FOOD MODIFIER AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME

摘要

Fat (cocoa butter) in a chocolate chip is reduced to below about 10% by using an aqueous sugar paste containing microparticles of cocoa dispersed in the paste. The colloid- like cocoa paste has improved food modifying properties of intense chocolate flavor similar to "ranched" chocolate, fat- like mouthfeel, thickener, viscosity control and stability. The hydrated microparticles of cocoa in the paste have a particle size of about 0.1 to about 20 microns, preferably about 0.1 to about 10 microns, and an average mean particle size of about 2 to about 7 microns. The hydrated microparticles of cocoa are dispersed uniformly throughout the aqueous sugar paste. The paste has an Aw (water activity) of about 0.80 to about 0.90.