For applications that require dry ingredients, crystallized ginger bits work well, as does a product with a small dice size and a dextrose coating that renders it a more-stable base for chocolate, according to Ritchie. "It's already pre-coated and free-flowing," he says, "so you can just turn it out onto the enrobing line and the pieces will be separated."
Superfruits, superchocolate
Like ginger, which is sporting a healthy halo thanks to current clinical research associating it with cold and arthritis-pain prevention, improved digestion and weight loss, chocolate is enjoying a honeymoon as a nascent superfood in itself.
"Whoever thought that chocolate would qualify as a guiltless pleasure?" asks Thomas J. Payne, an industry specialist for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, Folsom, CA. "Research into antioxidant-containing foods is a boon to chocolate lovers, who are delighted to consider chocolate a healthy choice." That, he adds, makes blueberries—superfruits in their own right—a natural partner. "Blueberries enhance the healthy image of a product. This can be especially valuable with regard to chocolates and confections." And, with premium purchasers looking for "real" ingredients, "consumers like the fact that blueberries are a natural ingredient—nothing added, no preservatives," he says.
Manufacturers aiming for an all-natural label might go with shelf-stable, easy-to-handle 100% dehydrated blueberries, with a moisture content of 11% to 18% and a water activity (aw) of 0.5 to 0.6. Processors have also developed free-flowing dried blueberries, which are easy to integrate into confections "where fruit size and individual piece identity are desirable," Payne says. "Freeze-dried products provide crisp flavor notes, tang and real fruit flavor bursts," he adds. "And powders may be used as a coating, such as in chocolate confectionery and chocolate bars."
Raisins are another fruit with a "clean, sweet and fruity taste that is synergistic with chocolate," says Payne, who also acts as specialist for the California Raisin Marketing Board, Fresno. Thanks to their low aw and moisture—0.51 and 0.62, and 13% to 18%, respectively—raisins don't transpire in a product. "The moisture in the raisin stays in the raisin and does not bloom through the chocolate coating," he says. This yields a longer shelf life and cleaner applications. The low moisture also allows manufacturers to apply a smaller amount of chocolate to achieve adhesion, he adds.
Raisin packers sell "confectionery raisins" to the industry, offering specialized oil coatings, shapes, textures and product sizes for panning and other candy applications. "Raisin paste is an excellent flavor carrier and can be used as a filling for bonbons and truffles," Payne says. "A soft, pliable paste that can be modified by the addition of syrups and other creamy or liquid ingredients, raisin paste may also be blended with ganache or chocolate to prepare fruit truffles."
Chocolate flavors out of the box
As any moviegoer knows, raisins are classic chocolate partners, as are peanut butter, mint, orange and almond. But, when Erin O'Donnell, marketing manager, David Michael & Co., did a new-product search to scope out emerging chocolate flavors, she came up with some matches that toss tradition to the wind. "You see a lot of sea salt," she says, as well as tea flavors, "whether it's green tea or different varieties of black tea. And then you have floral flavors like lavender, different alcohol-inspired flavors, ginger and a lot of peppers. That's the offbeat flavor that's gone mainstream, by the way, the hot pepper."