Tradition here is all on the packet
Shelf life dictates many more ingredients than home baking needs
he images on this box work very hard to promote the impression that these have been home- baked. The muffin cakes appear to be cooling on a baking rack circa 1930s on the front, and on the back we see pictures of a bowl of icing sugar with some of the sugar in a tea strainer ( again circa 1930s), a jug of melted chocolate and a saucer of green paste. There is also the message: “Our traditional baking methods may leave a touch of flour on the base of the bars.” paste in the centre of these bars. This ingredients list shows that it is mostly sugar ( glucose, dextrose, fructose, glucose) with modified starches acetylated distarch phosphate ( 1414), which is a starch treated with phosphorus oxychloride and acetic acid and hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate ( 1442), another treated starch. The two colours that make it green are titanium dioxide ( 171), which is a white colour found in minerals, and chlorophyll copper complexes ( 141), which is an olive- green natural colour. To me peppermint is white, so perhaps these colours could be left out of the mix. You’ll get 11g or just over two teaspoons of sugar per 40g bar. This is sugar that has been treated to split into glucose and fructose, which is sweeter than sugar and when used in processed foods remains moist and less prone to crystallisation. Margarine is used in this product instead of butter, which you would use if you were baking muffins at home. It is cheaper to use margarine than butter. I am not sure what oil is used, the emulsifiers are mono and diglycerides of fatty acids ( 471), which are produced primarily from hydrogenated soya bean oil and soy lecithin, which is a natural product. The antioxidant, which is in the oil to keep it preserved, is tocopherols ( 307), also known as Vitamin E. A humectant helps keep processed food moist. This is glycerol or glycerine, which is a by- product of soap and biodiesel production. This and the cocoa will be for flavour. This is dehydrated egg. Hydroxy- propyl distarch phosphate and is another treated starch. No fibre is included in the nutritional information, so perhaps this is in the product as a binder or filler. Nice to see natural flavour. These are baking soda ( 500) and sodium aluminium phosphate ( 541). Mono and diglycerides of fatty acids ( as above) and fatty acid esters of glycerol ( 472). Not a high- salt product, with only 32mg of sodium per 40g bar.