What are the alternatives to cocoa powder??There are some alternatives to cocoa powder. Which one is right for you depends on how you want to use cocoa powder.
Alternatives for cocoa powder to drink
If you want to make cocoa or hot chocolate, you can also use other ready-made products besides cocoa powder. There is a wide range of beverage powders with and without cocoa, with which delicious drinks can be prepared.
Drinking cocoa can also be made with normal chocolate. However, the preparation is a little more difficult. The chocolate must be melted and the milk must be brought to a boil for the drink to be successful.
Alternatives for cocoa powder for baking and desserts
If you want to substitute baking cocoa powder in the recipe, you can use baking chocolate, chocolate coating or regular chocolate. For the preparation, the chocolate must first be grated, melted or otherwise processed.
Depending on which alternative you choose, you may need to make some adjustments to the recipe and other ingredients. Note that chocolate usually has a different sugar and fat content.
Alternatives for cacao powder for coffee
If you want to use cocoa powder in coffee, melted chocolate can be an alternative. However, the chocolate can change the consistency as well as the sugar content-. Change the fat content of the coffee significantly.
If you use cocoa powder for sprinkling, you can replace it with ground coffee. However, since coffee is bitter, you'll want to be sparing so the taste of the drink doesn't change too much. Decision: What types of cocoa powder are available. Which one is right for you?If you want to buy cocoa powder, you have a very wide range of choice. To make your choice easier, we would like to introduce you to the different types of cocoa powder. Cocoa powder can basically be divided into the following categories:
– Raw (unroasted) cocoa powder – Pure cocoa powder – Baking cocoa – Instant cocoa powder
What is raw cacao powder and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
Raw cocoa powder is cocoa powder that has not been roasted and is therefore of raw food quality. It also has no other additives. It is considered to be particularly nutritious and healthy.
– No additives – Raw food quality – Particularly nutrient-rich
– Expensive – Only found in special stores – Taste difference
What is pure cocoa powder and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
Pure cocoa powder is cocoa powder without any additives. It is roasted and often only lightly de-oiled, and is therefore considered particularly aromatic and high-quality.
– No additives – Intense and aromatic – High quality – Versatile
– Expensive – Only found in special stores – Sometimes difficult to use
What is baking cocoa and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
Baking cocoa is cocoa powder that is particularly suitable for the preparation of pastries and desserts. It is usually no or very little sugar. Some types of baking cocoa are pure, others contain various additives such as acidity regulators or flavors. The degree of de-oiling varies, but is usually around 14.
– Few additives – Easy to use
– Partially suitable for baking only – Heavily processed
What is instant cocoa powder and what are its advantages and disadvantages?
Instant cocoa powder is used in the first place for the preparation of drinking cocoa. In addition to cocoa, sugar, salt, vitamins, stabilizers and other additives are added. It is highly de-oiled and therefore particularly easy to dissolve in milk and water.
– Added sweeteners and vitamins – Very easy to use – Inexpensive – Easily available
– High in calories – High in sugar – Product quality often low – Heavily industrially processed
Buying criteria: You can compare and evaluate cocoa powders based on these factors
Roasting
The cocoa beans are roasted during processing into powder. Through this process, the flavors. The color also intensifies. But the heat can cause valuable ingredients in the cocoa beans to be lost.
Gentle treatment, in which the beans are not heated above 45 °C, allows the cocoa to retain its raw quality. Raw cocoa differs slightly in taste and nutrient content.
The biggest difference is in the price. Since raw cocoa is only slightly different in taste from roasted cocoa, this characteristic is especially important for raw foodists.
Deoiling and fat content
Cocoa powders differ in fat content. By this you can conclude the degree of deoiling.
Heavily deoiled cocoa powder is the most common variant. Weakly deoiled cocoa powder, on the other hand, is considered to be of particularly high quality. The differences are made in the taste. Noticeable in the solubility. Also it is a characteristic of quality. Influences the price. On the properties as well as the pre-. Disadvantages of both types have already been discussed in the guide section. Depending on how you want to use cocoa powder, you should consider the choice well.
Sugar content
Sugar is the most common additive in cocoa powder. Pure cocoa powder has no added sugar, while instant cocoa powder can sometimes contain 20% sugar.
The sugar content affects not only the taste, but also the calories. However, since cocoa tastes very bitter or sour and is practically inedible without sweeteners, the addition of sugar makes perfect sense.
The addition of sugar in cocoa powder relieves you of the task of having to re-sweeten the powder on your own. Can be very handy. On the other hand, you can only influence to a limited extent how sweet the powder should be.
