Dairy is a staple in many kitchens, but that doesn’t mean it has to be predictable. There are countless ways to bring new life to familiar dairy products through creative flavor innovation. Nicole McKinnell, food scientist at Fuchs North America, offers her tips for innovating with dairy products. With an extensive background in developing flavors for the dairy category, she provides expert insight into simple yet impactful methods for infusing flavor into a variety of dairy bases. Keep reading to get the scoop!
You may have heard of flavored finishing salts for meats, but have you ever considered finishing sugar for ice cream? Adding seasoning directly to pre-frozen ice cream mix can impact the texture of the final product, so adding the seasoning to your ice cream after it’s frozen is your best bet. Whether your ice cream is fresh out of the ice cream maker or fresh out of the pint, there’s no doubt that a sprinkle of a well-paired seasoning can elevate any ice cream flavor and create an indulgent experience, whether savory or sweet.
Seasonings developed with a base of medium to large granule sugar (similar to the white sugar found in your cabinet at home) can create a topping that can introduce a range of new or trendy flavors to a dairy product. Whether it’s a simple and elegant flavor like caramel miso sugar or something bolder and more unique like pineapple Thai chili sugar, a finishing or topping sugar can bring your sweet dairy treats to the next level.
With all this talk about indulgent sweet treats, let’s be real – many health-conscious consumers are becoming increasingly interested in using dairy products to meet their protein goals. Although ice cream will always be beloved, right now, it is sharing the spotlight with protein-rich dairy products, like yogurt and cottage cheese. Featuring trendy flavors in yogurt and cottage cheese products is a great way to catch these consumers’ attention.
For a dairy product with a higher water content, such as yogurt or cottage cheese, the consumer can add seasoning directly into the container before they dive in. Flavors that work best with sour profiles pair well with cultured dairy, think tamarind and lime, passionfruit mango, or sparkling lemon-lime sugar. Savory and spicy flavors are another avenue for innovation to stand out among the numerous products in the dairy aisle. Think savory sundried tomato and olive oil cottage cheese or siracha honey yogurt.
Another everyday dairy product that can be instantly transformed by adding seasoning is butter. When making compound butter, by using seasoning to add flavor, you remove the hassle of chopping, peeling, and dicing ingredients, which makes it easy and convenient to experiment with trendy new flavors or whip up a tried-and-true classic in record time. To make compound butter you’ll want to soften the butter before adding in seasoning or other ingredients. If the butter is too cold, the seasoning won’t mix in evenly; if the butter is too hot, there’s a chance that the water and milk fats could separate which would negatively affect the texture.
Compound butter can be incorporated into any eating occasion. From orange blossom honey butter for biscuits to spicy chili garlic hot sauce butter for scrambled eggs, these flavored butters can be the perfect addition to take any dish to the next level!
Interested in more dairy trends? Check out our recent blog, A Deep Dive into Dairy!