Irish grass-fed butter offers functional “excellence” to baked products, says Tirlán

12 Oct 2023 --- Tirlán’s grass-fed butter range boasts sensorial credentials for bakery applications and offers a range of functional attributes for F&B manufacturers. As consumers opt more frequently for natural ingredients, this has driven a return to butter for many manufacturers.

Food Ingredients First speaks to Tirlán executives ahead of the company’s webinar on Irish butter, which will be broadcast on October 31, 2023.

“Consumers are increasingly looking for wholesome options. They want to enjoy their favorite baked goods without compromising on their health. Bakeries are responding by using real, natural ingredients, free from artificial additives and preservatives,” Olwyn Pentinga, category manager for butterfats applications, tells us. 

Consumers now prefer butter over cheaper fats and oils in products, reversing the previous cost-driven removal of butter from recipes.

Further, the demand for clean label products is also shaping the dairy and bakery sectors. 

Shoppers are scrutinizing product labels more than ever before. They want transparency in their food choices. Bakery manufacturers are now committed to providing clean, easy-to-read ingredient lists. By eliminating unfamiliar chemicals, they are ensuring consumers can trust what they’re consuming. 

“Dairy ingredients can support this trend as they appear as familiar terms on the ingredients labels,” explains Pentinga.

Consumers seek superior taste
According to Tirlán, high-quality ingredients are essential to consumers, who also demand health-conscious options, convenience and sustainable claims.

Tirlán’s grass-fed butter is suitable for bakery applications and offers a range of functional attributes for food manufacturers.Dunne points to its role in achieving great taste and texture by discussing the importance of butter in the bakery sector. 

“Flavor, aroma, texture, moisture, browning, crisping and hardness are factors that must be considered in creating a suitable butter for pastry applications.”

“Moisture content and moisture droplet size distribution play a key role in butter for pastry applications,” she explains. 

“Grass-fed butter not only enhances the overall appearance of the biscuit, but it also enhances the texture and overall buttery flavor of a biscuit, for example.”

Baked applications 
Aoife Herlihy manages the marketing activity for the butter and cheese portfolio at Tirlán. She stresses that “the key call-out is our grass-fed butter.”

“It performs exceptionally well in bakery applications. Not only does our butter have strong buttery notes, but it also translates into the final biscuit or croissant application.”

Tirlán conducted third-party tests versus European butters and Herlihy explains that the results returned with a “very positive” outcome.

Moreover, the functionality of Tirlán butter in various applications will be highlighted, as well as its significance in the manufacturing of croissants and biscuits.

“Our natural, real ingredient also performs functionally depending on the application,” continues Herlihy. “We have various butter solutions to meet biscuit and croissant applications, depending if you require snap and crumb strength in a biscuit to flaky and light airy texture in a croissant.”

During the webinar, Tirlán experts, including Pentinga and Herlihy, will also shed light on color differences in Tirlán butter compared to paler European butter and discuss the types of butter Tirlán produces in Ireland while exploring the role butter plays in baked goods.

You can register for the webinar entitled “Irish Butter - Highlighting its functional excellence in the bakery sector” here. 

By Elizabeth Green