Sensory profile analysis of steamed brownies using Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA)

Abstract

Brownies are popular cakes made of some basic ingredients such as chocolate, eggs, butter, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla extract by either baking or steaming. This study aims to explore and evaluate the sensory properties of steamed brownies produced by small-medium enterprises in Surakarta. It used the quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) method through trained panelists. Moreover, this analysis was carried out in several phases. They include the selection and training of panelists, conducting focus group discussion (FGD) and sensory profiling test. During the first stage, 15 panelists were selected, while at the FGD phase, 5 sensory attributes including color, aroma, taste, softness and moist, were confirmed for describing the sensory quality of brownies. Finally, the steamed brownies were dominated by the attributes of sweet, bitter, burnt chocolate, mocha, salty, margarine and milk powder.