Sugar bloom on sponge cakes

[trulytreats]

Hello everyone,
We've been running our wholesale bakery for 12 years and make a range of cakes and traybakes for foodservice. All our products are made in batches and frozen before being shipped across the UK with a frozen distributor.
Recently, we've had a few complaints from our customers about sugar bloom on their sponge cakes (see image attached). The cakes are chilled down before being cut. They're then boxed and put in the freezer before being dispatched.
We can't get to the bottom of why this is happening. The It doesn't happen with all cakes, just some and at random. Not sure if it's a build up of moisture casued by the process of chilling and then cutting.
Has anyone experienced this issue or can offer any ideas of how we can stop this from happening?
Thanks

 

[retired baker]

Hello everyone,
We've been running our wholesale bakery for 12 years and make a range of cakes and traybakes for foodservice. All our products are made in batches and frozen before being shipped across the UK with a frozen distributor.
Recently, we've had a few complaints from our customers about sugar bloom on their sponge cakes (see image attached). The cakes are chilled down before being cut. They're then boxed and put in the freezer before being dispatched.
We can't get to the bottom of why this is happening. The It doesn't happen with all cakes, just some and at random. Not sure if it's a build up of moisture casued by the process of chilling and then cutting.
Has anyone experienced this issue or can offer any ideas of how we can stop this from happening?
Thanks

I would tend toward wheat oxydation caused by improper handling.

You should keep a control sample in your freezer to see if it does the same thing.
And freeze before packing to make sure its completely frozen .
Distributors should only have to keep it frozen, not freeze it for you.

 

[trulytreats]

I would tend toward wheat oxydation caused by improper handling.

You should keep a control sample in your freezer to see if it does the same thing.
And freeze before packing to make sure its completely frozen .
Distributors should only have to keep it frozen, not freeze it for you.

Thanks for your response. We havent considered wheat oxydation and will look into that.
Our cakes are all frozen before being collected, our distributors don't freeze our products for us. Sorry, I dont think I made that clear in my post.

 

[retired baker]

Thanks for your response. We havent considered wheat oxydation and will look into that.
Our cakes are all frozen before being collected, our distributors don't freeze our products for us. Sorry, I dont think I made that clear in my post.

" They're then boxed and put in the freezer before being dispatched."

Boxed before freezing? the packaging is a form of insulation and greatly slows down freezing.
In the US you would have to blast freeze first, then box.

You could investigate antioxidents in the form of additives.

Antioxidants | Ingredients | BAKERpedia

Antioxidants are anti-inflammatory and help prevent or reduce cancer and other diseases. In baking, whole grain flour provides high antioxidant content.

bakerpedia.com

Take a look at other mfgers ingredient labels to see what they use.

Clean Label Mold Inhibitors for Baking - Oklahoma State University

The details on clean label mold inhibitors, how they create a longer shelf-life and details on a variety of clean label mold inhibitors.

extension.okstate.edu

commercial blast freezers cost more than I paid for my house, I used to freeze a lot of choc mouse cakes, the most efficient freezer I found was a chest freezer. Freeze in the mold in chest freezer overnight, then unmold and stack like bricks.

 

[trulytreats]

" They're then boxed and put in the freezer before being dispatched."

Boxed before freezing? the packaging is a form of insulation and greatly slows down freezing.
In the US you would have to blast freeze first, then box.

You could investigate antioxidents in the form of additives.

Antioxidants | Ingredients | BAKERpedia

Antioxidants are anti-inflammatory and help prevent or reduce cancer and other diseases. In baking, whole grain flour provides high antioxidant content.

bakerpedia.com

Take a look at other mfgers ingredient labels to see what they use.

Clean Label Mold Inhibitors for Baking - Oklahoma State University

The details on clean label mold inhibitors, how they create a longer shelf-life and details on a variety of clean label mold inhibitors.

extension.okstate.edu

commercial blast freezers cost more than I paid for my house, I used to freeze a lot of choc mouse cakes, the most efficient freezer I found was a chest freezer. Freeze in the mold in chest freezer overnight, then unmold and stack like bricks.

Thank you for your response. We'll look into all of this.

 

[Mona]

It sounds like the sugar bloom on your sponge cakes might be due to condensation when they're chilled and then cut. To address this, ensure the cakes cool to room temperature before chilling, control humidity in your production areas, and consider packaging the cakes airtight before freezing. You might also experiment with cutting the cakes after they're slightly frozen to reduce moisture exposure. Quick and consistent freezing can also help prevent sugar bloom. I hope these adjustments help resolve the issue!