Center-Filled Confection Liquid Fat Shell
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Solution Overview
Problem
Creating a shelf-stable confection with a liquid fat-containing center has been challenging due to the undesirable hardening of the center when surrounded by a shell, such as a chewy caramel shell, which affects the perceived flavor intensity and texture.
Innovation Solution
A center composition with a bulk sweetener and a fat having a slip melting point of 10 to 18°C, combined with a shell composition containing less than 20% total fat, is used to create a center-filled confection that maintains a liquid state and resists hardening, ensuring the center remains liquid at human body temperature and retains its texture over time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a liquid fat-containing center composition is used to provide a more indulgent consumer experience, then the perceived flavor intensity and texture are improved, but the center exhibits undesirable hardening over time when surrounded by a shell
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical-chemical parameters of the center composition by selecting fats with specific slip melting points (10-18°C) and controlling viscosity ranges (4,000-12,000 mPa·s at 40°C). These parameter specifications ensure the center remains liquid at consumption temperature while resisting hardening during storage, thus resolving the contradiction between indulgent texture and compositional stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes phase transition properties of fats by selecting materials with slip melting points below body temperature (10-18°C). This ensures the center composition transitions from a solid state during storage to a liquid state at consumption temperature (human body temperature), maintaining both stability during storage and indulgent texture during consumption.
2Strength
If a shell composition with less than or equal to 20 weight percent total fat is used, then the shell provides structural support and contacts the center, but the shell must effectively prevent hardening of the liquid center while maintaining shelf stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material principles by formulating the shell with specific low-fat ingredients including bulk sweeteners, dairy components, and gelatin or pectin gelling agents. This composite formulation provides adequate structural support despite reduced fat content, while the low-fat composition prevents the shell from inducing hardening in the liquid center, thus resolving the contradiction between structural strength and reliability in preventing center hardening.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The center composition exhibits reduced viscosity change after storage, maintaining a liquid state and enhancing the perceived flavor intensity, while the shell composition effectively surrounds the center without causing hardening, resulting in a stable and flavorful confection.
Implementation Method 1
a fat having a slip melting point of 10 to 18°C
Implementation Method 2
the center composition has a Brookfield viscosity of 4,000 to 12,000 millipascal-seconds measured at 40°C and 50 rotations per minute using HA/HB spindle 5
Data Source
Figure 1(A)~1(B)
Figure 2(A)~2(B)
Figure 3(A)~3(B)
AI summary
A center-filled confection has a center comprising a center composition and a shell surrounding a liquid center. The said center includes a bulk sweetener and a fat having a slip melting point of 10 to 18?. The said shell comprises a shell composition including less than or equal to 20 weight percent total fat based on the total weight of the shell composition.