Last night, I had friends over for dinner and the chocolate extract was my savior. I served pizza and French wine, which were both satisfyingly good. After our dinner, everyone started to ask for dessert. I didn’t plan on baking or even buying anything that is sweet that night. So what I did was baked impromptu cupcakes from what I can find in the kitchen.
My Magic Ingredient
My friends wanted chocolate cupcakes, but sadly, I ran out of chocolate bars. What’s left is a half pack of chocolate powder. Good thing I had white chocolate extract sitting in my cupboard that night. So I did what my friends wanted and made chocolate cupcakes even though I have no chocolate. I baked my mom’s delicious vanilla cupcake recipe, but instead I omit the vanilla essence and replaced it with chocolate essence. I also added the chocolate powder and a little bit of brown food coloring to make them look authentic chocolate cupcakes. My friends did not suspect, not until I told them. That amazing flavoring saved me.
What And How
What is a chocolate essence/extract and how do they make it? A chocolate essence is a flavoring in which you can use to add in pastries to make them taste like chocolate. It is basically a flavor enhancer. A Chocolate extract substitute real chocolate flavor. In some cases, if you want to add more chocolate flavor to a recipe but do not want to interrupt the measurements of the ingredients, you can simply add more chocolate essence until you achieve that desirable taste. You can also add a tablespoon of chocolate essence on your morning coffee or a condiment for ice cream.
How do they make it? Chocolate extract recipe is hard to find on the web, but I asked some experts at a local flavor extract store on how they did it. They told me that they infuse roasted cocoa beans or nibs to an alcohol solution to get that delicious and aromatic chocolate flavor. They let this concoction soak for several hours or even days. They also said that some flavor extractors use heat to speed up the process of extracting but that effect may produce a less potent flavor.
Safety First
Adding chocolate essence on your food is safe. You will be getting a little of that alcohol solution in there which is not harmful for us. Other than that, it’s completely natural. It also does not contain carbohydrates, fat, and sodium, like in a block of chocolate. Incredibly, choco extracts contain polyphenols. Polyphenols are organic compounds found in plants that have a good source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory minerals. It is also safe to use this extract on gluten free recipes.
Where To Buy Chocolate Extracts
Chocolate essence/extracts are found in baking supply stores. We can also get them in supermarkets and groceries. It can be found at Amazon too. Most extracts come in bottles. Always remember to be careful when buying chocolate essence. There are a lot of artificial ones that do not taste good. It would only mess up your food. The cheaper the price tag goes the lesser the quality.
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