Search Results for: cocoa powder acid reaction

On Kitchen Acids

Reader Cynthia writes:

So OK, I get that alkalines like baking soda are rare things in the kitchen. But what about the other side of the reaction: acids? They seem more common. Can you give us a list of things that react with soda? And are there any other alkaline ingredients out there?

Cynthia, I’d be positively delighted to answer. As you’ve intuited, acids are a much more common in the kitchen than bases. The strongest of these are vinegar, cream of tartar and lemon juice. Other citrus juices like orange and lime are acidic, so is tomato juice and any fermented dairy product (buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, etc.). Other, milder acids include

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What is “Dutched” cocoa powder?

So asks reader Fleur, and it’s a great question. I’m not sure I’ve ever really blogged about “Dutching” before. The answer, Fleur, is that it’s cocoa made from cacao (fresh harvested chocolate) nibs that have been treated with an alkaline. More often than not that alkaline is good ol’ potassium carbonate, a once-common kitchen chemical known as “pearl ash” or “pearlash”…as sort of precursor to baking soda.

The process was invented, not surprisingly, by a Dutchman named Conrad van Houten in 1828 (he’s also the fellow who invented cocoa powder). At the time, van Houten was looking for a treatment that would help his new powder incorporate more readily into milk. Being fatty stuff, cocoa powder doesn’t mix with watery milk terribly well.

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Skinning the Sodium Bicarbonate Cat

Reader Ted writes in with a fascinating question:

So, I’ve been tinkering with recipes for bran muffins, and hoping to come up with something other than hockey pucks (the grocery store can do them; why can’t I?) and I started thinking about baking soda vs baking powder. I was looking on the net about the two, and came across [an] article, and something in it puzzled me. [Joy the Baker] writes:

When sodium bicarbonate [baking soda] meets with heat, carbon dioxide gas is formed. It’s this gas that gives rise to our favorite cakes, cookies and biscuits. There is one drawback to the production of this gas. When heated, sodium bicarbonate also produces sodium carbonate, which doesn’t taste very good. If you’ve ever eaten any metallic tasting cakes or biscuits, you know what I’m talking about. Thankfully, the metallic taste of sodium carbonate can be neutralized by acid. Lemon, yogurt, buttermilk, and unsweetened natural cocoa powder can neutralize the taste of sodium carbonate and keep our baked goods risen and lifted.

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The Myth of the Red Chocolate Cake II

I’ve received a little flak this past week from readers who didn’t think my red chocolate myth busting post from last Tuesday was rigorous enough. “No Dutched chocolate!” “You didn’t heat it!”

So OK then. Here goes. First we have a slurry of un-Dutched Ghiradelli cocoa powder and water. Left to right, with a teaspoon of tartaric acid, a teaspoon of baking soda and a combination of both (but only half a teaspoon of each because I didn’t want it exploding all over the place like last time).

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The Myth of the “Red” Chocolate Cake

This is two tablespoons of cocoa powder combined with two tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of baking soda. If you look closely you can see that an interesting chemical reaction is taking place. See there? Right along the edge where the mixture meets the dish? A little reddish tint. Look close now…see it there?

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