Preparation Aid

Food additives are the technical ingredients that transform homemade pastry into chef’s creations. Stabilizers, gelling agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, binders: they ensure consistency, preservation, and perfect texture of each preparation.

• NH pectin for reversible mirror glazes and gel inserts
• Soy lecithin for stable emulsions and smooth ganaches
• Tartaric and citric acid to adjust the pH of preparations
• Sorbitol to keep cookies soft
• Xanthan gum to thicken naturally

See the complete food additives collection. For professionals, also see the Sosa Ingredients catalog with over 800 technical references.

Food flavorings allow you to naturally or intensely flavor all your sweet preparations: creams, ganaches, ice creams, cookies, cakes, chocolates, glazes. Available in several concentrations according to needs:

• Natural extracts: Madagascar vanilla, tonka bean, lemon, orange blossom
• Concentrated flavors: caramel, coffee, hazelnut, pistachio, almond
• Intense Foodie Flavours: over 100 aromatic references for creative pastry
• Fat-soluble flavors special chocolate (compatible with fats)
• Water-soluble flavors for ice creams, sorbets, syrups

See the complete food flavorings collection to flavor your creations like a star chef.

Edible glues and Tylo powder (CMC) are essential technical agents in cake design to fix fondant decorations, assemble figurines, and reinforce the durability of sugar flowers:

• Ready-to-use edible glue in a bottle with brush
• Tylo powder (CMC) to dilute and create your own edible glue
• Gum tragacanth to strengthen flower pastes and gum paste
• Application: assembling figurines, fixing ribbons on fondant, sealing edges

For advanced cake design, combine with our white modeling paste and our white gum paste for sturdy figurines and flowers like in professional baking.

Gelatins are the technical base for all mousses, bavarois, panna cottas, mirror glazes, and entremets. Several forms and formats available:

• Sheet gelatin (gold, silver, bronze): the professional baking standard, precise dosing
• Gelatin powder: convenient, long shelf life, easy dosing
• Halal bovine gelatin: for certified halal baking
• Agar-agar: plant-based alternative (red algae), ideal for vegan baking
• Pectin NH: natural gelling agent for reversible glazes

See the complete gelatin collection. Essential for making a Black Forest cake, a three chocolate cake, or any modern entremet.

The pastry glazes and drip drizzles dress your creations with a professional finish:

• Mirror glaze: the iconic finish of palace entremets, see the mirror glazes collection
• Drip glaze: decorative drips for drip cakes (chocolate, colored ganache)
• Royal icing: the dry base for decorating cookies and tiered cakes
• Candy Melts and ready-to-use glazes: see the Candy Melts collection
• Velvet and velvet sprays: textured matte finish for entremets, see the velvet sprays collection

To achieve a perfect mirror glaze, see our reference recipe in the royal icing guide.

Technical sugars allow professional preparations where classic sucrose is not enough:

• Isomalt: transparent and stable sugar substitute, ideal for pulled sugar decorations, blown sugar, edible stained glass. See the complete isomalt collection
• Fructose: higher sweetening power, hygroscopic, keeps cakes moist
• Dextrose: lowers the freezing point of sorbets, see Sosa dextrose 650g
• Invert sugar (trimoline): improves preservation and prevents crystallization
• Powdered sugar, brown sugar, muscovado: high-end traditional sugars for finishing

For advanced recipes with these sugars, see our nougat and our homemade marshmallow which use all their properties.

Preparation mixes and ready-to-use coulis save valuable time for pastry chefs both in shops and at home:

• Genoise and biscuit mixes: complete preparations to hydrate, consistent quality
• Muffin and cake mixes: quick production, controlled texture
• Meringue preparations: powder to reconstitute, ideal for catering
• Fruit coulis: raspberry, strawberry, red fruits, mango, passion fruit (reserved for professional use)
• Mousse and entremets bases: professional preparations for mass production

Ideal for shop pastry chefs who want to produce large volumes without sacrificing quality, and for advanced amateurs discovering entremets pastry.

For a professional entremets, you will need several categories:

• Sheet gelatin (gold): for the main mousse, dosage 6 g per liter of preparation
• Mirror glaze: smooth and shiny finish, to be poured at 30-32°C on frozen entremets
• Pectin NH: for gelled inserts (red fruits, exotic)
• Concentrated flavor: 5-10 drops per 500 g of mousse to add flavor
• Sorbitol: optional, to retain moisture in the base biscuit

See also our Black Forest recipe which combines gelatin, glaze, and flavoring for a professional result.

