CONCEPT 50: COCOA POWDER DELIVERS BIG FLAVOR Flashcards
All too often, chocolate cakes, brownies, puddings and mousses look dark and decadent, but take a bite and what happens? Why is this?
The flavor is pretty wimpy because an insufficient amount of chocolate was used or the type of chocolate.
Although we rely on unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate in dessert recipes, what ingredient is the key component to creating chocolate recipes with big flavor?
Cocoa powder
How is cocoa powered made?
By removing most of the fat (cocoa butter) from cocoa liquor (produced by fermented cocoa beans), which in effect concentrates the amount of cocoa solids.
Ounce for ounce, cocoa powder has more what than any other type of chocolate?
Cocoa solids, and thus more chocolate flavor.
Cocoa powder contains solid particles of what 3 things?
Insoluble carbohydrate, fat (10 to 12%) and a smaller amount of protein, with tiny flavor molecules trapped inside.
Where to the flavor molecules come from?
Some come from the cocoa beans, others are produced during fermentation and subsequent roasting of the beans.
If you simply add cocoa powder to dry ingredients (as is often the case) what happens?
You don’t get much flavor.
What’s the secret to using cocoa powder?
Bloom the flavors by pouring hot water over the cocoa. Stirring the cocoa in hot water causes these flavor molecules, which would otherwise remain imprisoned, to burst forth, amplifying overall flavor.
Does the intensity of cocoa powder depend on how it was produced?
Yes
Describe the regular method of producing cocoa powder.
Regular cocoa powder produced from fermented, roasted beans has an intense flavor and light color, and is naturally acidic with a pH around 5.7.
Describe the Dutch-processed method of producing cocoa powder.
Dutch-processed, or alkalized, cocoa powder is produced from fermented beans that have been treated with an alkali before or after roosting to raise the pH of cocoa powder to 6.8 to 7.2. Dutch-processed cocoa powder has a milder, less bitter flavor, but darker color.
Why does unsweetened chocolate contain less chocolate flavor than cocoa powder?
It has a good deal of cocoa solids, but also contains more fat crystals than cocoa powder, and therefore less chocolate flavor.
Why does bittersweet chocolate have less chocolate flavor than unsweetened and cocoa powder?
It contains less cocoa solids, and many more fat crystals, as well as sugar, giving it the least chocolate flavor of the three.
TEST KITCHEN: HOT CHOCOLATE MADE WITH COCOA POWDER, UNSWEETENED AND BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE.
The cocoa powder won hands-down, followed by the unsweetened and finally the bittersweet.
What % of cocoa powder are cocoa solids?
80%, so 1 ounce provides 0.8 ounce of flavorful solids.
If you have an unsweetened bar that is 49% cocoa solids, how much would you need to replicate the cocoa powder?
1.63 ounces
If you have an bittersweet bar that is 21% cocoa solids, how much would you need to replicate the cocoa powder?
3.8 ounces
What is cacao percentage?
The combined percentages of cocoa butter and nonfat cocoa solids.
When a recipe calls for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, can you substitute a chocolate with a higher cacao percentage than 60% generally used for cooking, making no other adjustments?
Not if you expect identical results.
When manufacturers increase cacao content, they correspondingly decrease the amount of ______ and usually add _______ _______?
Sugar, cocoa butter
If you’re baking with 70% cacao chocolate and suspect the recipe was developed with 60% cacao chocolate, you can try adding what?
A bit more sugar; be prepared for trial and error.
Why is cocoa powder good for making chewy brownies or sturdy cupcakes?
It contains little fat, which can negatively affect the texture of chewy brownies or sturdy cupcakes.
What should be noted about baking brownies in glass?
Let the brownies cool for 10 minutes, then remove them promptly from the pan; superior heat retention of glass can led to over baked brownies.
Most homemade brownies are what? What’s the difference?
Super-rich and fudge or more cake-like and less rich. The difference between the two styles is simply the ratio of chocolate to flour.
To get boxed-mix brownie chew in homemade, you need to right proportion of what? What was the magic ratio?
Liquid to solid fat. The ratio was 1:3 of saturate to unsaturated as opposed to the 2:1 ratio found in homemade brownies.
How can you reduce greasiness in brownies?
Reducing the overall fat content makes them dry so they used emulsifiers to help the fats from separating. Mayonnaise worked surprisingly well but, after diving deeper, they identified the active emulsifiers in mayonnaise as lecithin, a phospholipid that occurs naturally in egg yolks; two eggs yolks in exchange for a little oil did the trick.
Why can you add chocolate chunks to the brownies final mixture if the cocoa butter will throw off the saturated and unsaturated fat ratio?
Only chocolate that is melted and incorporated into the batter actually affects the ratio of fats in the mix.
What is key for brownies with a good shine?
Granulated sugar.
TEST KITCHEN: BROWNIES MADE WITH BROWN SUGAR, GRANULATED SUGAR, THEN BROWN SUGAR AND CORN SYRUP.
Only brownies made with granulated sugar took an attractive crackly sheen.
Why does granulated sugar create a sheen on brownies while brown sugar and corn syrup don’t?
It’s all due to what might be deemed “special effects.” Whether on its own or in combination with corn syrup, brown sugar forms crystals on the surface of the cooling brownie. Crystals reflect the light in a diffuse way, creating a matte effect. The pure sucrose in granulated sugar forms a smooth, glasslike, noncrystalline surface as it cools that reflects light in a focused way, for a shiny effect.
Why do brownies made with brown sugar or corn syrup never have a crackly crust?
Its formation depends on sugar molecules rising to the surface of the batter and drying out during baking. Since both brown sugar and corn syrup contain more moisture than granulated sugar, the surface of brownies made with either of these never dries out enough for a crisp crust to form.
Fat can be divided into two broad types.
Saturated and unsaturated.
What do both types of fat consist of?
Carbon atoms strung together in long chains.
Shortening is also called what?
Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
In predominantly saturated fats such as shortening, beef tallow, and lard, each of these carbon atoms has the maximum number of what attached to them?
Hydrogen atoms.
What do the hydrogen atoms do to the carbon atoms?
he hydrogen acts as a buttress to keep carbon chains rigid so that they can pack together like a box of pencils, forming a fat that is solid even at room temperature.
Why aren’t unsaturated solid?
They have fewer hydrogen atoms providing support, resulting in carbon chains that don’t stick together tightly and a fat that is liquid at room temperature.
Does the right combination of rigid and flexible chains–the shortening system–give brownies their unique texture?
Yes
Does boxed brownie mix come with the right ratio of fats?
It comes with a saturated fat component, which is broken down into tiny, powdery crystals. When a cook then adds unsaturated vegetable oil to this mix, the liquid fat and powdered solid fat combine in a ratio designed to deliver maximum chew.
Name a predominantly saturated fat.
Butter
