Confectionery

CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTS may be divided into 4 main groups: 1) confectionery consisting predominantly of sugar; 2) confectionery whose main basis consists of fruits and berries with the addition of a large amount of sugar; 3) confectionery prepared from flour, shortening, sugar, spices, etc., and 4) other types of confectionery. -- To the first group can be assigned caramel, dragées, candies, etc. Caramel with and without filling (hard candy) and dragées are prepared from caramel mass—a mixture of sugar, potato starch syrup, and water boiled to a certain consistency. A good caramel mass should be almost colorless, of amorphous structure, hard, brittle, with a glassy fracture. Caramel mass prepared from sugar alone rather quickly becomes cloudy due to the crystallization of sugar. The addition of starch syrup contributes to the durability of the caramel, but an excessive amount of syrup imparts high hygroscopicity to the products. The boiling of the caramel mass is conducted as rapidly as possible; in large confectionery factories, in vacuum apparatuses. The hot caramel mass is colored with vegetable dyes, flavored with fruit and berry essences, and some food acid (citric, tartaric, or lactic) is added to it. Upon cooling to 70–85°, the mass is passed through rolling and flattening machines, which turn it into individual pieces of caramel and dragées having the shape of berries, fruits, flowers, geometric figures, etc. Fillings for caramel are the most diverse mixtures prepared from berries, fruits, nuts, coffee, chocolate, milk, flour, butter, honey, sugar, syrup, etc. Caramel is hygroscopic and requires careful packaging, for which each piece of caramel is wrapped in parchment paper and over it in a colored label. According to the All-Union Standard (OST), caramel and dragées without filling must have a dry and non-sticky surface, their moisture content must not exceed 3.5%, the ratio of syrup to sugar in them must not be higher than 0.6, the amount of food acids must not be higher than 1.5%, salts of heavy metals must not be contained (traces of iron, tin, and copper are permitted); insoluble ash in 10% hydrochloric acid—no more than 0.1%. -- Candies have a filling from the same raw materials as caramel, or from semi-finished products (jelly, marmalade, fondant, etc.); the filling is usually soft and contains much moisture. On the surface, candies are coated with a durable layer of chocolate, caramel, fondant, or powdered sugar. The wrapper of good candies usually consists of three layers: parchment, foil, and an outer label. The second group of confectionery is composed of berry and fruit jams, glazed fruits, fruit butter (povidlo), marmalade, marshmallow (pastila), etc. Jam can be sugar-based or syrup-based. Sugar jam is prepared on granulated sugar with the addition of only a certain amount of potato starch syrup in order to protect the jam from sugaring. Syrup jam is brewed without sugar, using only potato starch syrup, taking 5–7 kg of berries or fruits for 20 kg of syrup. During the storage of jam, its spoilage may occur 1) due to the crystallization of sugar (sugaring) with an insufficient amount of syrup or overcooking of the jam, or 2) due to the souring of the jam (fermentation, molding) from insufficient cooking of the fruits and insufficient concentration of the syrup. -- Glazed fruits represent pieces of fruit saturated with sugar syrup and covered on the surface with a thin sugar film. Fruit butter is obtained by boiling down fruit pulp with sugar ("sugar fruit butter") or syrup ("syrup fruit butter") or their mixture ("sugar-syrup"). The moisture content of fruit butter should not exceed 32%, and the total amount of sugar should be no more than 70%. Marmalade is boiled from mashed fruit mass or fruit juice with white sugar. A distinction is made between piece marmalade, canned marmalade, and slab marmalade. Piece marmalade, depending on the nature of the raw material from which it is made, is divided into 2 types: 1) ordinary—with a base of apple paste, and 2) "pat"—with a base of apricot, greengage, or cornelian cherry purée. Requirements for apple marmalade and pat are as follows: moisture no more than 25% and 20%; total amount of sugar no more than 75% and 77%; invert sugar no more than 20%; acids (malic) no more than 0.8% and 1%; ash no more than 0.4% and 0.5%; benzoic acid no more than 0.07%; sulfurous acid—0.02%; syrup calculated on raw material no more than 12%; agar no more than 1%; heavy metals, apart from traces of tin and copper, must not be present (OST 552). Marshmallow (pastila) is called the product obtained by whipping a mashed fruit mass with white sugar and egg white and sprinkled after drying with powdered sugar. By