Five Essential Flavours That Fly Off Bakery Shelves
If you own a bakery business, you’ll know there are dozens of different flavour combinations to choose from when developing a new product, each one more tempting than the last. But you’ll also know there are a handful of core flavours that customers reach for above all else – the ones that sell out several times over throughout the day, that your Instagram followers beg for every time you post a new product reel.
These five customer-favourite flavours are absolute essentials for every bakery and dessert shop, so if you’re looking for inspiration for your core product range, we’re here to help.
by Lyndsey Hall
05 April 2024
1) Chocolate & Hazelnut
The classic milk chocolate and nut combination, famously found in a well-known spread, is always a bestseller. Any cake or dessert using this flavour combo is sure to fly out of the door.
Close behind the original duo, the latest flavour trend to go viral is a white chocolate version, replicating the taste of a certain filled wafer biscuit… Add these two chocolate and hazelnut flavour combinations to your menu and your customers won’t be able to decide between the two!
Keylink’s range of chocolate and hazelnut flavoured products for bakery includes both milk chocolate and white chocolate liquid sauces with hazelnut, Callebaut’s Crema Nocciola, and our brand new milk chocolatey hazelnut spread and white chocolatey hazelnut spread!
Or use our post-bake cremas, chocolate coatings and real hazelnuts to create your own delicious fillings and toppings!
2) Speculoos Spiced Biscuit
No longer relegated to accompanying tea and coffee in hotels and hairdressers, the humble speculoos biscuit has become a staple thanks to the range of spreads and sauces now available. This warming, caramelised biscuit flavour is a firm favourite with sweet bakery fans, and is incredibly versatile, making the ideal filling, flavouring, topping or decoration for cakes, muffins, cheesecake, and so much more.
Whip up your own range of speculoos spiced biscuit flavoured bakery products with Colac’s Speculoos Compound and Speculoos Topping Sauce. Finish with a sprinkling of biscuit crumb and a whole biscuit to really catch your customers’ eye.
3) Vanilla
Vanilla is quite possibly the most loved flavour worldwide, with its sweet warmth and subtle floral notes. It’s a simple, no-frills flavour that works in almost any application and can be combined with a wide variety of other ingredients, but is equally delicious on its own.
Real Madagascan vanilla pods and extracts are perfect for cakes, custards and ice cream, while Vanilla Flavouring Compound, Tahitian Vanilla Flavour Burst and Kessko’s Vanilla Classic Flavouring are all ideal for achieving consistent, uniform and intense vanilla flavours in your cakes, cookies and bakes.
And don’t forget the vanilla topping sauce!
4) Caramel
This sweet, sticky treat is a true classic, having been invented over a thousand years ago. Its popularity has never waned, but new, modern twists on the traditional have refreshed its reputation in recent years. Salted caramel is now a staple on most bakery and dessert shop menus, and there are a hundred different ways you can use it in your product range.
Flavour your mixtures with Colac’s Salted Caramel Compound, or pipe Nigay’s finest quality caramel into cupcakes, muffins, traybakes and more. Then go crazy with toppings and decorations! Try caramel flakes or crunchy caramel pebbles, drizzle with Colac Salted Caramel Topping Sauce and scatter with Caramel Blossoms or Caramel Fudge Pieces. The more decadent the better!
Take a look at our full range of caramels and caramel flavoured products to find your perfect match.
5) Apple
When it comes to fruit flavoured desserts and pastries, you’d be forgiven for assuming lemon would be the most popular. But it’s the humble apple that takes the crown! From tart tatin to apple turnover, bakery and dessert lovers can’t get enough of the classic pomme fruit.
You can celebrate the English orchard with our range of apple products, including Ravifruit apple puree, freeze dried diced apple, Colac apple, raisin and cinnamon sundae topping, and green apple topping sauce.
And if you’re looking for other tasty fruit fillings, our new range of 70% fruit bakestable fillings is ideal!
These five flavours will keep your customers coming back for more, and make the perfect core product range, allowing you to experiment with exciting limited edition flavours. We’d love to hear about how you use our products and which flavours are most popular with your customers – tag us on social media or send us an email!
Lyndsey is a marketing executive, writer and lover of books and chocolate from Sheffield.
Her favourite chocolate is Cacao Barry Lactee Superieure.