Caramel Color in Cookies & Cakes

Bakers have been using caramel color to enhance the color and appeal of baked goods for decades. Caramel color is much darker than alternatives such as malt syrup (extract) and food- grade molasses and therefore is widely-used.

Cookie manufacturers like caramel’s high dispersibility in water and dough systems. A wide selection of caramel colors serves as a tool for bakers to design rich, visually-appealing goods ranging from tannish-yellow to reddish-brown to nearly black.

Bakers can choose either liquid or powdered caramel color depending on their process layout and equipment. Some select powder for its handling ease, longer shelf life, and performance in dry mixes. The drying process raises caramel solids from 50 - 65% to higher than 96%. The resulting powder is darker than liquid so it requires less caramel volume in a baking formula. Given the same caramel type — for every 1.0 kg of liquid, bakers can substitute 0.5 to 0.6 kgs of powder to achieve the same color intensity (darkness).

Sandwich Cookies

To obtain a very dark color in a chocolate cookie wafer, add 3% to 6% (bakers percent) of double-strength caramel (e.g., DDW # 050 liquid or # 602 powder). The same applies for the following:


Ice cream sandwich wafers	Wafer sticks

Snack cakes	Other cookies

The baking results and photos below demonstrate the impact of caramel color in cookies. The following formulas show how 1% caramel color replaces 2% cocoa powder to result in a darker cookie:

Cookie Fillings and Cake Frostings
	Formula # 1		Formula # 2
	Bakers %	Actual %	Bakers %	Actual %
Pastry Flour	100.0%	37.54%	100.0%	37.9%
Powdered Sugar	67.0	25.0	67.0	25.4
Margarine	57.0	21.0	57.0	21.57
Water	21.0	8.0	21.0	8.0
Cocoa Powder, Dutch	14.0	5.3	7.0	2.65
Nonfat Dry Milk	4.0	1.5	4.0	1.5
DDW # 602 powder	0	0	3.5*	1.3
Chocolate Flavor Enhancer	1.36	0.5	1.36	0.52
Salt	1.33	0.5	1.33	0.5
Baking Soda	0.9	0.34	0.9	0.34
Vanilla Extract	0.55	0.2	0.55	0.2
Vanilla Extract	0.17	0.06	0.17	0.06
Monocalcium Phosphate	0.17	0.06	0.17	0.06

* Certain bakers may prefer DDW # 050 liquid at 6.4% (bakers percent) in place of DDW # 602 powder.


Formula #1	Formula #2

Cookie Fillings and Cake Frostings

Processors like less moisture in filling and frosting systems, so they choose powder over liquid caramel. There is usually enough water present for the caramel to disperse. However, in some cases an oil-dispersible color (e.g., new DDW products) may work where dispersibility is an issue. Class I powder (e.g., DDW # 624) can add both a reddish-brown color and a coffee/toffee flavor note to the fillings of cappuccino-flavored and dulce de leche cookies popular in South America.

Chocolate icings or fillings can be also formulated using DDW # 602, # 050 and 200-series, depending on the desired shading/redness.

Dry Mixes

This is a large, growing industry characterized by ready-to-use mixes, pre-mixes or concentrates. Powdered caramel allows a cookie mix manufacturer to standardize the color of the baking mix. Cake and muffin mixes frequently contain caramel color to enhance the visual appeal of the final product. In addition to imparting color, caramel can also extend the color of cocoa powder.

Cost Savings as a Cocoa Extender

Caramel color functions 2x to 6x darker than most cocoa powders in a baking system. A direct comparison is difficult because cocoa contains oil that reads as haze on a spectrophotometer. If the purpose of marginal cocoa powder is for darkening as opposed to flavoring the baking system, then using caramel color is a cost-effective way to reduce (not eliminate) the amount of cocoa required.

Example of Powdered Caramel Color to Extend Cocoa

Replace 50% of Cocoa Powder in customer’s baking formula with:

Cocoa Powder	50.0%
Flour	41.1
DDW # 640* powder	7.5
Chocolate Flavor	1.4
	100.0%

* One can also substitute DDW # 602, # 605 or # 643 depending on customer’s desired darkness and redness.

Sulfite Issues

If the final product contains Sulfites (SO2) at 10 p.p.m. or above, then bakers in the USA and Canada must declare Sulfites on the package label. So, if caramel concentration is high in the formula, then some prefer an alternative, low-sulfite caramel (e.g., DDW 200-series, # 643 or # 624).

Replacing or Reducing Synthetic Colors

Before the advent of powdered caramel color, dry mixes for brown cakes contained several synthetic colors to replace cocoa. Today, those bakers concerned with labeling formulate powdered caramel into cake mix to “clean” the ingredient label by reducing or eliminating certified colors. DDW # 602 powder alone can replace a combination of three certified colors - FD&C Red # 40, FD&C Yellow # 5, and FD&C Blue # 1 - which blended together make brown. Using caramel to replace synthetics also solves a common problem in digestion when the body absorbs red colors, leaving the blue and yellow to show a “green” effect.