A semi-sweet biscuit containing currants. It is baked in strips and may be cut into individual biscuits after cooling. In Europe, it is known as "Garibaldi". This biscuit presents various production problems, which must be overcome to produce a good product.
Dimensions: | 70 x 37mm |
Thickness: | 6.6mm |
Weight: | 5.3g |
Appearance: | Rectangular biscuit with visible currants. Glazed surface |
Colour: | Medium to dark colour |
Texture: | Crisp semi-sweet biscuit with chewy currants |
Flavour: | Sweet plain biscuit with strong currant flavour |
Moisture: | 5.0 – 10.0% |
FIG 1: Garibaldi biscuits
Recipe 1 | (1) | (2) |
Flour (weak) | 100.00 | 100.00 |
Powdered sugar | 20.70 | 15.59 |
Cane syrup 80% | 3.57 | 2.65 |
Dough fat | 18.23 | 13.88 |
Lecithin | 0.37 | - |
Ammonium bicarbonate | 0.49 | 0.35 |
Sodium bicarbonate | 0.18 | 0.13 |
Salt | 0.71 | 0.53 |
SMS (soln.) | 0.022 | 0.25 |
Spice1 | 0.10 | 0.01 |
Flavour1 | 0.10 | 0.03 |
Water | 21.00 | 25.88 |
Fruit2 | 65.30 | 65.30 |
230.772 | 224.600 |
Should be 8.0 – 9.0% protein, not higher.
Currants are small black seedless tasty and nutritious grapes grown in Greece. They can be obtained as good quality fruit with strong flavour, which makes them useful in biscuit making.
After the fruit is dried in the sun, it is separated from the stems and stalks and then stored. Before exporting, the fruit is again screened to remove any remaining stalks and foreign matter.
Currants are graded in size. Small and medium size currants are used in biscuit making. Smalls have 920 currants per 100g and mediums 500 currants per 100g. Moisture content should be 16%, (but is often up to 20%). Currants are packed in cartons, which may be polyethylene lined. The currants are fumigated after packing and before shipment with methyl bromide gas to avoid insect infestation.
A typical specification for currants suitable for biscuit making is:
The fruit will require washing before use and is normally inspected on white tables before use to ensure that it is as clean as possible.
It is recommended that small black currants are used. These are dry and easier to sprinkle evenly. Fruit which is too large and juicy will cause problems when it is crushed by the gauge rolls. Juice may be smeared on the surface of the dough and will cause sticking on the rolls and cutter. The amount of fruit will be adjusted to suit the equipment available.
Seedless raisins may be obtained from USA, Turkey, Chile, South Africa, Iran and India. Smyrna sultanas, which are similar, may be obtained from Greece, Turkey, Australia and Iran. Both seedless raisins and sultanas are larger and more juicy than currants and are therefore more difficult to use in biscuit making.
Grading of US fruit is "small", about 550 berries per 100g and "select", about 380 berries per 100g. The quality is graded from A (best) to C. Maximum moisture content is 18%. Other countries have similar grading systems.
Normally an "all in" mixing method is used. The chemicals may be dissolved in water before adding to the mix. Mixing requires adequate time for hydration of the flour, dissolving the sugar and the development of the extensible gluten. To achieve this, the dough may be mixed to a set temperature of 40oC. The dough is used straight away without any standing time.
If the product is made by producing the dough sheets on two 3 roll sheeters with a currant spreader between, the sheets must be as thin as possible. The gauging gap on the 3 roll sheeter should be set to a maximum of 12mm.
Flouring of the dough sheet will be required to avoid sticking to the rolls and the cutter.
Usually sultana biscuits are cut by reciprocating cutters as it is very difficult to cut through the currants and to avoid sticking. Where a rotary cutter is to be used, it must have a very sharp, metal cutter to ensure clean and effective cut through for the currants. The dough sheet is cut into strips across the band. Edge scrap is removed by scrap wheels and may be returned to the sheeter for the bottom sheet or collected and used in a new mix.
The currants may be spread by a belt type unit or a roll with impressions.
The first method uses a hopper with an adjustable gate. The currants are drawn out of the hopper by a synthetic textured belt and form an even carpet of currants on the belt. The gate controls the amount of currants. The currants are deposited from the belt onto the dough sheet in an even curtain.
The second method uses a hopper with a roll which has impressions of similar size to the currants. As the roll rotates, the currants are taken from the hopper and then dropped onto the dough sheet.
FIG 2 Garibaldi biscuits, photo by: Mitzy/Shutterstock.com
A solution of milk may be applied to the dough sheet before baking to give a dark shiny appearance. (Milk powder: 43, water: 100)
The strips are baked on a Z47 wire-mesh or steel band.
Temperatures: 220 / 220 / 220/ 180 degrees C
Baking time: 6.0 minutes
(Over baking will make the fruit tough and leathery).
After baking the strips pass through rotary cutting discs to be cut into separate biscuits. The discs are normally positioned over the steel oven band on an extended oven run out. If the biscuits are baked on a wire-mesh band, a separate cutting table is required.
The biscuits are cooled at ambient temperature. Cooling to baking ratio of 2:1 is required for high fruit content biscuits (33% fruit).
Flour (weak) | 100.000 |
Ground rice | 1.000 |
Invert syrup | 15.000 |
Glucose | 1.500 |
Fat | 15.000 |
Milk powder | 3.500 |
Salt | 0.500 |
Sodium bicarbonate | 0.700 |
Ammonium bicarbonate | 0.350 |
Cream powder | 0.350 |
Egg colour | 0.100 |
Buttabelle flavour | 0.050 |
Water | 15.000 |
153.050 | |
Currants | 100.000 |
Wash-over | |
Milk | 10.000 |
Egg | 5.000 |
Flour | 100.000 |
Maize starch | 33.333 |
Sugar, caster | 28.571 |
Invert syrup | 8.333 |
Palm oil | 30.952 |
Natron | 0.238 |
Sodium bicarbonate | 0.714 |
Salt | 1.429 |
Ground ginger | 0.119 |
Oil of lemon | 0.089 |
Butter flavour | 0.200 |
Water | 26.200 |
230.178 | |
Wash-over | |
Water | 10.000 |
Milk powder | 3.000 |
Sugar | 1.700 |
Invert syrup | 2.800 |
Flour | 100.000 |
Cornflour | 19.760 |
Palm oil | 24.430 |
Sugar, liquid | 27.660 |
Invert syrup | 10.419 |
Dextrose monohydrate | 7.713 |
Full cream milk powder | 6.588 |
Lactose | 1.078 |
Ammonium bicarbonate | 0.090 |
Sodium bicarbonate | 0.584 |
Salt | 0.348 |
Flavour | 0.348 |
Water | 20.000 |
219.018 | |
Currants | 140.500 |
FIG 3 Recipes and process by the late Glyn Barry Sykes
Leading image source: Crepesoles/Shutterstock.com