appearance and composition, three types of marshmallow are distinguished: dry marshmallow, brewed marshmallow, and zephyr. In the manufacture of marshmallow, the use of syrup, agar-agar, pectin, food acids, harmless aromatic and coloring substances is permitted (OST 553). Confectionery products of the third group are obtained predominantly by means of baking. They are prepared from fine grades of wheat flour; many of them, besides sugar, contain significant amounts of shortening: butter, eggs, spices, nuts, etc. Great attention is paid to imparting an attractive appearance and shape to these products. The most popular products of this group are cakes, pastries, cookies, biscuits, gingerbread, etc. The dough of cakes and pastries is often impregnated with syrup, wine, rum, and layered with various fillings of creams, jams, marmalades, etc. By the type of dough and decoration, cakes and pastries are divided into many varieties, most of which under normal conditions do not withstand long storage (no more than 2–3 days). More durable are cookies and b i s c u i t s (from the Italian biscotto—twice-baked), usually prepared from high-grade wheat flour, potato flour, egg yolks, powdered sugar, and whipped whites. Biscuits contain an insignificant amount of water (5–12%) and keep well for several months, while those prepared without butter and eggs can be preserved for years. Biscuits began to be manufactured on a wide scale in England at the beginning of the 19th century to supply the fleet; therefore, biscuits often bear the name of English biscuits. For leavening and rising the dough in the manufacture of cookies and biscuits, so-called "baking powders" are used, which consist either of ammonium carbonate or of a mixture of food acid (most often tartaric) with soda. Upon moistening and under the influence of high temperatures, they release gases (NH₃ or CO₂) that raise and leaven the dough. When baking the products, these gases volatilize from the product. There should not be a large excess of soda in the powder. An excess of soda of 0.8 g or more per 500 g of flour can cause yellow spots and an unpleasant alkaline taste in the product. Gingerbread is prepared from dough whose composition includes flour, honey, sugar, syrup, spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, etc.), sometimes with the addition of fruit and berry preparations and butter. Potash is added to the dough at 1–2%, which with the acids of the dough forms CO₂, leavening the dough, and is left in a cool place for 1–6 months. Before baking, baking powder is added to the dough and baked, giving the dough various shapes. Gingerbread is often glazed in order to prevent its prompt drying. Some varieties of gingerbread are baked from freshly mixed dough. To the fourth group of confectionery belong halva, Turkish delight (oriental sweets), and ice cream. White halva (kos-halva) has the appearance of a hard sweet mass; it is obtained by whipping a decoction of soap root with sugar boiled with syrup; sometimes nuts are added, or the mass is colored pink. Tahini halva (Caucasian) is more widespread; it is obtained by whipping white halva with finely ground seeds of white or oriental sesame (sesame). It has the appearance of a grayish-white, fatty, dense, crumbly mass; it must be stored in a cold place so that the oil, the content of which reaches 50%, does not protrude. It is prepared predominantly in the cold months of the year. Recently, sesame seed has begun to be replaced by sunflower seed. In Germany, whipped whites are used for the manufacture of halva instead of soap root decoction, because the saponin glycoside contained in the soap root is considered toxic. Turkish delight is a delicacy of the Middle East and the south of the USSR—a white or pink translucent, jelly-like mass divided into cubes rolled in powdered sugar to eliminate stickiness. It is obtained by boiling starch paste with sugar, with the addition of fruit paste, essences, color, etc. Ice cream is among seasonal confectionery products, and it is produced in 2 types: dairy and fruit. Dairy ice cream is obtained by grinding whole eggs or egg yolks alone with sugar, with the addition of vanilla, milk, or cream. The mass with thorough stirring is heated below the boiling temperature (pasteurization) and transferred to a refrigerating apparatus (ice cream maker), where under constant stirring it freezes and acquires a snow-like loose consistency. In fruit ice cream, the starting materials are sugar, fruits, water, and citric acid. Often fruits are replaced by fruit and berry juices, and water by milk. In recent years, exceptional prominence has been gained in the USA by dairy ice cream called "ice-cream", produced annually in quantities of many tens of millions of poods.

