Refined patisserie is in demand as consumers increasingly seek out indulgent treats to ‘eat with their eyes’… and post on Instagram

 Eric Lanlard, master patissier, Cake Boy

After a long period of home bakestyle cakes and creations – I blame The Great British Bake   Off! – we are moving back to more refined patisserie. You can see this influencing supermarkets like Sainsbury’s, which is now offering mirror glazes and other such patisserie ingredients that would have been reserved for professionals in the past.

Desserts with liquid or gel fillings are now becoming the norm, as are crunchy praline bases and sable breton instead of shortcrust pastry. Macarons are no longer just plain, but are textured and covered in exciting toppings. Everyone seems to be much more savvy about chocolate as an ingredient and that needs to be reflected back in ready-to-buy desserts and cakes.

Social media, especially Instagram, has opened up the eyes of the keen professional and home bakers on just what is achievable with a little effort and finesse.

Yolande Stanley, MCA, National Bakery School at London Southbank University

Garish colours have dominated for some time, but they seem to be subduing a little in favour of the pureness of actual ingredient colours and flavours, derived directly from the foodstuffs in their natural form. This is in line with customers’ inquisitiveness about health-related aspects of less natural colourings and flavourings.

Richard Hazeldine, national sales manager, Zeelandia

There is a strong market for traditional patisserie products, and we expect this to continue.

Caramel is continuing to grow in popularity, and we are seeing an increase in demand for our different caramels. Not so long ago, salted caramel was the trend, and it is still growing in popularity, but more recently the dulce de leche flavour has established itself as the new caramel.

New sensations are an exciting trend, and one of the easiest ways to embrace this is by using contrasting flavours and textures.

Salted caramel is one of the best-known, with the saltiness combining with the sweetness.

Contrasting textures are also an area that allows the patissier to surprise consumers. Why not make a filling by combining passion fruit farcitura with cream, the passion fruit seeds contrasting with the creamy texture of the filling?

Jon Turonnet, foodservice sales manager, Brioche Pasquier

Lemon meringue has become the flavour of the moment with many eminent French patissiers recently introducing this flavour combination into their ranges.

Paris is now falling for the lemon meringue pie – albeit a supremely French version. While lemon meringue has always been popular in this country, we anticipate that, this year, it will become more refined and sophisticated, converting to patisserie form as delicate French-style petits fours, macarons and pastries.

Jacqui Passmore, UK marketing manager, Dawn Foods

Small and indulgent patisserie, lighter products with fresh, clean tastes, as well as savoury flavours are helping drive development in this category.

While there’s consumer concern about sugar, ‘treating’ is still high on the agenda, so mini versions of luxury patisserie seem to be a solution.

If you are only going to have a mouthful or two of a sweet treat, it is essential that those products not only look fantastic but taste delicious too.

While healthy categories are growing fast, there is still room for occasional treats. Today’s consumers are time-pressed and work hard, so rewarding themselves with some ‘me time’ is now more popular than ever. A mini version of a patisserie favourite is ideal.

Michael Schofield, marketing manager, Bakels

Traditional patisserie treats such as éclairs and choux buns are seeing increasing adaptations to satisfy consumers who are actively ‘eating with their eyes’.

The trend towards novel textures plays an important role. Bakbel, part of the Bakels group of companies, produces a premium range of glazes including Diamond, Mirror and Sapphire that offer an indulgent, bright appearance, with a silkysmooth mouthfeel.

Thinking outside the box doesn’t stop there, something as simple as the cream inside can offer a difference. While many bakeries will produce patisserie goods with fresh cream, bakeries without the dedicated preparation areas for this need alternatives.

Bakels Instant Cream is a high-performance, delicious fresh cream alternative, delivering endless recipe/serving possibilities, but significant cost-in-use benefits for bakers.

Fabien Levet, national account manager – foodservice, Pidy UK

We can expect to see more from a host of novel textures and ingredients through to flavoured pastry.

Éclairs continue to capture the interest of pastry chefs and customers alike. Savoury éclairs are not as traditional, but equally delicious and worth exploring this season.

