Bakery Review — February-March 2018

IngReDIent BAKERY REVIEw

Of Flavours and Colours

While colours work by increasing the visual appeal of the bakery products, flavours help bakers to

develop a unique taste of the products

By Jyotismita Sharma

T

hey sound a little too cosmetic,

but in reality both flavours and

colours serve as key ingredients in

bakery products. Colours work by

increasing the visual appeal of the products

and this is no mean achievement. Research

works have proved that when it comes to

the choice of food, vision is the main sense

that people use as their guide.

The primary function of flavours goes

even deeper. They can not only enhance

the taste by neutralising the foul smell of

some essential ingredients, but can also

help bakers to develop a unique taste of

the products. Using flavours and other

ingredients in specific proportions can help

bakers produce refreshing taste.

Fruits of Flavours

While appearance often becomes the basis

for initial choice of a product, flavour holds

the key to most subsequent bakery sales.

According to experts, there are several

ways to derive a unique flavour in bakery

production. For example, the process of

baking itself – during brown reaction and

caramelisation — can bring about changes

which can add flavour to the product.

The flavour may also depend on the

process of fermentation. For example,

breads made from sour dough or overnight

sponge would have a different flavour

from those made from short sponges and

straight dough process. The use of different

varieties of dried and preserved fruits and

nuts to produce different types of flavours

and finishes is also common in bakeries.

And there are, of course, the flavour

additives which can be natural, synthetic

and imitation, with endless combinations

of all the three.

Natural flavour additives can be derived

from ingredients such as honey, molasses,

malt syrup, ground fresh fruit, cocoa,

chocolate, etc., besides from the essential

oil of citrus fruits such as oil of lemon and

oil of orange and vanilla extract.

But natural flavour additives may

not always be sufficient in large-scale

production as the quantity of flavours

present in fresh fruits is very small.

If the flavour from the fresh fruit was to

be used singly alone in the formula, large

quantities of ground, sliced fruit will be

necessary to bring about the desired level

of flavour. This will not only unbalance the

formula but will make it impracticable.

If this natural flavour is fortified with

synthetic flavour it will have more taste