Cocoa Powder in the Philippines

Introduction

 

Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Everybody loves chocolate. Chocolate is one of the indulgent flavors that everyone can’t seem to get enough of. Cocoa was first cultivated in ancient South America. During the Age of Exploration, it was introduced to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors, and in the 1850s, steam-powered machines allowed for the mass production of cocoa powder. Today, over 4.5 million cocoa are consumed around the world every year.

Chocolate is one of the indulgent flavors that everyone can’t seem to get enough of. Cocoa was first cultivated in ancient South America. During the Age of Exploration, it was introduced to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors, and in the 1850s, steam-powered machines allowed for the mass production of cocoa powder. Today, over 4.5 million cocoa are consumed around the world every year.

This flavor has been found in various meals and desserts like the famous champorado, tsokolate (Filipino hot chocolate), ice creams, cakes, buttercreams, brownies, etc., chocolate-based pastries, and delicacies.

But do you know what these foods have in common aside from being things that we like to eat? All of them get their rich chocolatey flavor from a classic pantry staple ingredient. That ingredient is called cocoa powder.

Cocoa powder is relatively inexpensive. And while it may not be something fancy like other chocolate products such as baking bars, chocolate chips, or melty fèves, cocoa powder is actually quite powerful. A few spoonfuls of cocoa powder can transform an entire recipe. Best of all, cocoa powder is easier to use than the other three chocolate products. You can just sift it seamlessly into a batter or sauce without the use of a double boiler.

If you’re curious about cocoa powder and how you can use and benefit from it, then read the rest of the article to know more.

 

What is Cocoa Powder?

 

Cocoa powder is a chocolate product that adds deep chocolate flavor to desserts and beverages and is made from dried and ground cocoa solids. Cocoa powder occurs when the chocolate liquor is pressed to remove three-quarters of its cocoa butter during processing. The leftover dried solids get ground into the product sold as cocoa powder. Meaning, cocoa powder is the core of a chocolate’s flavor, but without any extra fat, sugar, or milk to get in the way.

Cocoa powder also has the highest percentage of solids of any chocolate product, so a little goes a long way in terms of imbuing a baked good or dessert with a rich, fudgy flavor. You’ll also find cocoa powder most often in a recipe whisked into the other dry ingredients, and once hydrated, it will turn the whole batch of batter dark brown and intensely fragrant.

And just like your spice collection, the cocoa powder should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Although it might be tempting to store it in the fridge or freezer, both of these spots foster humid environments for the cocoa powder, so they should be avoided.

A well-stored cocoa powder will keep for up to two years, but the strength of flavor, however, does fade a bit over time.

 

Cocoa Powder vs. Chocolate

 

Today, it’s easy to get your hands on fantastic chocolate that you could use for your desserts and beverages, and while it’s true that it’s always good to use excellent chocolate to intensely flavor chocolate desserts, better think again.

Why? Because when it comes to delivering deep, dark chocolate flavor, plain old cocoa powder is still hard to beat.

What really is the difference between these two?

Cocoa is by no means a lesser product than chocolate. In fact, it’s a purer form of chocolate, and chocolate has two main components. These two components are cocoa solids (where the flavor comes from) and cocoa butter (where the rich texture comes from). Since it was mentioned earlier that cocoa butter has very little cocoa butter in it, you can think of it as chocolate with most of its cocoa butter removed.

Unlike pure unsweetened chocolate containing about 55% cocoa butter, cocoa powder contains just about 10 to 12%. This only means that cocoa powder packs a bigger punch of chocolate flavor than unsweetened pure chocolate because you’re getting more cocoa solids and less cocoa butter.

 

The Role of Cocoa Powder in Desserts and Beverages

 

In creating a recipe for a chocolate dessert, the flavor is not the only factor that you should consider—texture is also important. The types of fat strongly influence the finished texture of a dessert in the recipe, be it cocoa butter, chocolate, oil, or a combination of any fat that has been mentioned.For example, when cocoa powder is used in making tsokolate or Filipino hot chocolate, it makes the drink plenty chocolatey, unlike just using pure unsweetened chocolate. Pure unsweetened chocolate also gives it a rich flavor, but it is muted at first, making cocoa powder a better option.

When used in cakes, mixing cocoa powder with oil gives the delicacy a tender and intense flavor. A famous example would be the devil’s food cake. Its deep flavor, dark color, and moist texture came from pairing cocoa powder with oil.

The flavor is intense because there’s no added milk or butter to dilute the pure chocolate, and the texture is moist because the vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature. You can even serve the devil’s food cake refrigerator-cold, and it will still be tender.

Cocoa powder also yields rich and chewy results for brownies and cookies. Brownies and cookies are chewy when they’re high in sugar, fat, and eggs but low in flour. When cocoa powder is mixed with butter or oil, brownies and cookies will have a noticeably soft, chewy texture.

You can also use cocoa powder on birthday cakes, Bundt cakes, and loaf cakes if you’re making pastries for yourself. But on the non-baked end of the spectrum, you can also use cocoa powder to make the buttercream, ice cream, or fudge.

 

What are the four types of cocoa powder in the Philippines?

