Sunday, 1 December 2013

Will the real cocoa please stand up

Cocoa. Cacao. Did I make a spelling mistake? No, they are two different things. Basically, cocoa powder is made from roasted cacao beans. Cacao powder is the raw version and has become a popular term for the hipsters and their raw food diets. Both are derived from the same plant, Cacao and both lead down a deliciously, chocolatey road.
Now I'm not a hipster, so I'll stick with my cocoa powder. But something happened last week that blew my Everyday Baker mind just a little bit. Rather than my usual cocoa powder, I opted for the premium variety - the one without "flavours" in its ingredient list (I was slightly disgusted to read that) and simply "cocoa". I cooked with said premium cocoa, okay it was the Nestle Plaistowe variety, and I shall NEVER go back to that mundane "flavour" cocoa again. Holy moly, now that's flavour!
Don't take my word for it, just try it - you can see in the colour of the cocoa that it's richer and it's tastes that way too. I made my Mum's retro Swiss Biscuit Slice and it's never tasted so good! (sorry Mum).


Swiss Biscuit 

Ingredients
125g butter, melted
1 cup plain flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut
2 tablespoons premium cocoa

Icing
1 cup icing sugar (I've been using the low GI cane sugar variety)
2 tablespoons premium cocoa
30g softened butter
splash of hot water
extra coconut for sprinkling

Method
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a slice pan with baking paper.
Place flour, sugar, coconut and cocoa in a bowl and whisk to mix. Switch to a spoon and add the melted butter. Press into pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Allow slice to cool. To make the icing, mix all ingredients together until smooth and spread over slice. Sprinkle with coconut.


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