Just a general Knowledge Question….suppose a recipe has cocoa powder and milk in its ingredients list, is it advisable to warm the milk and add the hot milk to cocoa powder (I am thinking since cocoa mixed with boiling water brings out its full flavor can you do the same with milk as well and have no adverse effect on the batter and the overall structure of the cake?)

Thanks.

I can’t think of any reason why not.  Boiling milk does seem to alter the structure of the proteins, but I don’t think this is so important for a cake.

Milk does have a muting effect on chocolate, though, so you might want to take that into account when choosing recipes- maybe it’s good if you find chocolate cakes too intense and want something milder, or bad if you’re looking for stronger flavor.

Thanks Julie, that was big help.

Sharon Vinod - 04 September 2010 04:57 AM

can you do the same with milk

I recall Cook’s Illustrated saying that “blooming” didn’t work with milk, only water.

I ditto Julie on that.  Rose mentions that chocolate cakes usually use hot water with cocoa powder, because, oddly enough, milk brings out the bitterness in the chocolate.  She said the taste difference side-by-side is quite notable.

CharlesT - 04 September 2010 07:52 PM

I recall Cook’s Illustrated saying that “blooming” didn’t work with milk, only water.

Good to know, I wonder what happens?

Probably, the cake may have a slightly bitter aftertaste if I were to use milk? Just will have to experiment, I guess.

Julie - 05 September 2010 08:20 AM

Good to know, I wonder what happens?

They didn’t explain. The comment is in their “Chocolate Layer Cake” recipe, if you have their big book.  But I’ve found that CI sometimes makes contradictory claims from one article to another.  For instance, in their chocolate cupcake recipe, they say “cocoa…it was better to mix it with the butter and chocolate as they melted, a technique that made the chocolate flavor stronger and richer.”  Did they make an actual comparison, or simply assume that this occurred?  I don’t know.

Made it with the cocoa powder and boiling milk mixed and covered with plastic wrap…cake tastes good, will get to know exact verdict tomorrow when it will be served for Potluck at church, smile!

Thanks for reporting back!

Phew, the cake was well received, made two of them, and was swiped clean. There was absolutely no aftertaste, no perceivable bitterness in mixing the hot milk with the cocoa.

Will take care not to do the same with chocolate though as advised.

Thanks for all the inputs, love this forum, smile

Hooray, Sharon!!! Nothing quite so gratifying as a completely scarfed cake….and two??  Ahhhhhhh!!

Congratulation!  And thanks for the experimentation!