 

Whether you’re just craving something sweet or you want to have a piece of chocolate for your food, then you should indulge in the chocolatey goodness of our high-quality and affordable cocoa powder in the Philippines.

Here at Wills International Sales Corporation, we offer the finest and inexpensive cocoa powders that are perfect for your homemade desserts or beverages for a luxury dessert feel, especially for Filipinos out there with a sweet tooth because we all know that no one can resist chocolate.

Below are the different types of cocoa powders for your needs, brought to you by Wills International Sales Corporation:

 

Dutch-Processed or Alkalized Unsweetened

 

A Dutch chemist develops this type of cocoa powder in the 1800s. It is made by soaking cocoa beans in an alkali solution to neutralize its acids and cut a bit of its bitterness. The resulting product is darker in color than natural cocoa powder and less harshly flavored. Some people even consider the Dutch-Processed cocoa powder to create a richer, fudgier flavor in baked goods.

Another indicator if the cocoa powder you’re getting is Dutch-processed when labeled as “processed with alkali” or “alkalized cocoa powder.”

Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, Dutch-processed cocoa powder must be used in recipes calling for baking powder. You can also use it as a substitute for natural cocoa powder if the recipe you’re making needs just a tiny amount of cocoa powder.

It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids. Because of its delicate flavor, it is also ideal in baked goods like European cakes and pastries. So next time you’re planning to make European cakes at your home, try Dutch-processed cocoa powder because its subtle flavor complements other ingredients.

If you want another style of Dutch-processed cocoa powder, then there’s black cocoa powder. The black cocoa powder results from heavy and repeated processing of Dutch-pressed cocoa powder, hence its extremely dark color.

If you’re aiming to remake Oreo cookies at home or the chocolate biscuits on the outside of a traditional ice cream sandwich, then you should try the black cocoa powder. You can also use black cocoa powder to create a super dark baked good or chocolate sauce.

 

Natural Unsweetened

 

This type of cocoa powder is the most common cocoa powder, both in stores in the Philippines and in recipes. Natural unsweetened cocoa powder is extracted with the Broma process. The cocoa fats have been removed from the chocolate nibs, and the remaining dry cocoa beans are ground into cocoa powder.

It has a light-brown color and an extractable pH of 5.3 to 5.8. Natural unsweetened cocoa powder also has a very fruity, complex, bitter taste. It gives a deep chocolate flavor to baked goods, making it suitable for brownies, cookies, and some chocolate cakes.

This cocoa powder is naturally quite acidic, making it a great addition to recipes that include baking soda. The cocoa will trigger the chemical reaction that causes lift and lightness in your final bake.

 

Cacao Powder

 

They may be made from the same base ingredient, but cocoa powder and cacao powder are slightly different things. Unlike cocoa powder which is made from solids leftover after most of the fat is removed, cacao powder is the ground version of the whole cocoa pod and beans. However, they are still slightly processed, but it is still considered “raw at such a low temperature.”

Cacao beans develop flavor and texture through a fermentation process before processing into either cacao or cocoa powder. Once the cacao beans are processed at low temperatures, they are then milled into a powder.

Cacao powder is also a lot bitter in taste than cocoa powder but offers more nutritional content and is considered a more natural substitute for cocoa powder. This is because cacao powder retains more of the cacao bean’s original nutritional value.

If you’re keen on using cacao powder as a healthier substitute for your cocoa powder, then you may do so. A tip that you should keep in mind when using cacao powder is that you should use less because it tastes stronger and more bitter.

Cacao powder is also more absorbent in nature, so you should increase the measurements for all the liquid ingredients you’re using with it. And instead of baking powder, switch to baking soda as a leavening agent when you’re cooking with cacao because it reacts more with cacao powder because of the acidity.

 

Cocoa Mix

 

Of course, who wouldn’t forget this type of cocoa powder? Keep in mind, however, that this is not the same as cocoa powder. Cocoa mix has been famous for being ‘cocoa powder’ through similar labeling and distracted shopping where people occasionally bring it home and claim it as authentic cocoa powder.

It’s a trick by the market. Cocoa mix is just sweetened stuff where you just add water or milk to it when you want to make your favorite wintertime beverage (we all know it’s hot chocolate with whipped cream or marshmallows).

If you want to use cocoa mix, you should reserve it for festive drinking and not for baking. The same goes for natural cocoa powder. Don’t expect just to add hot water and mix it with natural cocoa powder to make your favorite hot chocolate. It will not be the best experience, and that is guaranteed.

But if you really want to remake the cocoa mix’s taste from scratch, especially your favorite cocoa mix for your hot chocolate, it’s just simple to do. Just use natural cocoa powder and add sugar and vanilla extract for the sweetness.

 

What are the Health Benefits of Cocoa Powder?

 

Cocoa Powder is not only a loved ingredient because it delivers the rich, chocolatey taste that we all love to eat and crave, but also because it provides tons of benefits, mainly if your powder contains up to at least 72% cocoa.

Cocoa powder is 58% carbohydrates, 14% fat, 20% protein, and 3% table water. It also contains several minerals in rich content such as manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc, and calcium. All these minerals are found in greater quantities in cocoa powder than in cocoa butter or chocolate liquor. Aside from that, cocoa powder also contains caffeine and theobromine.