Almonds star in throwback concepts at IFT FIRST
14 Aug 2023 | Almond Board of California
Nostalgic foods with a twist are trending as consumers seek comfort in familiarity. Removing dairy is one way to bring something new to a consumer classic like ice cream. Chef Henry Hill, who developed concepts for the Almond Board of California at IFT FIRST, presents an all-almond choco taco concept, explaining how almonds’ neutral base, toastability and creamy texture make them ideal for alt-dairy.
This is Missy Green at IFT 2023 for food ingredients first.
I'm here with Henry Hill, who's a chef for the Almond Board of California.
So Henry, what are you presenting here today?
So today we're showcasing an almond-based choco taco inspired, deconstructed dessert.
So we've got an almond-based soft serve, and almond flour taco shell, which is actually.
A technology that makes a baked taco shell, which is one of the only on the market that can create a baked, not fried taco shell, and then we have an almond butter fudge and toasted almonds to top it off.
Wow, so it's everything almonds.
Everything almond.
That's right.
So what makes almonds so ideal for like an all to dairy application?
They're excellent.
They pick up flavor, toast wonderfully.
They're great for adding nutrition, protein, fiber, and gut health to pretty much any application.
And then in something like soft serve, it adds for a great neutral base.
How does it compare to other sorts of solutions that are out there like an oat base or you have any knowledge on that almond milk.
It, it, it allows for a very neutral base.
And then by using some stabilizers like kappa carrageenan and carboxymethyl cellulose, we're able to make a really creamy soft serve base that's absolutely delicious, and you don't get as much, flavors that you might get from some other alt milks.
OK.
So let's see it.
Got to get some sprinkles.
But Thank you.
It's a throwback concept that kind of like revitalizes the Choco Taco, which is like a nostalgic concept that a lot of people grew up with.
And so we're doing a little bit of like a modern face lift on that.
And what we have that with some of the other concepts that we're showing too, like tomorrow we're doing a snacking based cereal and we're doing.
Like a modern take on Fruit Loops.
So instead of grapefruit and orange and, and we're doing goji berry, spirulina blueberry, and pandan.
So taking that like next wave of trend that's coming through, which is like a lot of Asian flavors and just doing like a, a modern take on Fruit Loops.
Oh, thank you.
