cocoa powder ideas?

[sam21479]

I have about three pounds of unsweetened cocoa in my pantry. Can anybody suggest good recipes to use some of this up? Anything but brownies. Thanks in advance!

[bear]

Hershey's Black Magic Cake makes really good cupcakes.

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recip...

[Emme]

Cocoa Yogurt Sauce
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
240 ml yogurt
mix ingredients and serve with fruit or graham crackers or marshmallows or...

Stir some into oatmeal or pancakes or waffle batters...

[visciole]

Keep in mind it's not going to go bad, so unless you don't have the room for it you can just use it as normal. That being said, I'll add one: chocolate wacky cake!

[hotoynoodle]

chocolate melting moments:

250g butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup of icing sugar
1 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup of unsweetened, cocoa powder
Filling
3 tbsp of butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup of icing sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp of pure vanilla extract
Extra icing sugar for dipping fork
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Set aside.
2. Use an electric mixer to combine the butter and 2/3 cup of icing sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.
3. Sift together the plain flour, cornstarch and cocoa powder together into a separate bowl. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
4. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture until just combined.
5. Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of dough into balls. Place on the lined trays about 1 1/2" apart.
6. Dip the end of a fork into extra icing sugar and press down lightly on top of each ball to flatten it to a disc.
7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
8. To make the icing filling, use electric mixer to beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Spread 3/4 tsp of the icing over the base of half of the biscuits. Gently sandwich together with the remaining cookies.

i've added lemon or orange extract to the icing for great flavah too.

[buttertart]

So nice to see the term icing sugar used - O Canada! For our American brethren, it's confectioner's sugar. Those cookies sound grrrreat!

[bear]

Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies! You can make the dough and form it into logs, wrap well, and store in the freezer. They bake up beautifully right from the freezer.

The dough comes together best when the butter is nice and soft.

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/...

[MFalk]

I'd make small chocolate coin cookies. You can make them crispy or soft and fudgey to your preference. They're also very easy and freezer-friendly. Just bake a few off when you need them.

Cream a stick of unsalted butter with 2/3 cup of sugar. When light and fluffy, add one egg. Whisk together 1 cup of flour with 1/2 of cocoa powder and a heavy pinch of salt, then add to the mixer and beat well till a relatively stiff dough forms. You may need to add more of any of the dry ingredients to taste or texture, but you're looking for rich cocoa flavor and a dough you can easily knead and roll.

Flour a work surface and roll the dough into two logs, each about the diameter of a quarter. Pop in the freezer for an hour or so, till hard but still sliceable. When chilled, slice them into coins about the thickness of three quarters and, giving them just a bit of room to expand, pop them in a 350 oven. Bake about 8 minutes (or till the cookies respond firmly to a light touch but with a bit of give) or up to 12 minutes for crispier cookies. I like to keep some of this dough around for "emergency sessions."

[WhatThePho]

I was thinking more about this, and truffles take a good bit of cocoa powder, depending on your recipe.

[ChristinaMason]

I use it in a savory rub on pork tenderloin (granted, it doesn't use much cocoa):

-2 tsp. sweet paprika
-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
-1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
-3/4 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
-1 tsp. cumin
-1/4 tsp. dried oregano

It's great with the tropical fruit salsa detailed in the recipe here: http://culinspiration.wordpress.com/2...

[epabella]

"savory rub on pork tenderloin (granted, it doesn't use much cocoa)"

if the OP can get some game or venison, he/she can use cocoa more liberally. another savory application is rather crude: thick unsweetened hot cocoa over.brown rice with a side of deep fried fresh anchovies.

[junescook]

When we're in serious diet mode, for a dessert, I'll stir it into nonfat vanilla yogurt. We've got a big tin of Ghiradelli's and it packs a lot of flavor into a guilt free dessert. I think I got the idea from our Weight Watchers literature.

[danna]

that's my breakfast lots of days! stop implying that every meal I eat is actually dessert ;-)

I actually use fage 2% which is unsweetened and add cocoa and sugar...but it works out the same. Can you guys tell why I buy cocoa powder in bulk?

[butterfingers]

http://www.lepicerie.com/catalog/prod...

I buy a lot of stuff from them. They repackage bulk restaurant packaging and sell it in smaller packages than the restaurant packaging, but larger than what you can buy on a grocery store or speciality food store shelf. They also ship FAST!

[danna]

ooooohhh... thanks for the link. lots of interesting stuff.

I'm getting my cocoa here: http://www.chocosphere.com/Html/Produ...

