Flavors also can help build back sweetness in reduced-sugar formulas that do not use artificial sweeteners. “Sugar is a functional ingredient as well, so when reducing sugar by 25 percent in pound cakes and sugar cookies, we've been adding back polydextrose for the functionality and add sweetness through flavor technology. We have been successful in sugar reduction up to 25 percent in some baked products,” Redondo says.

Bakers also can face challenges if a flavor has a reverse effect on the rheology or flowability of the dough, especially as it endures a variety of temperature and humidity changes on the production line. Garlic, for example has an adverse effect on dough consistency, but when the garlic is encapsulated, the rheology of the dough is unharmed, Redondo adds. Encapsulation also protects products during extrusion.

Flavor suppliers can assist bakers in navigating the challenges of rebalancing a formula to maintain dough rheology, functionality and achieve the desired flavor profile, when adding new and trendy flavors. Suppliers also can help you find the best method of adding a spicy flavor for your product and budget.

Flavoring with extracts adds high-end appeal

Extracts provide another flavor option. Because natural extracts are expensive, they are ideal for use in high-end baked products where they are more likely to yield a return on investment. In addition to adding premium appeal, natural extracts can help achieve a natural label claim.

If using natural extracts in bakery products, the first step is to find one that is heat stable. Bakers can determine if an extract is heat stable by looking at what solvent was used to make the extract. To make vanilla extract, the most popular extract flavor, vanilla beans are ground to a fine powder, the flavor is extracted with an alcohol solvent and the resulting liquid is diluted to the desired strength, resulting in an ideal flavor profile, but not a heat stable product, notes Pietro Re, Ph.D., technical sales manager, North America, Prova Inc., Danvers, Mass. “The most common solvent used is a water-ethanol blend,” he adds.

Prova created an oil soluble, heat-stable natural vanilla extract by using an alternative solvent instead of an alcohol solvent. Oil soluble extracts can be mixed in with the shortening, or added in powder form with other dry ingredients. The strength of extracts are measured in “fold” i.e., 1 fold, 2 fold, etc.

Different elements of the flavor are extracted depending on the solvent used, Re notes. “Alcohol is the best solvent for vanilla. If you use a blend of alcohol and water, you get a different profile where the yield is not as high, but you get a good vanilla extract excellent for ice cream. For bakery, that's not suitable because it's not heat stable, so you use a different solvent that extracts a portion of the vanilla that is heat stable. Vanillin, an artificial vanilla, is the most widely used flavor substitute.” Prova's cocoa extract uses a water-alcohol blend as a solvent and also is heat stable in its liquid or powder form for baking.

“The only solvent you can use for coffee is water,” Re says. “Coffee is not heat stable, so normally you would use a flavor rather than a natural extract.”

Artificial flavors offer a different flavor profile, but are more heat stable and less expensive than their natural counterparts. Expense is the reason many companies opt for artificial flavors, although vanillin prices currently are high.

“Most bakery products cannot justify a natural extract flavor because natural extract flavors are not as strong as artificial ones. So when you use a natural flavor, you use much more to get the same intensity, which is expensive,” Re says. Another option is to combine a natural extract for the superior flavor profile with an artificial flavor in order to lower the cost. In addition to vanilla, popular flavors include strawberry and chocolate.