WO2014006086A1

WO2014006086A1 - Chocolate confectionery product

Info

Publication number: WO2014006086A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/064022
Authority: WO
Inventors: Helen Chisholm; Anwesha SARKAR; Sylvie ANTHONIOZ; Judith Arfsten
Original assignee: Nestec S.A.
Priority date: 2012-07-03
Filing date: 2013-07-03
Publication date: 2014-01-09

Abstract

The invention relates to a confectionery product comprising an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material, and chocolate. The invention also relates to processes for preparation of the confectionery product and its use in composite products.

Description

CHOCOLATE CONFECTIONERY PRODUCT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the field of chocolate confectionery, more particularly to chocolate confectionery products comprising an encapsulated oil as a dairy fat replacement system, as well as to methods for preparing such confectionery products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

Ganache is a type of chocolate confection made principally from chocolate and dairy cream. Ganache-type chocolate confectionery products widely used in a variety of confectionery and bakery applications. Examples include chocolate truffles; fillings e.g. for pralines, cakes, macaroons, sweets, pastries.; coatings e.g. glaze, icing or enrobage for cakes, fudges, or other confectionery products; and sauces, amongst others.

Conventionally ganache is made by heating dairy cream, often together with milk, and mixing with chocolate. Dark, milk or white chocolate may be used, but most often conventional ganache is made with dark chocolate.

However such ganache-type products tend to have a nutritional profile high in total fat and high in saturated fats in order to provide the desired organoleptic properties, such as the indulgent, creamy, mouth feel, and textural properties such as a sufficiently firm texture to ensure shape stability of the filling upon handling of the product.

However, fats containing high amounts of saturated fatty acids (SFA) are known to have negative health impact and are linked to an enhanced risk for cardiovascular diseases. In the recent years, this has led to an increasingly negative consumer perception of saturates. Hence it would be desirable to reduce the content of high SFA solid-type fats.

The consumer is not willing to compromise on the organoleptic properties of chocolate confectionery products, such as ganache-type products, in order to reduce consumption of SFA. Taste, texture and overall appearance are such organoleptic properties.

Accordingly there is an ongoing need to provide chocolate confectionery products having lower SFA content, whilst having good organoleptic properties.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chocolate confectionery product having a lower SFA content than traditional ganache-type products.

It would be advantageous to provide ganache-like chocolate confectionery products that are lower in SFA, and that may be easily industrialised at a reasonable cost, without compromising the organoleptic parameters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, the invention provides the use of an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and an encapsulated oil for the preparation of a chocolate confectionery product, the encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil, encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material. In some preferred embodiments the confectionery product is prepared by mixing from 5 to 50% w/w of the emulsion, with chocolate, and preferably a dairy product.

Advantageously the emulsion of encapsulated oil can be used to partially or totally replace dairy fat in a ganache-type chocolate confectionery product. In a preferred embodiment the emulsion of encapsulated oil is used to partially or totally replace dairy cream in the preparation of a ganache-type chocolate confectionery product.

According to one aspect there is now provided a chocolate confectionery product comprising:

- an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil, encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material;

- and chocolate.

Preferably the chocolate confectionery product of the invention comprises from 5% to 40% w/w of the emulsion of encapsulated oil, also referred to herein as "oil cream", and from 40% to 80% w/w, preferably from 50% to 70% w/w chocolate. Preferably the chocolate confectionery product of the invention comprises a dairy product, preferably a milk product. In a preferred embodiment the milk product is selected from milk (skimmed milk, semi-skimmed milk, or full fat milk), milk powder (skimmed milk powder, semi-skimmed milk powder, or full fat milk powder), concentrated milk (for instance evaporated milk).

According to another aspect there is provided a process for the preparation of a chocolate confectionery product comprising the steps:

(a) Providing an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material,

(b) Mixing the emulsion with chocolate and optionally a milk product.

