GB2611754A

GB2611754A - Baking methods and products thereof

Info

Publication number: GB2611754A
Application number: GB2114572.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jean Coombe Anna
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-10-12
Filing date: 2021-10-12
Publication date: 2023-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2041-10-12
Also published as: GB202114572D0; GB2611754B

Abstract

A process for manufacturing a confection product comprising the steps of: placing cake batter into a container; providing a dough having a dough weight at most quadruple the cake batter weight and; forming the dough into a dough shape that matches the profile of the container such that the dough fully covers the cake batter; and baking. Preferably the cake batter is not prepared by whisking but the cookie dough is. Preferably, the cake batter comprises glycerine. Preferably the dough comprises added ingredients that are coated in flour. Preferably the cookie dough is chilled and then cut to shape or formed into one spiral or two piped spirals. Preferably the container is baked at 160-180 ℃. Preferably the dough is at most half the cake batter thickness when baked.

Description

BAKING METHODS AND PRODUCTS THEREOF

Technical field

The invention relates generally to baked goods and methods for their production.

Backaround

A wide variety of manufacturing processes of edible confections including baked goods are employed by home bakers as well as professional bakers. Baked goods include cakes such as sponge cakes, on one hand, and pastry goods such as shortbread, biscuits and cookies on the other hand.

Sponge cake is traditionally made from a batter formed by mixing solid and liquid ingredients such as flour sugar, eggs, water, and raising agents such as baking powder to provide leavening together with flavouring agents. Cake batter is usually a liquid batter that is mixture of the solid and liquid ingredients that rises with raising agents and air incorporated in the batter through whisking and folding techniques. Cake batter does not firm solid when chilled in the refrigerator. Mien baked at a suitable temperature, a cake batter will bake to result in a baked product with a soft, light texture.

Baked goods such as shortbread biscuits and cookies are made from forming a dough. A dough is a malleable mixture of flour and liquid that firms up hard when left to chill in the refrigerator. Unlike a cake batter, a dough can be shaped, rolled and cut. When baked, a dough will usually form a baked product with a crisp, crunchy, crumbly, or chewy texture depending on the dough type and baking times. -1 - -2 -

It is an object of the present invention to provide methods of manufacturing baked goods with improved consumer experience.

Summary of invention

According to a broad independent aspect of the invention, there is provided a process for manufacturing a confection product, the process comprising the steps of: providing a cake batter having a cake batter weight and placing the cake batter into a cake baking container, wherein the surface of the cake batter inside the container matches a profile of the container and has a cake batter thickness; providing a dough having a dough weight at most quadruple the cake batter weight; forming the dough into a dough shape that matches the profile of the container such that the dough shape fits within the container whilst placing the dough on top of the cake batter; adjusting the dough such that the dough fully covers the cake batter; and baking the container until both the cake batter and the dough are each sufficiently cooked to form a finished confection product.

In a dependent aspect, the finished confection product comprises baked cake and dough components which adhere to each other and cannot be cleanly separated from each other.

In a dependent aspect, the baked dough thickness is at most half the baked cake batter thickness.

The inventor has found that, surprisingly, this process enables the manufacturing of a confection product that is much more than a hybrid between cake and dough baked together, but, when baked it has the robustness of an integrally formed product. The relative proportions of the cake batter and dough weights (and resulting thicknesses) particularly in combination with the prescribed method steps enable a robust confection product with a dough component on top of a cake component that enables a user to experience different textures in one bite.

The container profile can have any shape. Adjusting the dough in the container is important that no cake batter is visible and the dough is touching the cake batter. This can be achieved for example by gently pushing the dough down onto the cake batter and will prevent the cake -3 -batter to rise above the dough during baking which would affect integrity of the confection product.

The baked product is integral; in the prescribed combination of relative proportions the different batters can fuse together during baking in that one will not be able to cleanly pull the biscuit/cookie off the top of the cake. This goes beyond merely baking cake batter and dough together which have different rise times for a given temperature and would not normally stick together, resulting in a two part product, with the cake batter easily detachable from the cookie dough, with less integrity and much harder to handle and package. This synergistic combination allows the manufacturing of an integral product where the user experiences different textures and flavours in one bite without the product crumbling.

