As a kid did you ever taste the cocoa in the tin, thinking it would taste like chocolate? Were you surprised on how bitter it tasted? The most basic chocolate is made with sugar, milk, and cocoa.
Dutching is a special process used by ice cream or chocolate manufacturers to remove the bitter, acidic taste found in natural cocoa. During dutching, the cocoa bean or cocoa powder is treated with alkaline salts to give the chocolate a darker color and a smoother, milder flavor. This allows us to use more cocoa for a rich intense chocolate flavor, without it tasting bitter or harsh. The process was invented in Holland by chemist Coenraad Van Houten. He, of course, was of Dutch descent which explains the name of the process he created.
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If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
I’ll bet Mr. Van Houten, while undoubtedly decent, was of Dutch descent.
Yes, that too! Good catch Nancy…thanks for the head’s up. We’ll make that edit.
Hmm, “dutching” does have a better ring to it than “VanHoutening” it… still, it’s too bad the guy doesn’t get to be a household name like Pasteur!
Thanks for the interesting bit of ice cream trivia!
No problem Rosemary. We may be a little biased, but we agree with your preference for ice cream cakes. There are plenty of ice cream-related recipes on the recipes page of our website: http://www.turkeyhill.com/recipes/ice-cream-recipes.asp
If you don’t find what you’re looking for there, one of our favorite recipe sites is http://www.allrecipes.com.
Once there, just search for “ice cream cake”. If you make one, consider using our Party Cake flavor!