Sugar in confectionery production

The fundamental processes concerned in candy making have much in common regardless of their final form, because in the majority the chief ingredient is sugar. Some of the earlier confectioners used honey, molasses, maple (кленовый) sugar, and cane syrup as the principal sweetening agents. These same substances are used in some factory made products even today, but the above-mentioned group of sweeteners now have a limited usage in comparison with cane sugar or beet sugar.

Next to sugar itself chocolate is a very common ingredient of many candies. Starches, butter, cacao-butter, molasses, salt, nuts, gelatin, fruit, many flavouring and colouring materials, and numerous others have also their places in confectionery production.

It is the sugars present in most candies and the manner in which they have been treated that govern in large part the characteristics of the final products.

Hard candies are essentially solid solutions of sugar containing flavouring and sometimes colouring matter. To facilitate the heating and secure uniformity of the mass, water is added at the outset and later it is removed by boiling it off in a vacuum pan.

The flavouring materials are combined with the sugar when heating is completed if the flavouring material is volatile. When fruit flavours are used, acids such as citric, malic, or tartaric may also be incorporated, but only after cooking is completed in order to avoid stickiness (слипание).

Fondants are made by heating sugar and water until a supersaturated solution is produced. This is then cooled quickly and immediately beaten to incorporate air into the mixture, thus forming a cream. The creamed fondant stiffens within a few minutes and is generally allowed to stand overnight, during which period changes occur in the crystal structure and the fondant becomes softer.

The fondant is next melted in a kettle (емкость) equipped with a stirrer. The syrup batch is cooked to a definite temperature in an adjacent kettle, the batch consisting of a solution of cane sugar, or invert sugar, or a mixture of these in water. The batch is then added to the fondant and the mixture is put in the moulds of desired shape.

Somewhat different from various kinds of candy are the marshmallow products, which are much lighter in character. In making marshmallows cane sugar, corn syrup, or invert syrup is heated with water and then subsequently mixed with a warm-water solution of gelatin, gum, or albumin. Then the mass is beaten to incorporate air, which is an essential step in the process. After heating, the marshmallow is run into the starch mould to give the desired shape and produce a dry surface.

Assignments

1. Назовите слова, относящиеся к заголовкам.

Confectionery Ingredients	solution, flavours, honey, sugar, batch, nuts, colours, syrup, sweeteners, marshmallow, sweets, cream, cacao-butter, fondant, acids
Confectionery Equipment	vacuum pan, pressing machine, oven, kettle, stirrer, confectioner, mould, proofer, grindingmill, roaster
Confectionery Products	chocolate, candy, sweeteners, fondant, sugar, marshmallow, molasses, confectioners, hard candy, gum, cake, cacao, syrup, cocoa

2. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на значение слова «process».

1. This process is almost similar to that employed in chocolate production. 2. Dried beans are delivered to a confectionery factory for processing. 3. A wide range of processing equipment is used at food enterprises. 4. It is necessary to process cane sugar under favourable conditions. 5. The ingredients of confectionery products are subjected to processing by different machines. 6. This installation processes sugar beet.

3. Найдите в тексте синонимы выделенных слов.

main ingredient is sugar; the range of confectionery products; the properties of finished products; to make easier the heating; after cooking is finished; creamed fondant becomes hard; the portion is then supplemented to the fondant; the mixture is placed in the moulds of the desired form

4. Укажите номера пропущенных слов в следующих предложениях.

1. Sugar, honey, molasses and some other products are used in confectionery as . 2. Depending on the type of confectionery products different … are required for their production. 3. Chocolate is widely utilized for various kinds of … 4. In large part the characteristics of candies are … by the manner of their treatment. 5. The character of the … products depends on the crystal structure of sugar. 6. Hard candies are essentially solid solutions of sugar containing … and … matter. 7. … are made by heating sugar and water until a supersaturated solution is produced. 8. After heating the marshmallow is run into the starch … to give the desired shape.

1. governed 2. mould 3. flavouring, colouring 4. fondants 5. sweeting agents 6. candies 7. finished / final 8. ingredients