Glucose syrup extends snack cake shelf-life

Originally sold as novelties, the diminutive snack cake is today, a lunchbox institution. Driven by a desire to indulge in a tasty treat, the snack cake market is big business, with Americans spending an estimated $4 billion annually.¹

“The addition of glucose syrup to a cake recipe will increase shelf life as compared to using sucrose alone,” explains Stefanie Ringo, Cargill’s technical services senior supervisor.  “For snack cakes, where extended shelf life is especially important, that translates into significant economic benefits.”

For bakers, the challenge is to deliver a consistently delicious pre-packaged treat that retains its moist, tender texture. Fortunately, today’s bakers have a secret ingredient - glucose syrup.

More commonly known as corn syrup, this simple sweetener results from the transformation of corn starch into glucose. The discovery dates back nearly 200 years to a Russian chemist who found that starch could be converted into sweet substances with heat and dilute acid.

Modern corn syrup production starts with thoroughly cleaning the corn, followed by hours of soaking and meticulous grinding to separate the starches from the kernel’s germ, proteins and fibers. Once isolated, the starches are broken down into sweetener with special enzymes.

Today, Cargill is one of the leading producers of corn syrup – offering more than 25 different concentrations of the sweet substance under its ClearSweet® brand. Each is specially formulated for a distinct end use. Cargill’s ClearSweet® corn syrup is found in everything from low-calorie beers, where it’s used to feed the fermentation process, to jams and jellies, where glucose tempers the intense sweetness of sucrose. ClearSweet® corn syrup is even used to feed fermentations in the production of vitamin C and penicillin.

ClearSweet® corn syrup

Bakers and confectioners appreciate ClearSweet® corn syrup for its mild sweetness. But it offers another critical advantage - it maintains moisture so products don’t go stale. When it comes to snack cake production, this moisture retention property – known as humectancy – is critical.

“The addition of glucose syrup to a cake recipe will increase shelf life as compared to using sucrose alone,” explains Stefanie Ringo, Cargill’s Technical Services senior supervisor. “For snack cakes, where extended shelf life is especially important, that translates into significant economic benefits.”

Humectants like glucose chemically bind water. Adding glucose syrup to snack cakes or other baked goods reduces water activity, enhancing stability, maintaining texture and reducing microbial activity.

Bakers use ClearSweet® 63/43 corn syrup as a partial sucrose replacer, typically substituting 10 to 25 percent of their traditional sugar sweetener in a formulation, depending upon the type of cake they are baking. Given corn syrup’s liquid nature, Ringo notes that bakers need to rebalance the water ratios in their formulations. Using too much syrup can cause an excess of water in the final mix. Additionally, the simple sugars in glucose are reducing sugars. They react with protein in the flour upon heating, causing a browning (Maillard) reaction. For dark cakes, this can be color enhancing, but it may be undesirable in light colored cakes.

Cargill’s staff of technical experts

Fortunately, Cargill’s staff of technical experts are available to assist with product reformulations and will ensure the final product is indistinguishable from the original recipe.

“Given the significant benefit of longer shelf life, the addition of glucose to commercially prepared cakes is common,” says Ringo. “Corn syrup’s humectant properties make it a foundation to a successful snack cake product.”

¹http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/25/idUS125645+25-May-2011+PRN20110525