Can you make sausage rolls healthier without ruining the pastry?
- Published
An estimated 10-15 million sausage rolls are sold in the UK each week, but it has been suggested that a single one can contain more than 60% of the recommended daily saturated fat intake for an adult.
For a child, the percentage is even higher. But is it possible to keep the same texture while making them a bit healthier?
That's what scientists at Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, are working to try and find out.
The team of researchers are developing a new way to make the layered pastry, which they say could "significantly" cut the amount of saturated fat.
Eating lots of saturated fats can lead to health problems like high cholesterol and heart disease.
Would you want to try them? Let us know in the comments.
What makes sausage rolls high in fat?
To make the pastry flour and salt are mixed together with water before butter is added
The delicious flaky pastry is one of the key parts of a sausage roll but making it relies on a process called lamination, where butter is folded into dough to create lots of ultra-flaky layers.
It relies on fat for its distinctive texture, but the team is hoping to find a way to replace the solid fats which are currently used.
One idea is to do this by using liquid oils, like sunflower or rapeseed, which are lower in saturated fat.
This involves a process called oleogelation to turn them into a "solid-like fat", which it's hoped will mimic the behaviour of traditional fats, and deliver the same flaky texture.
The dough is folded into thirds and then rolled-and-folded 2 to 4 times during the process
Professor Stephen Euston from Heriot-Watt explained, "The fat is not just there for flavour; it plays a crucial structural role in the pastry.
"You need the fat sitting between the layers of dough so that when the pastry bakes, steam forces those layers apart and gives you that flaky texture people expect.
"Simply replacing the fat with a healthier oil doesn't work, because liquid oils lack the structure needed to separate the pastry layers."
After the laminating process is complete the dough can be cut and baked in an oven
He says that this new method works, the research could also make life easier for bakers.
Laminated pastry often needs to be chilled repeatedly during production to make sure the fat layers do not melt as the dough is folded.
Prof Euston said: "We are hoping our oleogels will stay stable at higher temperatures, which means manufacturers may not have to chill the pastry as much.
"If we are lucky, they might not need to chill it at all."
If it works, the team said the process could be applied to a range other pastries too.
"We're focused on sausage rolls, but this also applies to other baked goods that contain laminated pastry such as croissants, Danish pastries and sweet or savoury turnovers", Professor Euston said.
The team has been funded by the UK Research and Innovation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The goal is that once they've tested their modified pastry from the lab and brought it into the kitchen, they'll be able to taste test with real people.
