Corn starch

All ingredients were food grade and samples were prepared in a food grade environment in the Food Processing Facility, University of Nottingham. Three gels of the same volume were prepared for flavour and sensory analysis, sample N = non-aerated, sample S = slightly aerated and sample V = very aerated. 24% w/w glucose syrup and 37% w/w sucrose were dissolved in water and 10% w/w gelatine (type A, 240 bloom, mmingredients UK) and 5% w/w corn starch (Cargill UK) were added and the gelatine left to hydrate (25 °C, 5 min). The mixture was then heated to allow all of the ingredients to fully dissolve (100 °C) and prepared to a total weight of 90 g. The mixture was poured into a heated mixer at 70 °C (Thermomix, Vorwerk) and mixed at 1100 RPM for 0.5 min or 2 min to achieve different levels of aeration. In the final 10 s of mixing, 0.7% w/w citric acid, 0.3% w/w trisodium citrate and 10 g flavour (0.015% selected aroma compounds in water, or 2% IFF strawberry flavouring in water) was mixed in and the gel immediately covered to form a closed system and frozen (-80 °C) to stabilise the aerated structure. Gels were taken out of the freezer and incubated at 4 °C for 24 h before analysis and then removed from the fridge and equilibrated at 20 °C for 1 h prior to analysis. Preliminary experiments were conducted to ensure repeatability of the production method.