In a preferred embodiment the emulsion in step (a) is provided by a process comprising the steps:

(a) preparing an emulsion by homogenization of oil in an aqueous phase comprising a proteinaceous material;

(b) heating the emulsion at 70 to 90 °C for 2 to 30 minutes, preferably 5 to 15 minutes; and

(c) concentrating the emulsion by microfiltration or centrifugation or evaporation to reduce the water content of the oil cream to a value in the range of from about

10% to about 40% by weight.

In further aspects there are provided the use of the chocolate confectionery product as a filling, coating, topping and/or sauce, and composite confectionery products comprising the chocolate confectionery product.

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description of embodiments of the invention, in connection with the attached drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a confocal micrograph of a cross linked emulsion according to an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The inventors of the present invention have surprisingly found that an emulsion of encapsulated oil comprising an inner core of oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material can be used to partially or totally replace dairy fat sources, particularly dairy cream in a ganache type chocolate confectionery product, whilst maintaining the good organoleptic properties and physical properties, such texture.

The chocolate confectionery products of the invention have a smooth, homogeneous texture, and a pleasant, creamy, melt-in-mouth mouth feel, comparable to that of a traditional ganache product made with dairy cream. The present invention makes it possible to provide a ganache-like chocolate confectionery product, having significantly lower SFA content compared to conventional ganaches.

Advantageously according to the present invention chocolate confectionery products can be produced have similar or same textural and viscosity properties to a corresponding ganache product.

The chocolate confectionery product comprises an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil, encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material, chocolate and optionally a dairy product.

The resultant chocolate confectionery products are advantageously surprisingly very stable against oil release (oil leakage), and have good textural and organoleptic properties.

The invention concerns the use of encapsulated oil obtained by an emulsification process. The encapsulated oil comprises an inner core of oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material, wherein the encapsulated oil comprises at least 60 % by weight oil, and wherein the emulsion of the encapsulated oil comprises from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil. The confectionery product is formed by mixing 5 to 50 % by weight, preferably 5 to 40% by weight, of the emulsion with chocolate and optionally a dairy product, preferably milk.

The encapsulated oils are obtained by known emulsion-based encapsulation technology. The process is based on an oil-in-water emulsion that is treated to induce cross-linking of the proteins situated around the oil droplets in order to obtain an encapsulated oil. The emulsion of encapsulated oil is concentrated to obtain a concentrated emulsion of the encapsulated oil. The concentrating step can be carried out by any commonly known concentrating technique such as vacuum drying, microfiltration, centrifugation etc. Prior to the concentrating step, a step of cross- linking a protein-based emulsifier is applied. This may be a physical treatment, such as heat treatment or high pressure treatment, a chemical treatment, or an enzymatic treatment. The final encapsulated oil usually consists of a liquid vegetable oil that is encapsulated in a matrix material consisting of proteins, and optionally carbohydrates (such as sugars, for instance lactose, glucose, maltodextrin, a starch, cellulose), and optionally further surface active agents, or mixtures thereof.

The oil content of the encapsulated oil globules is preferably at least 60% w/w such as from 70 to 99% w/w. Preferably the encapsulated oil comprises at least 70% w/w, more preferably at least 80% w/w, more preferably at least 80% w/w, such as at least 95% w/w. For instance, in one preferred embodiment the encapsulated oil contains from 80% to 99% w/w oil, encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked protein. In a preferred embodiment the encapsulated oil comprises from 85% to 98% w/w, preferably from 90% to 98% w/w oil, such as from 90% to 97% w/w oil.

The oil used for preparing the emulsion can be any vegetable oil or fat that is liquid or that can be liquefied at ambient conditions. The oil is suitably a food grade oil. Examples include sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil, soy oil, fish oil, canola oil, linseed oil, safflower oil, corn oil, algae oil, cottonseed oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, grape seed oil, a nut oil such as hazelnut oil, walnut oil, or other nut oil, peanut oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, cocoa butter, milk fat or combinations thereof. Optionally, the oil can contain one or more liposoluble compounds; such as for example plant polyphenols, fatty acids, such as n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, vitamins, aromas, flavours, antioxidants, other active ingredients. Exemplary antioxidants for optimising oxidative stability of the oil include ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate, citric acid, rosmarinic extract, BHA, BHT, mixed tocopherols, citric acid and EDTA. Preferably, a vegetable oil is used, more preferably an oil with a low SFA content is chosen such as high oleic sunflower oil or high oleic rapeseed oil.

