Source Ingredients

Raw Ingredients

In the art of creating the ultimate frozen dough, excellence begins with choice raw ingredients. French Gourmet shops the world to select the finest.

Most raw materials are acquired from the vastly abundant markets of the United States. However, when they can't be found in the U.S. or world markets, French Gourmet goes beyond, seeking producers to create crucial components to exacting specifications.

Flour

French Gourmet flour is custom-blended to French Gourmet's specifications for gluten strength, protein content, processing tolerances, water absorption levels, color, and composition. French Gourmet then adds an extra step, taking the flour through a precise aging process in a controlled environment at its plant. The results are wholesome, supreme flour blends at their ideal consistency.

 Butter

Finding the ideal butter in the pursuit of Artisan Frozen Dough proved the most challenging. The search was relentless until such supreme butter was found.

The United States Department of Agriculture requires only 80% of milk fat for butter to bear the "AA" appellation. Other countries require at best 82%. The composition for this vital element would contain an even higher amount of milk fat and solids and lower lactic acid to enhance sweetness. French Gourmet went to extreme lengths to acquire it.

Back in 1989, President Patrick Novak established contact with dairy farmers to establish stringent criteria for participating farms. The cows pasture part of the year in open fields. The remainder of the time, their diet calls for a semi-dry feed free of harmful pesticides and antibiotics. Further, the cows are not injected with hormones. These leading factors result in premium-quality milk composition, incomparable to most common commercial milk today.

Cream extracted from this milk is fashioned to exceed U.S. and European standards, resulting in unsurpassed purity, sweetness, aroma, and buttery flavor.

 A Dash of Secret Ingredients

Always abreast of advancements in technology, The French Gourmet research and development unit works closely with prominent European bakery chemists. Together, natural enzymes combined with other micro-ingredients were developed, formulated, and adapted exclusively for French Gourmet. These secret micro-ingredients naturally condition the dough during its processing stage, preserve its integrity during freezing, and lock in dough aroma. During baking, these micro-ingredients trigger the dough to release the artisan characteristics of the fresh dough originally sealed at the plant prior to freezing.

 Water

Water is a major yet underestimated core ingredient in dough making. Accomplished by Mother Nature, volcanic ground filters the water promoting the ideal pH balance. This water, rich with minerals, enhances the flavor of the dough.

The meticulous quest for gathering optimum ingredients is one of the cornerstones in the foundation of French Gourmet Artisan Frozen Dough.