"Cake batter" is defined as a liquid batter, i.e. non-malleable batter that does not firm solid when chilled in the refrigerator and that results into a soft, light cake texture when baked. In some examples, the cake batter may be for a sponge cake, or lemon cake. Unlike traditional cake batters, in this process the formed cake batter is preferably not whisked.

For example, a Victoria sponge batter is light and runny and bakes to form a soft sponge. Some cake batters are thicker and mixed differently to result in a denser cake such as fruit cake and carrot cake. They take longer to cook and would pair better with other dense cookies/biscuits doughs such as gingerbread and classic shortbread, or with a larger amount of dough on top of the batter to allow for longer cooking times.

"Dough" is defined as a malleable batter that firms up solid when chilled in the refrigerator and that results into a crisp, crunchy, crumbly, or chewy texture when baked. In some examples, the dough is a for a cookie, shortbread biscuit, Vienese biscuit, or gingerbread. Unlike traditional doughs, in this process, sugar and fat dough ingredients are preferably whisked.

Viennese biscuit dough is a very light shortbread dough resulting in a different texture from a classic shortbread recipe with added raising agents, lighter sugar and incorporating air into the method for a lighter dough that is very soft, light and crumbly when baked. Viennese -4 -biscuit dough can be piped to the desired shape whereas a classic shortbread dough would be made into breadcrumbs, rolled and cut into shapes.

Advantgeously, the prescribed method avoids reducing the thickness of the dough to match the baking time for the cake batter. If the dough were too thin, it could crack while baking, crumble or break when the final product is removed from the container, resulting in a damaged product. Forming the dough into the right shape and thickness ensures the cake batter and dough, particularly in the prescribed relative weights, can combine securely and the finished cookie cake has integrity.

In a dependent aspect, the step of providing the cake batter comprises mixing or folding cake batter components, wherein the combined cake batter components are not whisked. Unlike in the process of manufacturing traditional cake batter, this avoids adding too much air into the formed cake batter before baking which would result into the cake batter raising over the dough.

In a dependent aspect, the cake batter comprises glycerine. Advantageously, this enables the fusion of the cake batter with the dough increasing robustness of the final confection product. In turn, this enables the confection product to be packaged without the container in which it is baked. Furtrhermore, the glycerine helps to keep the cake moist for longer.

In a dependent aspect, the step of providing the dough comprises whisking dough ingredients. For example, butter and sugar are whisked to enable the dough to rise well above the cake batter. This feature, particularly in combination with a cake batter wherein, by contrast, the combined cake batter ingredients are not whisked, adds to the robustness of the final product.

In a dependent aspect, the provided dough has a dough density and the step of providing the dough comprises mixing or folding dough ingredients comprising at least one added ingredient higher in density than the dough density, wherein the added ingredient is coated in flour. For example an added ingredient may be chocolate or fruit pieces.

In a dependent aspect, the added ingredients do not touch the container. -5 -

In a dependent aspect, the step of providing the dough comprises chilling the dough. Preferably, the dough is chilled within the range of about 4 degrees Celsius to about 8 degrees Celsius.

In a dependent aspect, the step of forming the dough comprises cutting the dough using a cutting element having a shape that matches the container profile. By "matching" it will be understood approximately the same shape (e.g. round for round cupcake containers) so that the cut dough can form a tight fit when placed within the container before adjusting it to fully cover the cake batter.

In an alternative dependent aspect, the step of forming the dough comprises forming a dough spiral. Preferably, two spirals are piped above the cake batter, completely covering the cake batter to form a strong structure that matches the shape of the container.

Preferably, the step of forming the dough comprises rolling the dough onto a supporting surface coated with vegetable fat.

Preferably, the dough fully covering the cake batter has an unbroken top surface.

In a dependent aspect, the container is baked at a temperature within the range of about 160 degrees Celsius to about 180 degrees Celsius. This allows for neither of the baked cake and dough components, which have different cooking times, to be overcooked in the process Preferred features of each one of the independent claims are provided in the dependent

Detailed description

Vanilla Victoria sponqe and shortbread "cookie cake" In a first example, the following process for manufacturing a confection product ("cookie cake") is described. -6 -

First a sponge cake is produced by mixing or folding sponge cake ingredients. In this example, the sponge cake is a vanilla sponge cake made from the following formulation: * 100g golden caster sugar * 100g buttery spread * 2 eggs, beaten *100g self-raising flour * 1/2 tsp baking powder * 1/2 tsp vanilla extract * 17m1 milk * 1tsp Glycerine To make the Victoria sponge batter, the above ingredients are added to a bowl and mixed together to form a smooth, cake batter mixture.

