A raft of baking industry innovations has been unveiled by companies across the sector.
We unpackage the array of offerings this spring, from fudgy brownie mixes to a brioche concentrate, heritage grain flours, gluten-free pizza bases, and professional-standard chocolate chips.
Brioche Concentrate, Dawn Foods
Dawn Foods has unveiled a Brioche Concentrate which can be used as the base for a variety of baked goods.
Bakers have to add flour, eggs, water and yeast to the speciality mix. This mix, according to Dawn Foods, can create products such as hot cross buns and panettone as well as traditional brioche loaves and buns.
Delivering a ‘rich and buttery flavour with a hint of lemon’, it also results in a light, open texture giving a soft-eating finished bun that holds inclusions such as dried fruit or chocolate well. This business said this means that bakers can get creative and tap into current trends for buns with a twist, such as chocolate & orange or apple & cinnamon.
Dawn recommends finishing with its Unishine or Emulshine egg-free glaze to add shine. Bakers can even partner the finished brioche with a cocoa or fruit-based filling and decorate with glossy or cream cheese icing for added ‘pick-me-up-appeal’, the firm said.
“Very much on trend, brioche is the viennoiserie product of the moment,” said Dawn Foods UK and Ireland marketing manager Jacqui Passmore.
“The growth in the category is being fuelled by the product’s versatility across many different eating opportunities – it can be a morning goods option, a burger carrier or a handheld snacking product. Dawn’s versatile Brioche Concentrate opens up these many different sales avenues for bakers from one mix,” she added.
Gluten-free and vegetable pizza bases, Rich’s
Bakery supplier Rich’s has announced that its gluten-free and vegetable pizza bases will be available in the UK from early June.
The bases come par-baked and do not require any thawing, proofing or kneading, offering a reliable freezer-to-oven convenience, according to the firm which added that staff don’t need to be trained on a multi-step pizza making process.
Rich’s claimed that customisable menu options are driving growth, with its bake-from-frozen bases providing the ‘perfect canvas for a broad pizza offering’. It also noted the growing plant-based and health-conscious market, with 9% of consumers found to be more inclined to eat in or order a takeaway from a company that offers a gluten-free option, compared to one that doesn’t, according to a 2022 Kantar report.
“Our commitment to pizza has enabled us to become a leading US supplier of frozen doughs and crusts, and we are thrilled to be launching this innovation in the UK,” said Rich’s sales, marketing and R&D director John Want. “Balancing both the needs of operators and evolving demands of consumers, Rich’s convenient, craveable, and customisable bases offer a unique, no waste, no prep, solution for chefs, developers, and operators alike.”
Fudgy Brownie Mix, British Bakels
Bakery ingredients specialist British Bakels has introduced a Fudgy Brownie Mix to its portfolio.
Made with Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa, the addition of water and oil to the mix helps create American-style fudgy brownies with a rich, chewy and moist centre with a cracked top, the firm said. It can also be used to make indulgent sweet treats such as ice cream or salted caramel brownie sandwiches.
The mix is available in 12.5kg bags through bakery wholesalers.
“This is the perfect time to be bringing out our new Fudgy Brownie Mix,” says British Bakels marketing manager Michael Schofield. “Familiar and comforting sweet treats like brownies remain extremely popular with British consumers, especially at a time where consumers are turning to food that can give them that little ‘lift’.”
Hybrid combinations for sweet baked goods are gaining traction with the UK’s top five flavours, according to Innova, being milk chocolate, dark chocolate, red raspberry, vanilla and chocolate chip. Orange, white chocolate, salted caramel, raisin and almond are reportedly also gaining in popularity.
British Bakels said its Fudgy Brownie Mix allows bakers to get creative with ingredients, as well as capitalise on these flavour trends by finishing the brownies with its Millionaire’s Caramel or Fudgice in rich chocolate, white or toffee. This gives customers an ‘extra touch of affordable indulgence with their sweet treat’.
Stoneground Heritage Grain Flours, Matthews Cotswold Flour
Specialist flour producer Matthews Cotswold Flour has added four new stoneground heritage grain flours to its range.
The company’s four new offerings include:
- Wholegrain Stoneground Heritage Broadway Flour (rsp £3.95 / 1.5kg) – a blend of old heritage wheats traditionally stoneground milled, for recipes that use wholemeal bread flour. It helps develop flavours further in long fermentation sourdough recipes, the firm said
- Stoneground Heritage Fifield Light Bread Flour (rsp £4.95 / 1.5kg) – a white T80 style strong bread flour produced using three heritage British wheats, to be used in replacement for white flour and for blending with wholemeal bread recipes
- Stoneground Heritage Light Barley Flour (rsp £2.50 / 1.5kg) – a light, slightly golden-coloured, T80 barley flour traditionally stoneground milled from a heritage barley variety called Maris Otter, for use in bread recipes or blending with wholegrain recipes
- Stoneground Wholegrain YQ Flour (rsp £2.89 / 1.5kg) – a dark stoneground wholemeal flour with a rich nutty taste produced from a diverse population of wheats, for use in sourdough breads, cakes, pastries and all-purpose baking.
The 200-year-old family business said this came in response to increasing demand from artisan and home bakers for sustainably produced, great-tasting, unique blends.
“Heritage wheats are old varieties that pre-date the industrial hybridisation of wheat after the second world war. Many of these grains have been used in Britain for hundreds of years and have adapted to local conditions,” said Matthews Cotswold Flour managing director Bertie Matthews.
“Growing these resilient and diverse heritage breeds is great for soil health and biodiversity, something that we are really passionate about. Using these new flours will also bring unique flavours to your favourite baking recipes and, because we use a traditional stoneground mill to produce them, we keep the wholegrains intact, meaning that these new flours are incredibly nutritious too,” he added.
Professional Chocolate Chips, Dr. Oetker Professional
Baking specialists Dr. Oetker Professional is extending its range of supplies with the launch of Professional Chocolate Chips.
The chips are available in Dark (50% cocoa), Milk (25% cocoa) and White chocolate from Bidfood & Brakes (rsp £9.99). All chocolate is fully Rainforest Alliance Certified and comes in recyclable packaging. The milk and white variants are suitable for vegetarians, while the dark variant is vegan.
According to the company, the bake stable chocolate chips have been specifically formulated for use within cakes and desserts such as cookies, brownies, and muffins, and hold their shape when baked. This targeted a key gap in the market, with existing products primarily focused on melting properties, it said.
The supplier noted that with many out-of-home operators now adding premium desserts to their menus, its new chocolate chips would play a key role in adding indulgence to a chocolate dessert.
“The fact that they’re made from real chocolate, as opposed to a compound, offers businesses a simple way to add chocolate to their bakes without melting,” said Dr. Oetker Professional senior brand manager Richard Cooper.
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