The matrix material that is used to encapsulate the oil is preferably a protein- based emulsifier, and can be any food-grade protein-based emulsifier such as milk and/or whey proteins, soy proteins, pea proteins, caseinate, egg albumen, lyzozyme, gluten, rice protein, corn protein, potato protein, lupin protein, pea protein, skimmed milk proteins or any kind of globular and random coil proteins as well as combinations thereof. The proteins may comprise food grade salts, such as sodium citrate, magnesium citrate, potassium citrate, calcium phosphate or combinations thereof. Such salts may be present in an amount typically up to 10%w/w, preferably from 0 to 5% w/w.

In one preferred embodiment the protein is one or more milk and/or whey derived protein.

Preferred milk proteins or milk protein fractions in accordance with the present invention comprise, for example, whey proteins, a-lactalbumin, β-lactalbumin, bovine serum albumin, acid casein, caseinates, a-casein, β-casein.

As far as whey proteins are concerned, the protein source may be based on acid whey or sweet whey or mixtures thereof and may include a-lactalbumin and β- lactalbumin in any proportions. The proteins may be intact or at least partially hydrolysed.

Typically the encapsulated oil comprises up to about 30% w/w of the encapsulating protein, preferably up to about 20% w/w protein, more preferably up to about 10% w/w protein. In one preferred embodiment an encapsulated oil according to the invention comprises from about 1 % w/w to about 20% w/w of the protein, more preferably from about 2% w/w to about 15% w/w of the protein, such as from about 3% w/w to about 15% w/w of the protein. In another preferred embodiment an encapsulated oil according to the invention comprises from about 3% w/w to about 10% w/w of the protein. In one preferred embodiment an encapsulated oil according to the invention comprises a maximum of 5% w/w of the protein. In another preferred embodiment an encapsulated oil according to the invention comprises a maximum of 4% w/w of the protein. In a further embodiment an encapsulated oil according to the invention comprises a maximum of 3% w/w of the protein.

The single oil droplet of encapsulated oil in the cream emulsion according to the invention typically have an average diameter in the range of from about 0.1 to Ι Ομιτι, for example about 1 to 5μηη. The oil droplets are dispersed in the continuous aqueous phase.

Emulsion based processes to obtain encapsulated oils are known in the art and are described in various scientific publications and review articles. The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of an emulsion of encapsulated oil having a water content of 10-40%, wherein an emulsion is prepared by homogenization of oil with an aqueous protein solution and optionally a food grade salt and/or a liposoluble compound; the protein is then denaturated and cross-linked by a physical treatment, such as heat treatment, UV-radiation or high pressure treatment, a chemical treatment or an enzymatic treatment. Preferably, the emulsion is heat treated at around 80 °C for around 10 minutes to induce denaturation and cross-linking of the protein and then cooled. The emulsion is preferably concentrated by microfiltration or centrifugation or water evaporation (e.g. by vacuum concentration) to a residual water content of about 10 to 40 % w/w, preferably about 15% to 35% w/w. The resultant concentrated emulsion of the encapsulated oil has a solid, creamy-like texture and is thus referred to herein also as an "oil cream".

The concentrated emulsion, "oil cream", comprises 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil as described above comprising an inner core comprising the oil, encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material. In a preferred embodiment the concentrated emulsion comprises maximum 35% w/w water, even more preferably maximum 30% w/w water, such as a maximum 25% w/w water. In one preferred embodiment the concentrated emulsion comprises from 10% to 35% w/w water, preferably from about 10% to about 30% w/w water.

Microscopic analysis shows the oil cream emulsion to exist as discrete droplets of oil encapsulated by the protein material, also referred to as "oil droplets or globules" dispersed in a continuous water phase (see Fig.1 ). The concentrated emulsion of encapsulated oil, "oil cream", has a solid, creamy-like texture and is surprisingly stable. Oil leakage or phase separation of the emulsion was not observed on storage over 1 month, nor on handling or further processing of the emulsion.