In alternative formulations, the sponge cake is an almond sponge cake, comprising 1-2 tsp almond flavouring, 10-20g flaked almonds, and 5g ground almonds. In further alternaitve formulations, the sponge cake is a chocolate sponge cake, comprising 25g cocoa powder, 30g chopped milk or dark chocolate. In further alternative formulations, the sponge cake is a lemon sponge cake, wherein the milk ingredient is left out, and the cake comprises the zest of one lemon and 1tsp of juice.

Advantageously, the glycerine added to the cake batter enables the fusion of the cake batter with the dough increasing robustness of the final confection product. In turn, this enables the confection product to be packaged without the container in which it is baked. Furthermore, the glycerine helps to keep the cake moist for longer.

The cake batter components of the are preferably mixed or folded; the combined cake batter should not be whisked as this will result in the sponge rising too quickly above the dough whilst these are baked together, and thus covering the dough, affecting the integrity and apperance of the final product. -7 -

Next, a dough is produced; in one example, the dough is for a shortbread biscuit made from the following formulation: * 100g butter, chilled and cubed * 150g plain flour * 50g golden caster sugar To make the shortbread, the above ingredients are combined in a mixing bowl by hand or other means to make breadcrumbs and form together as a dough.

Chilling the dough slightly will be an advantage while handling it to form the desired shape (e.g. round) but it does need to be malleable to be able to be shaped and adjusted to fit into the cases fully. It is preferable to avoid adding any flour when working with the dough as this will dry it out and affect the combining of the betters. Using white vegetable fat will eradicate this issue.

In alternative formulations, the dough is for a cherry and almond shortbread, comprising 50g chopped, washed, dried and floured glace cherries, add 5g ground almonds. In further alternative formulations, the dough is a chocolate chip shortbread, comprising 20-30g chopped white, milk, dark chocolate.

In an examplary process of baking the above described cake batter and dough, an oven fan is heated at 160 degrees Celsius. Twelve cupcake cases each having a 20cm top circumference and a 14 cm bottom circumference are placed into cupcake tins. Three -four tsp of batter to each case so the cake batter mixture is just over half way up the case, each portion of cake batter weighing approximately 10-15g.

Optionally, a tsp of filling may be added to the middle of the case after the second tsp of cake batter and then covered with cake batter. The filling may be for example, jam chocolate lemon curd etc. The cake batter may be set aside in a cool room or in the fridge until needed. -8 -

Next, a cooking surface may be lightly spread with white vegetable fat. The dough is weighed into 30g pieces-at most quadruple the weight of the cake batter; at the same time, the dough weight is enough to go on top of the batter for each cupcake case. In this example, a round, 2.25 inch (5.75 cm) diameter cutter is used to shape the dough; the cutter is filled with the dough to form a disk, pushing the dough to the edges inside of the cutter and applying light presssure to smooth its top surface. Preferably the dough is shaped so that there are no apertured (cracks) around or on the disk surface and, where used, the chocolate chunks are not at the edge of the dough.

The amount of dough must be, at a minimum, enough to cover the cake batter when positioned on top of the batter, and, at a maximum quadruple the weight of the cake batter, for example, using 10g of cake batter and 40g dough. Outside of this range, the confection product would not have integrity or sufficient robustness: too little dough and the cake batter will rise above the dough during baking, the dough may crack and will not fuse well with the cake batter in the finished product; too much dough and the dough may sink into the batter, or the dough may result in being undercooked when the batter is fully cooked. The dough is up to half the thickness of the cake batter when baked to enable stability and robustness of the product with a top dough component when cooked.

Next, the shaped dough is placed carefully on top of the cake batter in the cupcake cases, spreading the dough out to ensure that there is no cake batter visible. Light pressure is applied to push the dough down lightly to ensure it is touching the batter throughout the surface of the dough disk. It is important that no cake batter is visible at this stage and the dough is touching the cake batter. This can be achieved by adjusting the dough in the case and gently pushing the dough down onto the cake batter.