Along with fresh milk and butter, ice cream is considered an essential food product. The United States population's expenditures on ice cream in one of the recent years reached 40 million dollars, compared to 140 million dollars spent on fresh milk and 65 million dollars on factory butter. Along with high flavor qualities and manufacturing purity, ice cream possesses significant nutritional value, which is why Americans widely use it in hospital nutrition practices as well. United States legislation, through a number of specific provisions, obliges both the manufacturer and the seller to observe the necessary standard and storage rules. The average composition of ice cream is: water 66.9%, carbohydrates 17.7%, milk fat not less than 10.1%, proteins 5.2%, gelatin not more than 0.5%. The latter is not always used. The production of confectionery is carried out both in large factories equipped with modern machines and installations, and in artisanal production, where the assortment of products is often very limited and all work is done manually. Products of artisanal production are significantly inferior in quality and appearance to products of mechanized factories, and the cost price of artisanal products is usually higher than that of mechanized ones. Being predominantly a flavoring agent, confectionery often also possesses a high nutritional value, especially in cases where their composition includes a lot of sugar, butter, eggs, and milk. Due to the abundant content of rich dough, various fillings, essences, etc., confectionery is not always well tolerated by the stomach, and from a hygienic point of view, it can be recommended to consume them only as a treat and furthermore in the most moderate quantities. One of the main sanitary requirements imposed on confectionery production is the good quality of the raw materials. Sugar, molasses, condensed and dry milk must meet the requirements of all-Union standards for these products. The remaining products must be fresh, clean, and free of harmful impurities. Severe diseases (poisoning) associated with the consumption of confectionery most often result from the staleness of easily perishable raw materials (eggs, butter, milk); less often they depend on the transfer of toxic substances (metals) from utensils and from low-quality foil, or are caused by the unusual development of some microbe (staphylococci, Escherichia coli) in protein-rich semi-finished products. Poisonings of the latter kind occur when consuming ice cream made from contaminated unboiled milk, or when consuming improperly and long-stored confectionery products containing perishable butter creams. Therefore, products such as cakes and pastries with cream must be freshly made daily or at least filled with fresh cream before sale. Older goods must not be allowed for sale. Adulteration of confectionery is found in the USSR almost exclusively in products of small artisanal production and is expressed in the replacement of good grades of sugar with cheaper grades and in the admixture of various substances in order to increase weight and volume or improve the external properties of the product. Formerly, the adulteration of confectionery with saccharin and other artificial sweetening substances was widespread; now the use of these substances, prosecuted by law, is not encountered in Soviet confectionery production. Since the attractiveness of the appearance of confectionery is of great importance for the sale of goods of this kind, confectionery is often colored in bright and beautiful colors using harmless natural dyes, of which carmine (red), indigo carmine (blue), turmeric (yellow), and caramel coloring (brown) are predominantly used in confectionery production. Combinations of these dyes achieve the most diverse colors and any shades. With the strengthening of sanitary supervision over production, such adulterations of confectionery as coloring with coal-tar dyes, the addition of chalk, talc, or gypsum to increase weight, as well as the use of clearly poisonous mineral dyes containing lead and mercury, are currently very rare and furthermore exclusively in the products of small-scale production that escape sanitary supervision. Regarding packaging, sanitary requirements must be observed for confectionery. Wrappers must not be colored with toxic dyes, especially in cases where they come into direct contact with the products. Tin foil directly adjacent to confectionery (chocolate, chocolate candies) must not contain more than 1% lead. The name of the confectionery, unless it is a purely fantastic name, must correspond to their actual composition. This should especially apply to products made from rich dough and gingerbread. Confectionery spoils quickly when stored in warm, humid rooms and during sharp changes in temperature. These are the main non-production causes of confectionery spoilage. Therefore, when storing confectionery, it is necessary to observe certain conditions: the packaging for confectionery (boxes) must be made of dry material, the storage room must be dry, with a temperature of about 12-13 degrees; confectionery should not be moved from one room to another with a sharp difference in temperature, and floors, windows, and doors in the room where confectionery is stored should not be moistened. For the sanitary examination of confectionery, a uniform general scheme cannot be established due to their great diversity. The determinations included in the sanitary examination program for most confectionery are as follows: moisture, ash, sand, sugar before and after inversion, amount of molasses, amount of fat, its freshness and nature, salts of heavy metals, determination of coloring, admixtures of artificial sweeteners and preservatives. In cases of ice cream and cream poisoning, besides chemical analysis, a bacteriological examination is also required.