b) about 15 to 16% starch, modified starch or glucose solids, (c) from 1 to 5% of a suitable emulsifier, (d) from 6 to 15% non-fat milk solids, and (e) from 58 to 62% of dairy or vegetable fat or a mixture of these.

Description

SPECIFICATION Cream powder The present invention relates to a powder comprising certain milk solids suitable for use in the production of cream liqueur beverages, to processes for producing such cream liqueurs and to the cream liqueurs so produced.

In the past the production of cream liqueurs has been conducted in the face of a number of difficulties.

Firstly despite advances in the formulation of these products there is a continuing problem of shelf-life and storage stability. This leads to the usual recommendations that the product should be stored in cool conditions and consumed in a relatively short period and also presents difficulties with the exportation especially to warmer areas of the world. It is also inconvient to the consumer, especially those whose consumption of such products may be infrequent, since the product may deteriorate unacceptably before it can be completely consumed. The second difficulty with the manufacture of cream liqueurs is that it has been necessary to use fresh cream and thus the manufacturers have been restricted to operating in areas with a developed dairy industry and to having facilities for handling liquid cream.

The present invention seeks to overcome these difficulties by providing a powder comprising certain milk solids which may readily be admixed with spirits, sugar and water to produce a cream liqueur.

Accordingly the present invention provides a powder comprising, in weight percent of the total weight of the powder on a dry weight basis: (a) from 4 to 14% sodium caseinate, (b) about 15 to 16% starch, modified starch or glucose solids, (c) from 1 to 5% of a suitable emulsifier, (d) from 6 to 15% nonfat milk solids and (e) from 58 to 62% of dairy or vegetable fat or a mixture of these.

The ingredients for this basic cream liqueur powder are all readily available and well-known in the dairy art. Preferably the fat (e) included in the powder is obtained mainly or wholly from dairy sources, e.g. cream or butter, although suitable vegetable fats or blends of dairy and vegetable fat may be substituted. Suitable vegetable fats and blends to replace cream are known in the dairy industry. Most preferably the fat (e) is obtained wholly from cream containing about 40% fat.

When the cream liqueur powder is produced from cream the fat (e) will be accompanied by an amount of non-fat milk solids. The desired total quantity of non-fat milk solids (d) to be included in the powder is then achieved by adding further non-fat milk solids from other sources.

Preferably the cream liqueur powder contains about 60% of fat (e). Suitably the powder contains at least 8% sodium caseinate.

Suitable emulsifiers are emulsifiers such as the citric acid ester of monoglyceride (E472c), sodium lactylate (E481) and the acetic acid ester of mono- and di-glycerides (E472a), (Acidan N12, Artodan SP55 and Cetodan 70:00 from Grinsted Products). Preferably the emulsifier is included at about 2% by weight of the total dry weight. Another problem experienced in the manufacture of cream liquers has been instability of the emulsion. We have found that the foregoing emulsifiers are especially suitable for producing stable cream liquers from the present basic powder.

Suitably a flavouring agent may be included in the powder. Preferred flavourings are microencapsulated powders such as those supplied by Bush Boake Allen and three typical flavours are (i) whisky, chocolate and vanilla (ii) rum, pineapple and coconut and (iii) brandy and apple.

When a flavouring is incorporated the flavoured powder preferably comprises about 97% by weight of the basic powder described about and about 3% by weight of the flavouring.

The invention also provides a process for producing the powder described above which comprises admixing cream containing about 40% fat with the remaining ingredients, homogenising the mixture to produce a particle size of 0.8 to 2 um and spray drying the homogenised mixture.

Suitably the homogenisation is conducted in two stages, preferably at 172.5 and 34.5 bars respectively.

Conveniently the mixture is pasteurised, preferably before homogenisation but this may alternatively be effected after homogenisation. The pasteurisation conditions are conventional, suitable pasteurisation is at a temperature of about 65"C for an appropriate duration.

When a flavouring is to be incorporated this is conveniently effected after spray during the basic powder especially with microencapsulated and other products which might be adversely affected by the aqueous environment or the processing conditions applied in producing the basic powder.

A cream powder according to the present invention is relatively stable and is therefore suitable for export in bulk for production of cream liqueurs on a commercial scale and it is also suitable for use by domestic consumers, even after long storage, for the preparation of cream liqueurs as and when these are required.

The invention therefore also provides a process for producing a cream liqueur which comprises admix ing the cream powder described above with a sugar solution then mixing in a suitable quantity of aqueous alcohol, the mixing steps being conducted by a high-speed mixer.

Suitably the process is conducted in a domestic liquidiser as described in the Examples below.

The process can be applied either to the basic powder described above, in which case flavouring may optionally be added to taste during the mixing process. Alternatively a flavoured powder may be employed.

The aqueous alcohol is preferably used in sufficient quantity to provide a cream liqueur which is about 30 proof, (14% w/w of alcohol). Typically, especially in a domestic situation, an appropriate commercially available alcoholic spirit would be employed, for instance one continuing about 40% w/w alcohol.