The oil cream, as described above, exists as a stable emulsion without the need for the addition of any other emulsifier, stabiliser, structuring agent, or other additive. Advantageously this permits confectionery products according to the invention to be substantially free from added emulsifiers.

The confectionery product according to the invention may typically comprise about 5% to 40% w/w, preferably from about 5 to 30% w/w, more preferably from about 5 to 25%, such as from about 10 to 20% w/w, of the "oil cream" concentrated emulsion of encapsulated oil. In some embodiments the confectionery product may comprise a maximum of 30% w/w of the oil cream emulsion, such as from 5% to 30% w/w, preferably from 5% to 20% w/w of the emulsion.

The confectionery product of the invention comprises chocolate. Any type of chocolate; dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate is envisaged. In a preferred embodiment the chocolate is a dark chocolate, for instance a chocolate comprising from about 35% to 90% w/w cocoa solids, preferably from about 50% to 80% cocoa solids.

In a preferred embodiment the confectionery product of the invention comprises from about 40% to 80% w/w chocolate, preferably from about 50% to 70% w/w chocolate.

Preferably the chocolate confectionery product of the invention further comprises a dairy product, preferably a milk product. In a preferred embodiment the milk product is selected from milk (skimmed milk, semi-skimmed milk, or full fat milk), milk powder (skimmed milk powder, semi-skimmed milk powder, or full fat milk powder), concentrated milk (for instance evaporated milk) or sweetened condensed milk. In some embodiments the chocolate confectionery product optionally comprises dairy cream, for instance single cream, creme fraiche, double cream, which cream may be a reduced fat cream.

In a preferred embodiment the milk product is selected from milk (skimmed milk, semi-skimmed milk, or full fat milk), or milk powder (skimmed milk powder, semi-skimmed milk powder, or full fat milk powder). More preferably the milk product is milk (i.e. liquid milk) and may be skimmed, semi-skimmed or full-fat milk.

In some preferred embodiments the confectionery product comprises from about 5% w/w to about 50% w/w of milk product, preferably from about 10% w/w to about 40% w/w, and in some embodiments from about 10% w/w to about 30% w/w milk product.

The relative proportions of chocolate, "oil cream" emulsion and milk product may be varied to provide the desired viscosity or firmness of the product depending on the intended use for the confectionery product e.g. filling, coating, non-coated etc. For instance a higher proportion of chocolate, such as chocolate content of about 60% w/w or even higher, may be desired for firmer product, such as for a chocolate truffle, or filling (e.g. a filling to be encased in a chocolate or other confectionery shell), and a lower chocolate content, such as a chocolate content of about 50% w/w or even lower may be desired for a product to be used as a coating or a sauce, for example.

In some embodiments preferred the confectionery product contains from about 5% to 40% w/w of the emulsion of encapsulated oil, also referred to herein as "oil cream", from about 40% to 80% w/w, chocolate, and from about 10 % to about 40% w/w milk product. In one preferred embodiment the confectionery product contains from about 5% to 40% w/w of the emulsion of encapsulated oil, also referred to herein as "oil cream", from about 40% to 70% w/w, chocolate, and from about 10 % to about 30% w/w milk product

Depending on the desired use of the ganache-like chocolate confectionery product, different types of ingredients may be supplemented to the confectionery product.

For instance the chocolate confectionery product may further comprise other supplementary ingredients such as sugars, sugar substitutes, whey powder, egg, fruit acids, cocoa powder, natural or synthetic flavors, natural or artificial colors, starch based fillers, emulsifiers such as lecithin, and other ingredients.

The confectionery product may be prepared by mixing of the "oil cream" with the chocolate and milk product, if present, to form a homogeneous mixture. Typically the "oil cream" emulsion is mixed with chocolate in liquid state (e.g. tempered chocolate, or melted chocolate mass).

In a typical embodiment, the oil cream emulsion is mixed with the milk product, where present, and then added to the liquid chocolate with continuous stirring to provide a homogenous mixture. The thus produced confectionery product can be, for example shaped, or moulded, and optionally coated.