Keeping on the savoury note, our savoury macaron assortment is available in Spicy and Curry flavours and will really be the talking point among customers.

Our most recent new development has been focused on speciality flavoured pastry. We have developed three new flavoured tarts including Speculoos, Chocolate & Black Cookie.

2018 trends on the horizon

Jon Turonnet, Brioche Pasquier:

Industry commentators are predicting exciting things for 2018. From a trend for laminated pastries stuffed with unusual flavours, such as matcha and banana sundae, to the wider use of the new pink-hued ruby chocolate [Pic 1], 2018 promises to be a year when patisserie is likely to see an explosion of flavour and invention.

Floral essences, such as geranium, violet and rose, are delicate tastes that are ideal for flavouring macarons [2]. No one wants to eat a whole plate of geranium-flavoured pudding, but a light bite of crisp macaron flavoured with a hint of the essence is truly delicious.

Jacqui Passmore, Dawn Foods:

Our NPD teams are always looking at innovative ideas in response to trends in the marketplace.

‘Luxury Found’ is a trend that many of us will identify with – finding time for a small luxury as a respite from life’s daily pressures. These are little moments of reward, a spot of ‘me time’. They call for the finest ingredients combined with a touch of decadence.

Luxury Found translates into patisserie offerings that not only have great taste but are visually luxurious. For example, éclairs topped with fruit [3], chocolate and gold dust and choux buns or macarons with innovative flavours, fillings and eye-catching toppings, perfect for celebrating the special ‘me time’ treat and reward.

Yolande Stanley, National Bakery School:

At last vegetarians and vegans are being well provided for in more restaurants, both specifically and in combination with menus containing meat and fish.

This trend should see a firm footing for the future and provides a welcome challenge for patissiers to meet these requirements by rethinking and adapting their recipes, which is more viable these days than ever before with alternative components easily available.

Eric Lanlard, Cake Boy:

The market and chefs will have to be more accommodating when it comes to dietary requirements. It should not just be an afterthought as it’s a fast-growing movement (particularly veganism), I look at it as an opportunity to learn something new.

Richard Hazeldine, Zeelandia:

Patisserie trends from Europe are becoming more commonplace in the UK, such as coffee breads and semla (a bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream) from Sweden [4], building on the cosy Scandinavian concept of Hygge.

Our Portuguese colleagues have developed a green tea cake, which is a visually stunning green colour, with a subtle green tea flavour [5].

...

Patisserie feature2018 trends on the horizon1. Ruby Chocolate - Ruby chocolate was launched by Barry Callebaut in September 2017 and is yet to make its UK debutfocallength 67flash 16cameramake Canonheight 360fnumber 5.6exposuretime 0.0125camerasoftware paint.net 4.0.13originaldate 7/4/2017 6:46:24 PMwidth 640cameramodel Canon EOS-1D C2. Floral and tropical flavoured macarons - Floral and tropical flavoured macarons have been tipped to become the next big trend by Brioche Pasquierfocallength 50flash 16cameramake Canonheight 363fnumber 8exposuretime 0.125camerasoftware paint.net 4.0.13originaldate 2/18/2018 7:23:26 PMwidth 640cameramodel Canon EOS 5D Mark IV3. Strawberry eclairs - Eclairs topped with fruit are perfect for a treat or reward according to Dawn Foodscameramake Leafheight 362exposuretime 0.0625camerasoftware paint.net 4.0.13originaldate 4/22/2015 7:57:06 PMwidth 640cameramodel Leaf Aptus-II 7(LI304. Semla - Semla has been identified as becoming more commonplace in the UK by Zeelandiafocallength 100flash 16cameramake Canonheight 375fnumber 13exposuretime 8camerasoftware paint.net 4.0.13originaldate 2/7/2016 10:49:46 PMwidth 640cameramodel Canon EOS 6D5. Green tea cake - Zeelandia’s Portuguese colleagues developed a green tea cake to tap overseas trends.cameramake Canonfocallength 64height 362fnumber 20exposuretime 0.004camerasoftware paint.net 4.0.13originaldate 4/11/2017 11:20:41 PMwidth 640cameramodel Canon EOS-1Ds Mark I