The invention also comprises a cream liqueur comprising about 20% by weight sugar, about 20% by weight cream powder as herein described about 15 to 16% by weight alcohol and the balance being water.

The invention will now be illustrated by the following Examples.

Example 1 - Cream liqueur powder Weight percent (approx) Ingredients (Dry basis) Fat (from 40% fat cream) 61.22 Sodium Caseinate 13.98 Hydrolysed Starch 15.31 Emulsifier/Stabiliser 1.84 Non-fat milk solids 7.65 The ingredients were added to a mixing vessel and mixed and pasteurised at about 65"C, after which they were homogenised twice in a two stage homogenizer at pressures of about 172.5 and 34.5 Bars, to produce a particle size of 0.8-2 um. The homogenised mix was then spray dried in a two stage spray dryer.

Example 2 - Flavoured cream liqueur powder The spray dried cream powder from Example 1 was dry blended with encapsulated flavouring powders, at a rate of 3% by weight of the total combined weight.

Example 3 - Cream liqueur drink Alcoholic cream liqueur was produced using a domestic liquidiser as follows: Ingredients Weight percent (approx) 1. Water 21.4 2. Sugar 20.0 3. Cream liqueur powder base 20.0 4. Alcohol 40% v/v 38.6 Method a) Add hot (60"C) water to liquidiser.

b) Add cream liqueur powder base in small amounts, mixing in between.

c) Add sugar to liquidiser. Mix for about 2 minutes.

d) Add alcohol to the mixture in the iiquidiser and mix for about 10 mins.

e) Cool the mixture to ambient temperature and bottle.

A cream liqueur made up as described above has been found to be stable (no fat separation) for up to 2 weeks in an accelerated storage test at 45 C.

Example 4 - Cream liqueur drink An alcoholic cream liqueur drink is produced on an commercial scale using an industrial mixer and homogeniser as follows: Ingredients: as Example 3 except that spirits containing from 40% to 85% v/v alcohol may be used. When stronger spirits are used the quantity of water and spirit may be varied to suit the desired end product, which typically would contain about 15% v/v alcohol.

Method: (a) Add water (40-50"C) to the mixer.

(b) Mix the cream liqueur powder into the water.

(c) Add the sugar and mix well.

(d) Pasteurise the mix.

(e) Homogenise the mix twice with 2 stage homogenisation and pressures of 172.5 and 34.5 Bar. at a temperature of 65-70"C.

(f) Cool the mix to 15-20"C.

(g) Add the alcohol to the mixture and mix well.

(h) Bottle.

Claims

1. A powder comprising, in weight percent of the total weight of the powder on a dry weight basis: (a) from 4 to 14% sodium caseinate, (b) about 15 to 16% starch, modified starch or glucose solids, (c) from 1 to 5% of a suitable emulsifier, (d) from 6 to 15% non-fat milk solids, and (e) from 58 to 62% of dairy or vegetable fat or a mixture of these.

2. A powder according to claim 1 wherein the fat (e) is obtained wholly from cream containing about 40% fat.

3. A powder according to claim 1 or claim 2 containing about 60% of fat (e).

4. A powder according to any preceding claim comprising at least 8% sodium caseinate.

5. A powder according to any preceding claim wherein the emulsifier (c) is the citric acid ester of monoglyceride (E472c), sodium lactylate (E481) or the acetic acid ester of mono- and di-glycerices (E472a).

6. A powder according to any preceding claim wherein emulsifier is included at about 2% by weight of the total dry weight.

7. A powder according to claim 1 and substantially as herein before described with reference to Example 1.

8. A flavoured powder comprising about 97% by weight of a powder as claimed in any preceding claim and about 3% by weight of a flavouring.

9. A flavoured powder according to claim 8 wherein the flavouring is (i) whisky, chocolate and vanilla or (ii) rum, pineapple and coconut or (iii) brandy and apple, in microencapsulated powder form.

10. A flavoured powder according to claim 8 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Example 2.

11. A process for producing a powder according to any preceding claim which comprises admixing cream containing about 40% fat with the remaining ingredients, homogenising the mixture to produce a particle size 0.8 to 2 um and spray drying the homogenised mixture.

12. A process according to claim 11 wherein the homogenisation is conducted in two stages at about 172.5 and 34.5 bars (17.25 MPa and 3.45 MPa) respectively.

13. A process according to claim 12 wherein the mixture is pasteurised before or after homogenisation.

14. A process according to any one of claims 11 to 13 wherein a flavouring is incorporated after spray drying the homogenised mixture.

15. A process according to claim 11 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Example 1 or Example 2.

16. A process for producing a cream liqueur which comprises admixing a powder according to any one of claims 1 to 10 with a sugar solution then mixing in a suitable quantity of aqueous alcohol, the mixing steps being conducted by a high speed mixer.

17. A process according to claim 16 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Example 3 or Example 4.

18. A cream liqueur drink comprising about 20% by weight sugar about 20% by weight cream powder according to any one of claims 1 to 10 about 15 to 16% by weight alcohol and the balance being water and optional accessory ingredients.

19. A cream liqueur drink according to claim 18 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Example 3 or Example 4.