(c) Providing an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material,

(d) Mixing the emulsion with chocolate and optionally a milk product.

The mixing of the ingredients can be carried out by conventional mixing methods, for instance using standard industrial mixing apparatus. Advantageously the ganache-like chocolate confectionery products of the invention may be easily industrialised using conventional equipment.

The SFA content of the chocolate confectionery products of the invention can be significantly reduced compared to traditional ganache products. For instance in some embodiments SFA content reduction of more than 10%, such as more than 20% or even more than 30% compared to tranditional ganache products can be achieved.

Without being bound by any theory it is believed that the pleasant, rich, melt- in-mouth mouth feel of the confectionery products of the invention is due to the encapsulated oil, wherein the oil is in a liquid state as oil droplets encapsulated by the cross-linked protein, whereby, on biting the confectionery product, liquid oil is released into the mouth on breaking of the encapsulating protein shell, giving a melt- in-mouth, indulgent mouthfeel.

According to another aspect there is provided a composite product comprising the chocolate confectionery product according to the invention as a filling, coating (e.g. glaze, enrobing, topping). Typically the ganache-like chocolate confectionery product may represent from about 10 to 90% w/w of the composite product, such as from about 20 to 50% w/w.

As used in the specification, the words "comprise", "comprising" and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to".

As used in the specification, the word "about" should be understood to apply to each bound in a range of numerals. Moreover, all numerical ranges should be understood to include each whole integer within the range.

As used in the specification, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

As used in the specification, the term "substantially free" means that no more than about 1 weight percent of the excluded material is present. In a preferred embodiment, "substantially free" means that no more than about 0.1 weight percent of the excluded material remains. "Entirely free" typically means that at most only trace amount of the excluded material is present, and preferably, no detectable amount is present. Conversely, "substantially all" typically means that at least about 90 weight percent, preferably at least about 95 weight percent, and more preferably at least about 99 weight percent of the material is present. Unless noted otherwise, all percentages in the specification refer to weight percent, where applicable.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms have and should be given the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

It should be noted that embodiments and features described in the context of one of the aspects or embodiments of the present invention also apply to the other aspects of the invention.

The invention is further described with reference to the following non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 : Preparation of an emulsion of encapsulated oil

Emulsion preparation

High oleic sunflower oil was emulsified in an aqueous solution of 4% (w/w)

WPI (whey protein isolate). The final emulsion contained 50% (w/w) of sunflower oil, 2% (w/w) WPI and 48% (w/w) water. The emulsification was carried out with a high pressure homogenizer. The parameters are adapted to reach an oil droplet size between 0.5 microns and 5 microns.

Thermal crosslinking:

The emulsion was heat treated at 80 °C for 10 min to achieve a cross-linking of the protein layer which surrounds the oil droplets in the emulsion. The crosslinked emulsion is cooled down to ambient temperature.

Concentration process

The emulsion was concentrated under vacuum (50 mbar) at 35°C using an rotating vacuum evaporator (Inox-Glatt20) to produce the concentrated emulsion of encapsulated oil ("oil cream") with a water content around 25%wt. Per hour about 1 - 2 I of water were evaporated. The resulting emulsion had a moisture content of 28.5% w/w and a protein:oil ratio 4:100 (w/w).

Figure 1 shows a confocal micrograph of the cross linked emulsion, whereby the protein (appearing in grey) is visible surrounding the oil droplets (appearing in black). Scale bar is 10 μιτι. Example 2: Preparation of Sample Confectionery products

Table 2 below shows the composition of an example confectionery product prepared using the emulsion of example 1 , together with a comparative reference example of a conventional ganache product.

All amounts shown in Table 1 below are in g.

To prepare the ganache products the chocolate was melted in a water bath at 40°C. In the oil cream example, 73. Og of the oil cream emulsion prepared according to example 1 was mixed with 177.0g milk, and this mixture was then slowly added to the molten chocolate with continuous stirring until a homogenous ganache paste was formed. In the comparative example 125.0g double cream and 125.0g milk were mixed and added in place of the oil cream emulsion + milk mixture. The thus produced ganache product having texture of a paste and was piped to form shaped "bite-site" confectionery products, which were then enrobed with chocolate or cocoa powder, by conventional methods.

