How to Freeze Correctly in Pastry Making?

How to freeze plays a crucial role in pastry for two fundamental reasons. First, it is used to meet the specific requirements of certain recipes. For example, when glazing a mousse cake, it is essential that it is frozen; otherwise, the mousse would lose its shape when applying the hot glaze. Similarly, freezing is used to create inclusions in entremets, adding texture and surprising flavors to these exquisite creations.

In addition to its importance for individual recipes, freezing is essential to increase production and ensure greater efficiency in the field of pastry. By anticipating demand and freezing products in advance, pastry chefs can effectively handle orders during festive seasons and achieve greater customer satisfaction. This approach allows increasing the volume of production without compromising quality, as frozen products maintain their freshness and flavor when thawed and served.

Some Tips for Freezing Cakes while Maintaining Their Flavor and Texture

Achieving success in our pastry shop is achieved by conquering the client’s palate and, of course, having the ability to meet their demand. This implies being able to produce efficiently, ensuring that our cakes are kept in perfect condition before being consumed.

The freezing process, in this case, becomes very important, which must be taken into account from the choice of ingredients.

Avoid Syneresis

Among the main tips for freezing cakes is to avoid syneresis. This phenomenon consists of the loss of water that a food can suffer during the freezing and thawing process. This, in turn, implies a considerable change in the texture and flavor of the preparation.

We can make an incredible cake, but it can deteriorate significantly when frozen, unless we use processes and ingredients that manage to maintain its freshness until the moment of consumption.

The Perfect Balance

The first step we must take into account is to achieve the balance between solids and liquids in the recipe. We must estimate an approximate percentage between 20 to 30% of total soluble solids (TSS) of dry extract for a correct balance in recipes such as mousses or creams. This will allow us to have the first requirement so that our preparations are well preserved during the freezing processes.

It is possible that this percentage may have to be adjusted depending on the cake we make and the ingredients we use. For this, there are different products that will help us increase solids. Among them we find sugars or soluble solids (SS), also called bulking agents. And although fats also count as solids within the recipes, the source can come, for example: from dairy products such as cream, nuts or chocolates.

A good practice to incorporate solids is through the addition of Hot Inulin, from Sosa Ingredients, which helps us achieve that balance we want. In addition, by standing out for its high contribution of creaminess, it can reduce the fats in the preparations.

Also as another alternative we find Cold Inulin, also from Sosa Ingredients, which is more soluble than the hot option and is ideal for applying in preparations without the need to heat; for example: meringue base to aerate mousses. It also helps to reduce sugars and sweetness and to partially reduce fats due to its contribution of creaminess.

Texturizers for Freezing

There are several texturizers that help us modify the texture of our cakes, respecting the flavor and color of the preparations. If we talk about gelling agents of vegetable origin, pectins are the most suitable to resist freezing processes and respect the originality of the recipe, once we thaw.

Vegan Mousse Gelatin from Sosa Ingredients, is a perfect substitute for gelatin of animal origin. It is made using a mixture of modified tapioca starch and agar-agar. This is a great option for vegetarians and vegans looking to make desserts without including ingredients of animal origin. It is ideal for gelling mousses and being able to be cut, achieving a very pleasant texture in the mouth.

As for thickeners we find Gelcrem cold, another product that allows us to balance the texture of our cakes, and avoid syneresis. It is made from potato starch and helps us to thicken without the need to heat, only incorporating the product to the liquid. For example, we can incorporate the cold Gelcrem to a fruit puree applying mechanical agitation.

In addition, it provides a lot of creaminess, being able to reduce or replace dairy products, in the case of creams. This thickener responds correctly to freezing without producing syneresis, compared to other starches.

The Use of Stabilizers to Complete our Recipes

Stabilizers come to complete the catalog of products that manage to respect the structure of our cakes in freezing processes.

If we are thinking of making ice cream cakes, thanks to the stabilizers we will obtain more thickness, a better emulsion and greater stability of the ice cream once thawed. The most used are Guar gum and Locust bean gum. We recommend the latter for processes that need to be heated due to its better hydration in hot, unlike guar gum which is more soluble in cold.

At Sosa Ingredients, the brand that makes cakes stay amazing, we find two products that will stabilize the texture of our ice creams, facilitating the formulation of recipes.

On the one hand, Procrema 100 cold/hot Natur a stabilizer that contains a mixture of thickeners, fibers, proteins and sugars. It is perfect for ice creams and ice cream cakes, because it provides 10% solids, only having to add 15-20% sugars, thus achieving the solids necessary for a good balance of ice creams. In addition, it helps maintain emulsion and stability and provides aeration for proper overrun. It stands out for its natural ingredients and because it can be applied both cold and hot.

More suitable for sorbets we have the option of Prosorbet 100 Cold Natur. With similar characteristics and application as Procrema 100 cold/hot Natur but offering a more adequate texture to maintain the essence and freshness of the fruit.

Both have as a characteristic their high anti-crystallizing power to improve the texture in freezing.

In summary, freezing processes in pastry are essential both to meet the requirements of certain recipes and to increase efficiency and respond to demand at key moments. Freezing becomes an indispensable tool for pastry chefs, allowing them to create desserts with impeccable shapes and offer a variety of unique flavors and textures. It also gives them the ability to prepare in advance and meet the needs of their customers effectively, even in the busiest seasons of the year.

Now you know how to freeze in pastry, but if you want to become a professional pastry chef, in our blog you will find tricks and tips to achieve it. You can obtain perfectly preserved pastry preparations, even after the freezing process, by simply adding the appropriate ingredients that avoid syneresis.