In cake design, technical ingredients make a difference in the stability of decorations:

• CMC or Tylo powder: to mix into sugar paste to make it firmer
• Edible glue in bottle with brush: quick assembly of figurines and decorations
• Tragacanth gum: to strengthen gum paste and create sturdy flowers
• Sorbitol: to soften homemade sugar pastes and prevent them from drying too quickly
• Food-grade glycerin: to soften sugar paste that has become too dry

Combine with our modeling paste and white gum paste for professional results.

In high-end chocolaterie:

• Glucose syrup: essential for ganaches, caramels, nougats; also see FunCakes syrup 375g
• Cocoa butter pistoles: see our Azucren cocoa butter for tempering
• Soy lecithin: to fluidify chocolate and improve shine
• Trimoline (invert sugar): for long-lasting ganaches
• Citric or tartaric acid: for sour candies and fruity confections

Also see our Callebaut Callets White chocolates for coating.

For viennoiseries and brioches:

• Soy lecithin: for more flexible and better-developed doughs
• Invert sugar: to keep brioches soft for several days
• Viennoiserie mix: complete preparations for quick production
• Bread improver: for better-risen doughs in restaurants
• Vanilla and orange blossom flavors: to flavor brioches and Chinese buns

For the base, see our French baguette recipe and our cinnamon rolls.

For pastry-quality ice creams and sorbets:

• Dextrose: lowers the freezing point, smooth texture even in the freezer
• Glucose syrup: prevents the formation of large ice crystals
• Ice stabilizers: carob, guar, specific to professional ice cream makers
• Concentrated flavorings: to strongly scent without dilution
• Ready-to-use coulis: for marbling in ice creams

For pastry shops, these technical ingredients enable regular and high-quality production:

• Consistent texture batch after batch for series production
• Extended shelf life for pastries and desserts on display
• Savings on waste (failed textures, insufficient preservation)
• Access to the same ingredients as starred chefs
• Ability to offer certified gluten-free, vegan, halal options

For cake designers specializing in wedding cakes:

• Edible glues and Tylo powders for solid assembly
• Mirror glazes and drips for photogenic finishes
• Gelatins and pectins for desserts hidden under fondant
• Concentrated flavorings to customize flavors
• Isomalt for pulled sugar decorations and edible stained glass

In starred restaurants, these technical ingredients are essential daily:

• NH pectin for reversible glazes on plated desserts
• Soy lecithin for instant emulsions (espumas)
• Agar-agar and iota-carrageenan for innovative textures
• Dextrose for creamy sorbets made to order
• Concentrated flavorings for signature customizations

For advanced amateurs, these ingredients open access to chef-level pastry at home:

• Achieve a true mirror glaze like in pastry shops
• Make nougats and soft caramels that don’t harden
• Create multi-layered desserts with precise gelatins
• Subtly scent with concentrated natural flavorings
• Discover technical pastry without professional equipment

No. All our products are accessible to advanced amateurs who want to discover technical pastry. Dosages are indicated on each sheet, and most ingredients (flavorings, sugars, gelatins) require no special expertise. For very technical ingredients (Sosa, isomalt, specific pectins), we offer detailed usage guides.

The additive has a technical function (stabilizing, gelling, preserving, emulsifying). The flavoring has a sensory function (scenting, adding taste). A professional recipe usually uses both: additives for structure, flavorings for taste.

Yes, but with different dosages. 1 g of agar-agar = about 4 g of powdered gelatin. Important: agar-agar must be heated to at least 90°C to activate (gelatin does not), and the final result is firmer and less melting. Agar-agar is ideal for vegan and halal pastries.

Varies by category:

• Powdered additives: 12 to 24 months in airtight dry container
• Flavors: 12 to 18 months after opening
• Gelatins: 24 months in sheets, 12 months in powder
• Ready-to-use glazes: 12 months unopened, 1 month after opening
• Glucose syrup and technical sugars: very long shelf life (24 months and more)

Yes, as with all food products. Check labels for:

• Soy lecithin: major allergen
• Bovine/pork gelatins: not vegan, some not halal
• Flavors: may contain traces of nuts
• Preparation mixes: may contain gluten, egg, milk

For strict diets, choose our clearly identified vegan, gluten-free, or certified halal references.

Precise dosing is essential for technical ingredients (gelatins, pectins, agar-agar, isomalt). Invest in a precise electronic scale accurate to the gram (or even 0.1 g for small amounts of flavors and additives). Volumetric measurements (spoons) should be avoided: too imprecise, a source of failures.

Yes. Our catalog includes brands used in high-end pastry laboratories: Sosa Ingredients (Spain), Azucren, FunCakes, Callebaut, etc. Also see our complete Sosa catalog with over 800 technical references used by European culinary schools (Bellouet, Lenôtre, Ferrandi, Le Cordon Bleu).