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(Roy Basan) wrote in message . com>...
> (N. Thornton) wrote in message . com>...

> > lol! Its a lovely moist coating. Readers will note youve not actually
> > tried it.

> Therefore in the
> end you will end up with a soapy tasting food.

This is all a beautiful illustration of the old saying 'theory and
practice are the same in theory, but different in practice.' Although
what you say might sound believable, its far from what happens. I've
been making coconut icing for years, and whether you believe me or
not, its definitely a superior icing. Try some and find out. If you
dont, youre guessing, or maybe reasoning, but not reasoning right
somewhere.

> It cannot be called an icing but a coating. A savory and fatty one
> devoid of any form of aeration to lighten up the texture.

a guess

> I have seen some sample of that so called fat block made with coconut
> fat. It is called Copha.It is a firm block of fat appearing like
> tallow but whiter.
> I am using it as the fat component ( instead of costly butter)to
> prepare commercial caramel and fudge sweets. From my experience in
> using it, its not dispersible in water. It needs an emulsifier.

no: what you say is true if the concentration is low, but over a wide
range it disperses very well. I've never had a dispersion problem, but
I know not to try using it the way you describe.

> Even if
> I add glycerol monostearate( GMS) to form an emulsion( so that caramel
> sweet will be homogenous looking) with continous stirring,its is
> difficult to disperse in water.
> I also notice that if the fat was improperly emulsified in the cooking
> of such particular candy, you will find globules of fat on the surface
> of the finished confection.

low concentration, different hardening temps probably as well.

> Now going back to your idea of making a water in oil emulsion or i.e.
> technically speaking the aqueous phase is dispersed in the fat phase(
> or simply a greater ratio of fat in relation to water

how do you
> stabilize that?
> I do not see good stability of such coating.

its perfectly stable

> After a short time the water will ooze out and is called a
> phenomenon of emulsion breakdown.

doesnt happen. If you store it enough days it will slowly dry, but
slower than sugar icing does.

> Another thing that is has lower stability is that the fatty acid
> called lauric acid is abundant in such fat.In presence of moisture(
> you are adding water in it) and the microbes floating in the air will
> come in contact with the mixture releasing enzymes( lipases) that will
> split the fat (triglyceride) say( palm-oloein
> laurein),stearo-laurein palmitin,etc) resulting in the breakdown to
> its component palmitic acid, stearic aid, oleic acid and lauric
> acid.The last component is responsiblef for the soapy taste.
> This lauric acid will react with existing sodium ions ( mineral
> content)present in the formulation to form a soap. Therefore in the
> end you will end up with a soapy tasting food.

no. There are other constituents in coconut youre overlooking.

Try it, or dont, your choice.

Regards, NT