Caramel is more than a flavour: finding the right texture for your application

Start with the eating experience

What should happen when someone takes a bite?

A soft caramel piece can add a chewy contrast to a cookie. A small, hard caramel piece can bring a distinct crunch to chocolate. Honeycomb offers a lighter, aerated bite, while caramelised nuts combine roasted flavour with texture.

These differences come from the recipe and process. Sugar ratios, cooking conditions, dairy and fat choices, aeration, and cooling all influence the finished piece. Even within one product family, changing the formulation can produce a different result in the final application.

Formulate for the process, not just the sample

An inclusion that tastes right on its own may behave differently once it is baked, frozen or surrounded by chocolate.

For bakery, we first look at where the piece will be used. An inclusion mixed into cookie dough faces different conditions from one added after baking. Heat can cause a soft piece to melt or lose definition, so the product, baking temperature, time and mixing conditions all shape the choice.

For ice cream and frozen desserts, the question is both texture and stability. Cold temperatures can make some fats feel too firm, while moisture can soften an unprotected crunchy inclusion over time. The right solution depends on whether the goal is a soft bite, a lasting crunch or some caramel melt into the surrounding product. A barrier coating may help protect a crunchy centre.

For chocolate, moisture movement between a soft inclusion and the chocolate needs to be considered. The caramel recipe, any pre-coating and the expected shelf life can all affect how the finished product performs.

The best starting point is therefore the finished product: how it is made, stored and eaten, and which sensory effect the caramel needs to deliver.

Build flavour and texture together

Caramel offers plenty of room to create contrast. A rich chocolate product might benefit from a lighter honeycomb crunch. A crisp biscuit can be balanced with a soft piece. A smooth frozen dessert can gain definition from a coated caramel inclusion.

Flavour can be just as varied. Buttery caramel and salted notes sit alongside darker butterscotch profiles, while chocolate, spices, nuts and fruit flavours create further options. Piece size, shape and coating then help determine how prominently the inclusion appears and how it performs in each bite.

With capabilities across soft, hard, aerated and caramelised products, OV can help customers work from a product idea towards an inclusion that suits the application.

Working on a caramel concept? Share the product format, processing conditions and texture you want to achieve with our team. You can also explore our capabilities here.