The cupcake tins are baked for 22-25 mins until the shortbread is cooked and slightly browned; then moved to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely. By judging how well the top dough is cooked will determine the readiness of the cake batter. The top of the shortbread can be decorated as desired with ingredients such as chocolate pieces, icing, frosting etc. -9 -The circumference of the cookie/biscuit will increase from 2.25 inches to 2.6 inches during baking to fill the case. The product will rise in the case during baking to above the case rim. When the case is removed once cooled, one can clearly see the biscuit/cookie on top and the sponge cake below that are fully combined neatly together. The product is integral in that one not be able to cleanly pull the biscuit/cookie off the top of the cake.

Lemon and Viennese "cookie cake" In a second example, a lemon cake is produced which has a denser consistency than the lemon sponge cake described in the first example. In this example, the lemon cake batter is provided by mixing or folding the following formulation: * 180g golden caster sugar * 180g buttery spread * 3 large egg * 250g self-raising flour * 1/2 tsp baking powder * 100g Greek yogurt * 3 large unwaxed lemons, zested * 1/2 tsp salt To provide the lemon cake batter, the butter and caster sugar are beaten together until pale in colour and light in texture. Preferably, one egg at a time is beaten; next the lemon zest is stirred into the mixture. The flour, baking powder, salt and yoghurt are folded into the mixture. Cupcake cases of the type described in the first example are filled with 2-3 tsp of the lemon cake batter and set aside in the refrigerator until needed.

A Viennese biscuit dough is provided from the following forumation: * 50g icing sugar * 200g butter, softened * 2 tsp vanilla extract * 200g plain flour -10 - * 1/2 tsp baking powder * 2 tsp cornflour To make the dough, the butter and icing sugar are beaten or whisked for 5 mins until pale and light in texture. The vanilla extract is added and the mixture is beated again. The cornflour, baking powder and flour are sifted together and folded into the dough mixture until combined.

Next, the dough is spooned into a piping bag with a large hole nozzle and pipe in a spiral, completely covering the cake batter in each cupcake case, and thus matching the shape of the case. Preferably, two whole spirals are piped in each cupcake case, one on top of the other to enable a strong structure. Alternatively, one can also use a spatula to smooth the top of the dough i.e. applying light pressure; this will result in a smoother appearance on top once baked but care is required not to mix the batter and dough together.

In alternative processes, the dough is piped in other shapes, such as a star using a star tube on top or any other design which will still be partly visible after baking, for decorative purposes.

The containers are baked in the centre of the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 15-18 minutes, until the dough is pale golden on top, and then left to cool carefully transfering the final product to wire racks. Viennese dough is light and delicate, requiring careful handling. The final product may be dusted with icing sugar, frost or decorated as desired.

The cake batter may also be filled with a filling before baking or after baking from the bottom or side as desired. For example, vanilla Victoria sponge cake filled with strawberry jam, with a white chocolate shortbread on top. If adding the filling before baking, 1 tsp of filling can be added to the middle of the batter for a cookie cake of this size.

It will be appreciated that other combinations of cake batter and dough are possible provided the process follows the method steps recited in the appended claims. Possible combinations 30 include: Banoffee -banana cake Cookie with chewy toffee chunks Strawberry shortcake -vanilla Victoria sponge filled with strawberry jam / Cookie with white chocolate chunks and small strawberry candies or something similar.

Plain -Vanilla Victoria sponge Cookie with milk chocolate chunks Caramel & White Chocolate -Caramel cake filled with toffee sauce Cookie with white chocolate chunks Triple Chocolate -Chocolate Victoria sponge Triple chocolate cookie Chocolate orange -Chocolate Victoria sponge Dark chocolate orange cookie Lemon -Lemon cake Viennese biscuit/ vanilla or white chocolate chip cookie or shortbread, iced and topped with lemon zest Blueberry -Vanilla Victoria sponge filled with blueberry jam Sugar dusted shortbread biscuit with blueberry chunks, raisins or white chocolate.

