Encased Snack

Abstract

The invention is directed to a process for the preparation of an encased snack comprising in this order the steps of (1) providing crumb material, (2) forming the crumb material under pressure to produce a shell, (3) introducing a filling into the shell, (4) forming a cover of crumb material on the filling in the shell under pressure, and (5) optionally baking the thus formed assembly. The invention is also directed to the encased snack obtainable by the process and to a mould comprising a lower die and first and second upper dies for use in the process.

1 - 6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . An encased snack obtainable by a method comprising in this order the steps of:
 1) introducing a free flowing crumb material into a lower die, the free flowing crumb material comprising a shredded baked dough material, water, and a binder, the free flowing crumb material having a water activity level of 0.6 or more;   2) pressing a first upper die into the lower die at a pressure between about 3 bar and about 6 bar to form an unbaked molded crumb shell having a wall with a thickness;   3) introducing a filling into the unbaked molded crumb shell in the lower die, the filling having a second water activity level of 0.6 or more;   4) introducing an additional free flowing crumb material onto the filling and the unbaked molded crumb shell in the lower die to provide an unbaked unmolded crumb cover; and   5) pressing a second upper die onto the unbaked unmolded crumb cover in the lower die at a pressure between about 1 bar and about 2 bar to form an encased unbaked snack, the encased unbaked snack sealing and fully encasing the filling within the free flowing crumb material and the additional free flowing crumb material; and 6) baking the encased unbaked snack to form an encased baked snack,   wherein the binder reacts with the water to firm-up an outer surface of the encased baked snack, and   the second upper die has a lower rim that extends about a recess and has a width that is approximately equal to the wall thickness of the crumb shell, the lower rim having:   a lower surface that is configured to press edges of the unbaked unmolded crumb cover to the wall of the unbaked molded crumb shell in the lower die in response to the second upper die pressing onto the unbaked unmolded crumb cover in the lower die,   an inner surface extending upwardly from the lower surface and defining at least a portion of the recess,   and an outer surface opposite the inner surface and extending upwardly from the lower surface, the outer surface of the lower rim configured to contact an inner surface of the lower die when the second upper die is pressed onto the unbaked unmolded crumb cover in the lower die.   
     
     
         8 . The encased snack according to  claim 7  comprising 10 wt % or more of filling, based on the weight of the snack. 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The encased snack according to  claim 8 , wherein the binder is a food grade binder. 
     
     
         11 . The encased snack according to  claim 10 , wherein the food grade binder is a pre-gelatinized starch. 
     
     
         12 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the free flowing crumb material further comprises material selected from the group consisting of breadstuff, cereal-based material, waste material from snack production, cheese-based material, meat-based material, soy protein-based material, tofu-based material, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the filling is selected from the group consisting of chocolate, fruit, dairy products, vegetables, cereals, meat-based material, vegetable-based materials, vegetable-based fat, protein spreads, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the encased snack is baked using infrared radiation. 
     
     
         20 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the first upper die has a top rim which is conical with an inversely angle α. 
     
     
         21 . The encased snack according to  claim 20 , wherein the inversely angle α is about 45° to about 60°. 
     
     
         22 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the free flowing crumb material has a water activity of 0.93 to 0.98 and the filling has a water activity of 0.93 to 0.98. 
     
     
         23 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the additional free flowing crumb material forming the cover is a different material from the free flowing crumb material forming the shell. 
     
     
         24 . The encased snack according to  claim 11 , wherein the food grade binder improves the flowability of the free flowing crumb material. 
     
     
         25 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the filling is free of preservatives. 
     
     
         26 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the free flowing crumb material comprises rye bread crumbs, and wherein the first upper die presses into the lower die at a pressure between about 4 bar and about 6 bar. 
     
     
         27 . The encased snack according to  claim 7 , wherein the free flowing crumb material comprises biscuit crumbs, and wherein the first upper die presses into the lower die at a pressure between about 3 bar and about 5 bar.