Additives
Pure cocoa powder normally has no additives. However, the other types of cocoa powder have special additives. In addition to cane sugar and dextrose, cocoa powder is often mixed with acidity regulators, vitamins, minerals, salt, flavors, and other substances.
These additives are not always a disadvantage. Cocoa powder with sugar, salt and flavorings can speed up and facilitate the preparation of drinks and dishes. Also, certain additives can improve solubility.
Production and processing
Some manufacturers process the cocoa only slightly or very gently. For example, some types z.B. Not heated or chemically treated to preserve the healthy ingredients of cocoa.
Quality tests are also conducted to test the cocoa and cocoa powder for contamination, which is a common problem in the cocoa industry. These tests therefore guarantee a particularly pure cocoa powder. High quality product.
On the other hand, the cocoa mass and powder must be specially treated to be cleaned of impurities or bacteria and to have a longer shelf life. In addition, cocoa must meet certain quality requirements in order to be sold.
Origin
Cocoa for the production of cocoa powder is imported from many different, mostly African and South American countries. Most of the cocoa that we consume in Germany and Europe comes from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Since we are talking about developing countries, it makes sense to look at the origin and import conditions. The cocoa plantations in these countries come under criticism more often, especially with regard to payment, working conditions and child labor.
Certificates such as Fairtrade can ensure that the cocoa z.B. fair trade, i.e. that an appropriate share of the proceeds goes to the cocoa farmers, that the cocoa plantation meets certain conditions, that the cultivation is sustainable, and that no child laborers are involved.
The following video introduces you to the Fairtrade program in cocoa plantations in a little more detail:
Trivia: interesting facts about cocoa powder
How cocoa powder is produced?
The path from the cocoa fruit to the cocoa powder is long and complex. The raw product goes through several phases.
The ripe cocoa fruit is carefully harvested from the trees with picking knives. The pulp is then extracted from the fruit along with the cocoa beans.
The pulp is placed on banana leaves or in wooden boxes and fermented for several days. During this process, the flavors and brown color develop. The germination of the seeds is also destroyed, which makes storage possible. After fermentation, the cacao beans are easier to separate from the pulp.
In the next step, the extracted cocoa beans are dried in the sun for several weeks. The flavors continue to develop. The water content is reduced. Cocoa beans have a natural water content of ca. 60%. This is measured at approx. 7% reduced to improve shelf life.
Now follows the transport. The next processing steps are usually carried out in North America and Europe. So, the dried cocoa beans are transported by sea to the respective countries.
Once at the factory, the cocoa beans are cleaned and thermally treated. Contaminants and bacteria are removed and killed by sieves, hot air, infrared light or other methods.
Now comes the roasting. Depending on the type of cocoa beans and how they are to be further used, the roasting temperatures vary between 100 °C and 140 °C and the roasting time between 20 and 60 minutes. For cocoa powder, the beans are usually made longer. Roasted at a higher temperature. This process again removes moisture from the beans. The flavors as well as the coloration develop.
7. Crushing, peeling and grinding
The roasted beans are then broken, peeled and ground. The heat melts the cocoa butter. The product of this process is the cocoa liquor, which has a liquid, oily consistency.
The cocoa mass for cocoa powder is treated with alkali salts. This facilitates the extraction of the cocoa butter from the mass. The heated cocoa mass is pressed. The cocoa butter flows off. This is further processed for chocolate or even for pharmaceutical or cosmetic purposes. The final deoiled cocoa liquor (also called cocoa press cake) has a fat content of 10 to 30% fat. Cocoa mass with more than 30% fat cannot be processed to powder. Cocoa powder should be easily soluble. Do not form lumps. However, natural cocoa is not well soluble. To improve this property, the cocoa press cake is treated in an aqueous aerosol vapor. This settles superficially on the cacao. Favors solubility.
Finally, the cocoa press cake is ground by rollers to fine cocoa powder.
The history of cocoa
Cocoa originates from Central America. The area corresponds to present-day Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. There, cocoa has been used since the 4. Cultivated and used in the 19th century.
It was a popular drink, but the cocoa butter was also used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Cocoa beans were already very valuable at that time. Were even used as a means of payment.
In 16. In the seventeenth century, the area was conquered and colonized by the Spanish, who quickly understood the value of cacao and established large plantations. However, they did not like the bitter drink. It was only when it was mixed with sugar and vanilla that it gained popularity.
Until the 19. In the 19th century, chocolate was reserved only for the rich and was considered an absolute luxury good. With industrialization, however, chocolate factories were developed. chocolate became accessible to the general population. Today apply chocolate. Other cocoa products as the most popular confectionery products. Cocoa consumption is constantly on the rise. Cocoa is one of the most valuable raw materials in the food industry.