-12 -Coffee and walnut cake Viennese biscuit or vanilla/white chocolate chip shortbread Farmhouse cake Gingerbread or vanilla shortbread Chocolate sponge Vanilla/chocolate chip shortbread Coconut cake Shortbread or cookie Carrot cake Cinnamon shortbread Strawberry Shortcake -Vanilla Victoria sponge filled with strawberry jam Cookie/shortbread with white chocolate chunks topped with (after baking) strawberry candies in the shape of a heart glued on with buttercream or icing Chocolate Easter Egg -Vanilla Victoria sponge filled with buttercream Cookie with chocolate sugar coated chocolate pieces Hot cross bun -Spiced vanilla cake with raisins and sultanas Cookie with apple pieces topped with candied orange peel Pumpkin Spice -Pumpkin spice/ ginger or syrup cake -13 -Cinnamon biscuit iced and topped with pumpkin candies Halloween -Vanilla Victoria sponge dyed green and filled with strawberry jam Plain cookie covered on top with thin white royal icing and topped with icing decoration Chocolate orange -chocolate sponge Chocolate cookie with orange chocolate chunks Gingerbread -Spiced ginger cake with real ginger chunks Gingerbread cookie iced with a happy face topped with chocolate buttons If the cake batter and dough contain added ingredients such as chocolate, this further supports the fusion of the two components but consideration must be made to what is being added and the possibility of sinking must be catered for. For example, chocolate chunks in cookie dough may sink through to the bottom of the cake. This can be avoided with the dough being thick and rollable. The chocolate can be covered in flour before adding to the dough to reduce sinkage. This is the same for dough such as shortbread having glace cherries added. They must be chopped to an appropriate size, washed, dried and coated in flour before adding to the dough. It is preferable to use golden caster sugar and not normal white caster sugar as this is too sweet and will result in the product being overly sweet when finished.

A two tone of colour product is particularly pleasing when contrasting or complimenting the top with the bottom. For example, a chocolate chip cookie or shortbread with a dark chocolate Victoria sponge is aesthetically pleasing to eat as well as interesting in texture combinations and flavours.

Those skilled in the art will be able to make modifications and alternatives in view of the disclosure which are contemplated as falling within the scope of the appended claims. Each feature disclosed or illustrated in the present specification may be incorporated in the -14 -invention, whether alone or in any appropriate combination with any other feature disclosed or illustrated herein.

It will be appreciated that the order of performance of the steps in any of the embodiments in the present description is not essential, unless required by context or otherwise specified.

Therefore, most steps may be performed in any order. In addition, any of the embodiments may include more or fewer steps than those disclosed.

Additionally, it will be appreciated that the term "comprising" and its grammatical variants must be interpreted inclusively, unless the context requires otherwise. That is, "comprising" should be interpreted as meaning "including but not limited to".

Claims

-15 -CLAIMS 1. A process for manufacturing a confection product, the process comprising the steps of: providing a cake batter having a cake batter weight and placing the cake batter into a cake baking container, wherein the surface of the cake batter inside the container matches a profile of the container and has a cake batter thickness; providing a dough having a dough weight at most quadruple the cake batter weight; forming the dough into a dough shape that matches the profile of the container such that the dough shape fits within the container whilst placing the dough on top of the cake batter; adjusting the dough such that the dough fully covers the cake batter; and baking the container until both the cake batter and the dough are each sufficiently cooked to form a finished confection product.
2. A process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing the cake batter comprises combining cake components by mixing or folding, wherein the combined cake batter components are not whisked.
3. A process according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the cake batter comprises glycerine.
4. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of providing the dough comprises whisking dough ingredients.
5. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the dough has a dough density and the step of providing the dough comprises mixing or folding dough ingredients comprising at least one added ingredient higher in density than the dough density, wherein the added ingredient is coated in flour.
6. A process according to claim 5, wherein said added ingredient does not touch the container.
7. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of providing the dough comprises chilling the dough.
-16 - 8. A process according to claim 7, wherein the dough is chilled to a temperature within the range of about 4 degrees Celsius to about 8 degrees Celsius.
9. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of forming the dough comprises cutting the dough using a cutting element having a shape that matches the container profile.
10.A process according to any one of claims Ito 8, wherein the step of forming the dough comprises forming at least one dough spiral.
11.A process according to claim 10, wherein forming at least one dough spiral comprises piping two spirals above the cake batter.
12. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the finished confection product comprises baked cake and dough which adhere to each other and cannot be cleanly separated from each other.
13.A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container is baked at a temperature within the range of about 160 degrees Celsius to about 180 degrees Celsius.
14. A process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the baked dough thickness is at most half the baked cake batter thickness.