In the original Valrhona package , it's twice as much as the one you linked to...but if you buy 6.6 pounds at a time (I share w/ my Mom and a friend) it's less than $10 a lb.

[butterfingers]

Thanks for THAT link. I have seen them advertised, but I have never actually gone there.

[TongoRad]

Homemade chocolate pudding is always nice, and if you want to take it up a notch you can always add some hazelnut extract to it.

[4Snisl]

Sometimes I like to throw a spoonful into my chili recipe, or a dish where I braise beef or lamb in red wine. Adds a slight depth of flavor...perhaps bringing a subtle bitterness to balance the existing flavors of sweet, salt and sour?

On the sweet side:

Chocolate Sherbet: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/06/chocolate_sherbet.html
or
Chocolate Sorbet: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

Or maybe chocolate meringues.....Actually, that reminds me! Danna posted this recipe on a thread last September (requesting recipes for butter-free cookies) and have been meaning to try them for some time! Starting her quote below.....
---------------------
I LOVE these. I use Valrhona cocoa powder for extra chocolately cookies. I think it is loosely a Payard recipe.

3/4 cup fine-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 large egg whites
2 cups pecans (7 oz), coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Whisk together cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, and salt in a bowl. Combine vanilla and egg whites in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, then slowly add to cocoa mixture, beating at low speed with an electric mixer. Beat batter at medium speed until glossy, about 2 minutes. Stir in nuts. Drop batter onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment. leave some space because batter will spread. Put baking sheet on middle rack of oven and reduce temperature to 325 Degrees F., then bake until small thin cracks appear in tops of cookies, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool cookies completely on baking sheet on a rack and peel from paper.

[danna]

Wow! thanks for saving me the trouble of finding that link! Those really are awsome cookies.

RLB's Cake Bible has a fantastic chocolate angel food cake recipe using cocoa powder. Actually, most all rich chocolate cakes call for cocoa powder...epi's triple choc cake, martha stewarts devils food, etc.

And yes, hot cocoa! I'm currently trying to figure out a good ratio to make my own mix from my stores of Valrhona powder. I tried 3parts powdered sugar to 1 part cocoa, but that was a little insipid. Then I tried 2 parts brown sugar, 1 part powdered, 1 part cocoa...that had a better flavor. If anyone has ideas for that I'd love to hear them. I make my cocoa w/ milk, so I don't need a recipe w/ milk powder.

[4Snisl]

You may want to try using vanilla-infused sugar in the mix. Dash of salt in the mix might help as well. And if you're so inclined, a little cinnamon and/or cayenne might be good! If you're into malted chocolate flavor, perhaps some malt powder.....

Also, the powdered milk might give a little more richness to the mix, even if you are making with milk.....when I was growing up, we'd always make the "swiss miss" packets with milk- I never knew they were supposed to be made with water until I saw a friend in elementary school make it that way!

[danna]

yeah, I already added salt, and it's a definite plus. I'm starting to worry that I'm becomming a salt fiend. Right now, as an endurance athlete, it's no biggie, but if I am ever forced to be sedentary and start having a blood pressure problem, I'm gonna be screwed...'cause I salt EVERYTHING! I've been dieting lately and I find that a drizzle of orange infused olive oil and a sprinkle of salt makes things like celery sticks actually taste good ;-)

Can you find malt powder in a regular grocery store? my husband is a big fan of the stuff, but I've never bought it. He just orders a "malt" at the ice cream parlor.

[WhatThePho]

Yup, marketed as Malted Milk Powder. You may be able to find plain Malt Powder where you live, but we only have the variety made with powdered milk and wheat flour. In our market it's in the baking goods aisle.

[julesrules]

My ratio is honestly closer to 1:1 (white sugar to cocoa). Try 2:1 and see what you think!

[jvanderh]

All three of those sound fantastic! Thank you so much for posting them.

[iluvcookies]

Hot cocoa?

[rabaja]

I know it doesn't take a ton of cocoa, but Red Velvet cupcakes are pretty fun to make, and they go over so well you may need to make them over and over.

[butterfingers]

I was going to suggest the brownie recipe in the latest CI, HA! But I also made Rose Levy Berenbaum's Hot Fudge Chocolate Snowball Sauce from her latest book (without the snowball), Rose's Heavenly Cakes. I made it for brownie sundaes for a homey dessert last weekend (with ice cream too, of course). Also, the chocolate cookies from "Cookie Craft" are the best chocolate cookies I have ever made. People go nuts over them. They are very fudgy and rich cookies. I made them last Halloween and cut out bats and cats and used a silver dragee for the eye as the only decoration and they were a great hit.