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Chocolate,
Bitter,
Sweet
or Powdered
Emergency Recipe Substitutions to
Help
Chocoholic Cooks
It is always a good time to
bake
something with chocolate. But discovering you haven't got a
crucial recipe ingredient
can ruin the mood. Knowing a chocolate ingredient "equivalent" or
substitution can
save the day and your favorite dish!
Today, Mom helps cooks and chocoholics with tips on
chocolate and includes the world's easiest dipped strawberry recipe.
Cocoa Types
Chocolate is made from the
bean of the tropical cacao tree. In
its purest baking form chocolate comes powdered, is usually sold in
tins and is called cocoa.
There are two types of
cocoa; regular cocoa and
Dutch cocoa. Dutch cocoa, or alkalized
cocoa has reduced the natural acidity of the cocoa bean resulting in a
darker, mellower, more chocolaty cocoa powder.
Sometimes you shouldn't substitute cocoa:
Since
Dutch
cocoa is more alkaline, substituting it with regular cocoa may effect
how your baked goods (especially cakes or souffles) rise. Be
careful and take notes for next time.
If you just need cocoa for
flavoring your recipe like making frosting
or something
else not reliant on science to produce results, you should be able to
get away with substituting regular cocoa for Dutch Process cocoa.
Cocoa powder is not to be
confused with those packaged hot cocoa drink mixes, which don't work
well in recipes.
Sugar and fat are usually added to cocoa powder for
sweetening and
consistency. In our kitchens, fat can be in the form
of cocoa butter, margarine, butter, vegetable shortening or vegetable
oil. Sugars, either powdered or granulated add sweetness and also
add to consistency to recipes. Powdered sugar will be
smoother. Visit my Sugar
Substitutions Page for more info about powdered vs. granulated sugars...
Once
we understand the basics of chocolate it makes substituting ingredients
much easier. Here are some more definitions and equivalents.
Cocoa Powder
Powdered, chocolate in
its
most basic form (beyond the bean).
Baking Chocolate
Generally sold in bars
and measured in squares of 1 ounce each. Normally has some fat
but no sugar content.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate
Sold in chips or
bars. Normally semi-sweet chocolate has some fat plus a small
amount of sugar.
1 square (1 oz) of baking chocolate = 3 tablespoons cocoa + 1
tablespoon
butter or margarine.
1 cup (or one 6 oz package) of semisweet chocolate = 6
tablespoons cocoa
+ 7 tablespoons granulated sugar + 1/4 cup shortening.
1 cup (or one 6 oz package) of semisweet chocolate = 6 oz or (6
squares) of semi-sweet chocolate.
Recipe: Easy Chocolate Dipped
Strawberries
This will also work with
cherries or any other fruit with a skin.
Use about 18 large fresh strawberries, room temperature and patted dry
plus 1 pound semi sweet (or any type) chocolate pieces, coarsely
chopped.
1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate,
stirring occasionally until smooth. Or heat the chocolate at 50%
power for 30 second intervals in the microwave, carefully checking
temperature until it is smooth.
2. Using the berry stem or a toothpick, dip the strawberries into
the chocolate.
3. Cool the berries on wax paper, or put the toothpicks into
Styrofoam (or a potato).
More Chocolate Dipping
and Cooking
Tips
The above recipe will produce
tempered chocolate, or chocolate that dries to
a hard shine. If the chocolate becomes too thick to work with,
add
drops of vegetable oil, small amounts of vegetable shortening or cocoa
butter, stirring until it becomes
the right consistency.
Do
not use butter or margarine because they both contain water.
When dipping your
savory tidbits into chocolate, make
sure
they are completely dry. Even ONE drop of water in the melted
chocolate can cause it to "seize" and make the chocolate grainy.
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