The "oil cream" emulsion was used to replace the dairy cream. The recipes were matched for total fat and total water content. A 21 .5 % reduction in SFA content was acheived compared for the confectionery product of th invention using the "oil cream" emulsion of example 1 , compared to the reference ganache product made with dairy cream. The confectionery products obtained using the emulsion of Example 1 had a stable, homogenous, non-grainy texture, and no oil leakage was observed were observed to have a pleasant, indulgent, melt-in-mouth mouth feel.

Comparison to the reference conventional ganache product, the Confectionery product of the invention prepared using the "oil cream" emulsion had similar organoleptic and texture properties. The two products had similar firmness and viscosity properties. The Aw of the two products was also very similar (Aw of reference conventional ganache = 0.91 ; Aw of confectionery product with "oil cream" emulsion of example 1 = 0.92).

Although certain preferred embodiments have been disclosed in the description with reference to specific examples, it will be recognised that the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments. Various modifications may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and may be acquired from practice of the invention. It will be understood that the materials used and the chemical details may be slightly different or modified from the descriptions without departing from the methods and compositions disclosed and taught by the present invention.

Claims

A chocolate confectionery product comprising:

- an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material,

- and chocolate.

A confectionery product according to claim 1 comprising a dairy product, preferably a milk product.

A confectionery according to claim 1 or 2 comprising from 40% to 80% w/w chocolate, preferably from about 50% to 70% w/w chocolate.

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims comprising from 5% w/w to about 50% w/w of milk product, preferably from about 10% w/w to about 40% w/w, more from about 10% w/w to about 30% w/w milk product

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the milk product is selected from the group consisting of skimmed milk, semi- skimmed milk, full fat milk, skimmed milk powder, semi-skimmed milk powder, full fat milk powder, concentrated milk , including evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk, or any combination thereof.

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims comprising from about 5% to 40% w/w of the emulsion of encapsulated oil, from about 40% to 80% w/w, chocolate, and from about 10 % to about 40% w/w milk product.

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the encapsulated oil comprises at least 60%, preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 90% by weight oil. A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the protein comprises at least one food-grade protein, such as whey protein, caseinate, egg albumen, lyzozyme, soy proteins, gluten, rice proteins, corn proteins, potato proteins, lupin proteins, pea proteins, or any kind of globular and random coil proteins or combinations thereof.

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer shell comprises cross-linked protein and a carbohydrate.

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the oil is selected from the group consisting of olive oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, fish oil, soy bean oil, soy oil, palm kernel oil, palm oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, rapeseed oil, primrose oil, linseed oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, nut oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, and combinations thereof.

A confectionery product according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the emulsion comprises from 15 to 35% by weight of water.

Use of an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material, for the preparation of a chocolate confectionery product, wherein the confectionery product is formed by mixing the emulsion with chocolate.

Use according to claim 12 wherein the confectionery product is formed by mixing from 5 to 50% w/w of the emulsion, based on the weight of the confectionery product, with a chocolate and a milk product.

A process for the preparation of a chocolate confectionery product according to claim 1 , comprising the steps:

Providing an emulsion comprising from 10 to 40% by weight water and at least 60% by weight oil, wherein the oil is an encapsulated oil comprising an inner core comprising the oil encapsulated in an outer shell of cross-linked proteinaceous material,

(b) Mixing the emulsion with chocolate, and optionally a milk product. 15. A process according to claim 14, wherein the emulsion in step (a) is prepared by a process comprising the steps:

(b) heating the emulsion at 70 to 90 °C for 2 to 30 minutes;

(c) concentrating the emulsion by microfiltration or centrifugation or evaporation to reduce the water content of the oil cream to a value in the range of from about 10% to about 40% by weight.

16. A composite food product comprising a chocolate confectionery product according to any one of claims 1 to 1 1 .