In this article, we tackle two of everyone’s favorite ingredient — chocolate and cocoa. With their luscious flavor, everyone loves having these in their cakes, pastries, and desserts.

Q: Hi Jun Jun and Adoree. May I ask why there are certain cocoa powders that give a darker color of brown, while some are lighter in color? (Josephine Balatbat of Quezon City)

Adoree: Hi, Josephine. There are basically two types of cocoa powder, the regular American-type cocoa powder and the alkalized Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Alkalized cocoa gives a darker reddish-brown color to your product while the regular cocoa powder gives a lighter brown color.  You will even find a black cocoa powder that will make your product really dark. So, use the corresponding cocoa powder according to your preferred outcome.

Jun Jun: True and complete, Josephine. I don’t have to add anything anymore except that the cocoa powder in the grocery under a famous chocolate brand is non-alkalized. 

Q: Why do some recipes say that you have to dissolve the cocoa powder in water first before you can add it to the other ingredients, while most recipes just say that you have combine the cocoa powder with the other dry ingredients? Will there be any difference in the end product? (Gail Concepcion of Taguig)

Adoree: Thanks for your question, Gail. I mentioned earlier that there are basically two types of cocoa powder: the regular and the alkalized. Aside from the corresponding hue of browns that they give, regular cocoa powder does not easily dissolve while the alkalized cocoa powder is easier to dissolve. For this reason, most recipes that use the regular cocoa powder will state that you should dissolve the cocoa powder in the liquid called for in the recipe. On the other hand, most recipes that use alkalized cocoa powder will state that the cocoa powder should be added together with the other dry ingredients in the recipe. 

Jun Jun: That’s right, Gail. But with me, I always have a problem dissolving both types of cocoa. So, I always make sure to melt it in lukewarm water so that I won’t have too many lumps or minute cocoa elements in my batter.

Q: Greetings to both of you, Jun Jun and Adoree. I have a brownie recipe that uses semi-sweet chocolate and I find the brownie on the sweet side. Will it be all right for me to change the chocolate to unsweetened chocolate? (Joyce Natividad of Makati)

Adoree: Hi, Joyce. Unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate mass. If you substitute the same amount of semi-sweet chocolate with unsweetened chocolate, you might get a different result. I suggest you use bittersweet chocolate. If you still find it sweet, you can also substitute part of the unsweetened chocolate. For example, if the original recipe calls for 100 grams of semi-sweet chocolate, you can use 70 grams bittersweet chocolate with 30 grams unsweetened chocolate instead. Do a kitchen test on the proportion that work best for you. Good luck.

Jun Jun: That’s true, Joyce. Unsweetened chocolate is very bitter since it has no added sugar, use local bittersweet chocolate since this is the baking chocolate very popular with Filipino bakers. If you want a more bitter type of chocolate, remove some of your bittersweet and replace it with unsweetened until you get the type of chocolate you want. 

Q: Why is it that the dark chocolate I used for my chocolate fudge did not melt smoothly? It was grainy and lumpy. Are there remedies? (Pam Apacible of Parañaque)

Adoree: Pam, your chocolate might be old or maybe you had some moisture in your chocolate while melting it. You see, chocolate should be free from any moisture when you melt it. Your container should be really dry; you should also be careful not to drop water into the chocolate. You should also not store the chocolate in the refrigerator because of the moisture there. Sometimes, adding oil will help smoothen up the melted chocolate but it does not always happen. I do not think this is a nice remedy, especially if you will use the chocolate in baking. You do not want the additional oil in your product. Next time you melt chocolate, please be careful.

Jun Jun: Another reason for this is burning the chocolate. In my experience, when the chocolate melts slower, it usually slowly clumps together and becomes paste. Be careful in melting chocolates and if you microwave, do it in intervals of 10 to 15 seconds. The chocolate will look unmelted but if you mix it after heating, it will become very liquid. 

Q: I heard from my friend that I should not refrigerate dark chocolate. Is this true? If so, how do I store it without letting it melt? My problem is that there are a lot of ants in our house. Thank you very much. (Annelie Rivera of Pasay City)

Adoree: Annelie, your friend is right. Baking chocolates should be stored in a cool, dry place. You should not put them in the refrigerator because of the moisture in the refrigerator. Doing so will make the chocolate grainy when you melt it. I suggest you wrap the chocolate in foil then in plastic, then put the chocolate in an airtight container and just put it in a room where there is an air-conditioner. Be sure to keep it away from sunlight.

Jun Jun: As long as it is not baking chocolate and it is mainly for eating, you can refrigerate it. But, once it is used for baking, keep it in a well-sealed plastic container and keep it in the coolest place in your house, which just might be your comfort room.

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