Imagine a French toast filled with cheesecake. It may seem curious, but it is already a reality. Pastry making is a constantly innovating sector full of surprises, in which everything changes very quickly. Food innovation, experimentation, imagination and the challenge of the impossible are constantly creating new trends in this market segment. From the mixture of all this, new concepts, formats, techniques and businesses are emerging. Today we’ll bring you a 5-minute update!
TRENDS IN PASTRY MAKING:
Evolution of traditional confectionery: on the one hand, making it lighter in sugars and fats while maintaining the flavours, and on the other, reinterpreting classic confections.
Hybrid pastry: this is the idea with which we started the post, based on the union of two recipes to make only one. It often results in creations that share two different cultures. The possibilities are endless.
Use of seasonal products: in order to bring excitement to the products under the slogan “try them while they last, because then you won’t be able to, and you’ll have to wait”. It is also based on the prioritisation of the quality of seasonal and local products, enhancing not only the taste but also the value of sustainability.
Freshly baked: this label has great appeal, as consumers associate it with artisanal and healthier items. This is why you may wish to consider the purchase of a pastry oven such as the Mychef BAKE, which allows you to make compositions from scratch. You can check it out here.
Mini-size: this overcomes the main barriers diners face when ordering dessert (satiety, health, price, etc.) and is associated with the idea of tasting.
Highly photogenic cakes: a direct consequence of the use of social networks. Customers are looking for extremely attractive confections that are aesthetically pleasing and out of the ordinary.
Multi-sectioned cakes: the perfect opportunity to try out different combinations.
NEW INGREDIENTS:
The aim of this is to achieve more natural and healthy recipes with reduced sweetness.
To achieve this, fruit syrups are used as an alternative to sugar. Cassava, soy and coconut flour, instead of traditional ingredients. Natural pigments of vegetable origin, thus eliminating artificial colourants. Higher quality fats such as good butter, cream or cream cheese, and other ingredients resulting from research, such as inulin, which is a vegetable fibre that provides creaminess.
It is also worth noting that the recipes have been enhanced with ingredients that were originally used for purposes other than pastry making and confectionery. This is the case with pandan, a plant native to Japan, which naturally provides a deep green colour and serves to give a vanilla flavour to dishes and desserts. Other examples are spices such as rosemary, thyme, roses, marshmallow or elderflower.
The use of the latter is also closely linked to the rise of vegan or “veggie” pastry making. This branch of confectionery responds to the demands of a clearly expanding segment of the population and relies on the use of — among other products — vegetable ingredients such as nut butters based on walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds instead of traditional butters; flaxseed for eggs; or coconut cream and vegetable milks instead of cream and milk.