9 replies to this topic

[gud2ya]

What do white spots in brownie mean? When magnified, these are hairy with spots at the hair tips.

[QM-OS]

Are the white spots visual without being magnified?

Mould, yeast outbreak or lumps of flour?

[pHruit]

Does the brownie have a chocolate outer layer/coating?
If so, in addition to the potential micro considerations then this could possibly also be chocolate "bloom" (although I'm less sure about the "hairy" presentation you're seeing).

Somewhat hesitant to give a Wikipedia link as a reference in this most esteemed of forums, but nonetheless this does give a reasonable overview: https://en.wikipedia...Chocolate_bloom

[gud2ya]

Are the white spots visual without being magnified?

Mould, yeast outbreak or lumps of flour?

Cottony without a microscope.

Hairy or fibrous if magnified 

[gud2ya]

Does the brownie have a chocolate outer layer/coating?
If so, in addition to the potential micro considerations then this could possibly also be chocolate "bloom" (although I'm less sure about the "hairy" presentation you're seeing).

Somewhat hesitant to give a Wikipedia link as a reference in this most esteemed of forums, but nonetheless this does give a reasonable overview: https://en.wikipedia...Chocolate_bloom

I've considered it being a chocolate bloom but blooms occurs only on chocolates and confectionery, not baked products, right?

[pHruit]

I've considered it being a chocolate bloom but blooms occurs only on chocolates and confectionery, not baked products, right?

I'd be very surprised to see it on the baked goods themselves, hence the question about whether there is a chocolate coating.

I guess it could also affect chocolate chips/chunks if visible at the surface, but then you'd probably notice the pattern if it was only visible on those

[The Food Scientist]

Sounds like mold to me. But are they white white and not whitish/greenish? The bakery I worked at we had those and customers complained so we changed the formula to add preservatives.

Edited by The Food Scientist, 12 December 2019 - 02:03 PM.

[FurFarmandFork]

Sounds like mold to me. But are they white white and not whitish/greenish? The bakery I worked at we had those and customers complained so we changed the formula to add preservatives.

Molds come in all the colors of the rainbow.

 

Easiest check would be to hang onto it for a few days and see if it gets bigger. That would pretty much confirm it as mold unless there's a cool chemistry reaction happening I'm unfamiliar with.

[mgourley]

Chocolate, or compound chocolate will bloom, and turn white... or part of the inclusions/toppings will turn white if the fat in the chocolate was held at higher than specified temperatures or the fat in the chocolate or compound had oxidized. Rancidity follows.

 

Marshall

[gud2ya]

Thanks for the replies.

 

To dig deeper, why don't blooms occur in baked products but only on chocolate and chocolate coatings?

Does it have something to do with the porousity of the surface?