Building Healthier Desserts

Call it a marriage of health and decadence: ConAgra Mills' Ultragrain is a "white" whole-wheat flour, finely ground with a sweeter, milder taste and lighter color than conventional whole-grain flour products.

While the successful merger that is a "healthy dessert" does occasionally occur — think of now-ubiquitous frozen yogurt — the bottom of the great divide is littered with failures that seemed so perfect when they made the jump (e.g., candy bars laced with concentrated polyphenols, high-fiber ice cream or flax-and-quinoa cookies).

The dessert items receiving the brunt of healthy treatments certainly would be baked goods, such as cakes and cookies. "For some people, the idea of a healthy dessert is a misnomer, but I think the incorporation of ingredients such as whole grains can readily make them healthier," says Aaron Clanton, baking curriculum manager at Manhattan, Kan.-based American Institute of Baking (AIB). "But these ingredients do change the baking aspects of products -- such as the mixing -- so processes and formulas need to be adjusted."

The challenge to adding whole grain ingredients to desserts is to keep the familiar texture. Ultragrain from ConAgra Mills, Omaha, Neb., is a "white" whole-grain flour from a proprietary variety of wheat specially grown to have a sweeter, milder taste and lighter color than conventional wheat and wheat flour products.

Via advanced milling technology, Ultragrain flour maintains a mild taste and creates its smooth texture while still preserving the content of fiber, antioxidants and phytonutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals typical of whole-wheat bran and germ. These nutritive components are not found in refined flours. The combination makes Ultragrain a whole grain product with the taste, look and texture properties of refined flour.

“For some people, the idea of a healthy dessert is a misnomer, but I think the incorporation of ingredients such as whole grains can readily make them healthier.”

- Aaron Clanton

Including whole grains enhances the nutrient density of desserts as does increasing fiber content. Another ConAgra whole grain, Sustagrain Barley, relies on a unique macronutrient composition for its health "sell." More than half of its carbohydrate content is composed of dietary fiber, with 40 percent of that fiber content in the form of beta glucans. This form of fiber has a proven cholesterol-lowering effect. At around three times the total dietary and soluble fiber of conventional whole-grain flours, Sustagrain Barley has a low starch content and is designed for boosting the fiber of formulations rather than the bulk.

Future Trends

The interest in healthier desserts is reaching into all segments of society, as evidenced by the fact that many of the chilled dessert are aimed directly at children. "At the recent Fancy Food Show, New York, we met a number of people interested in items suitable for school nutrition programs," says Lucy Gibney, president and CEO of the eponymous Dr. Lucy's Cookies LLC, Norfolk, Va. "Lucy's cookies were appealing to foodservice folks because of our healthier nutrition profile and our outstanding approach to excluding food allergens," ehs says. "All of our products are gluten-free, which is an increasing need for many students. Our calories per serving and excellent fat profile stand out almost as strongly as our three-part program for providing foods made without most of the major food allergens." Additionally, the company's products are all natural.

Lowering calories-per-weight has proven to be a good way of creating healthier desserts, and fiber is an effective medium. SunOpta Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., offers a family of insoluble fibers from sources such as oat, soy and pea as well as multi-fiber blends. "All of these fibers can be used to create healthier desserts such as cakes and brownies, or dessert components such as pie crust, granola or crumb toppings," says Cathy Peterson, group vice president of applications and technical services. "Some have a soft enough texture and small enough particle size to be used to increase dietary fiber levels in creamy formulations such as cheesecake or in fruit toppings."

Adding fiber and water reduces the caloric density of the dessert, allowing the consumer to indulge in the serving size she is accustomed to rather than accepting a reduced portion size to reduce calories. "Insoluble fibers are virtually calorie-free and are excellent ingredients for reducing calories," continues Peterson. "Incorporating Canadian Harvest or SunOpta fibers into a brownie formula, for example, can reduce the calories by 20 to 30 percent without sacrificing the indulgent characteristics of the brownie."

Typically the biggest risk in employing fiber-based low-fat or fat-free ingredients is losing the indulgent, creamy texture fat provides. SunOpta also makes Barley Balance, a concentrated form of barley beta glucan designed to create hearth-healthy products. It also can be used at lower levels — as little as 1 percent — to improve the texture and mouthfeel of reduced-fat baked goods and other desserts. The soft gel that is created by the Barley Balance mimics the structure of fat and can increase the moistness and creaminess of products.

Sweet and low
While sweeteners have always been a big trend in healthier desserts, a lot of them fall short in performance when it comes to baking formulations. Simply put, many low- and no-cal sweeteners just can't provide the bulk many baked goods need. Even a natural sweetener such as stevia is limited, in this case because at 300 times the flavor intensity of sugar, it can't replace sucrose ounce for ounce.

McNeil Nutritionals (and supplier Tate & Lyle) solved the bulking and browning problems in part by mixing sucralose 50-50 with sugar and introducing Splenda Sugar Blend for home baking.

Similarly, a new trend among stevia suppliers is partnering with sugar refiners. PureCircle announced at July's IFT Food Expo a collaboration with Imperial Sugar Co. Natural Sweet Ventures LLC is the resulting joint venture, and the product portfolio is called Steviacane. The result will be a number of blends of stevia with cane sugar for, among other markets, bakery and desserts. A month earlier, GLG Life Tech Corp. inked a similar deal with Grupo Azucarero Mexico, the largest non-governmental sugar marketer in Mexico, which is expected to result in similar sugar-stevia blends.

Virginia Dare, Brooklyn, N.Y., well known for vanilla, recently tackled the problem of masking stevia-sweetened products. The system works especially well with dairy-based desserts, masking the "bitter, licorice-like and astringent notes" that can accompany stevia, according to the company.

Inulin is a natural low-calorie carbohydrate that also can be used effectively in dessert manufacturing and has a dual advantage in that it provides both lower calories and prebiotic benefit. "Extracted from chicory root, inulin and oligofructose ingredients are among the world's most researched prebiotics," says Joseph O'Neill, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Beneo Inc., Morris Plains, N.J. "They are proven to selectively nourish and stimulate beneficial microorganisms called bifidobacteria in the colon, promoting digestive health and function while helping the body absorb more essential nutrients and minerals, such as calcium."