How To Make Chocolate From Cocoa Powder (and why you shouldn't)

Today, The Alchemist decides to follow the internet's description of how to make chocolate from cocoa powder and discusses why you don’t want to do this.

What’s your experience? Have you made cocoa powder chocolate? Tell us your stories!

Our complete web guide to Making Chocolate at home is here:

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[kizmutyaba]

Was he forced to make this at gunpoint?

[adamwatson]

Clearly you know a lot about chocolate. However, the way you come off when responding to comments is egotistical and rude. For a lot of us, the making of chocolate at home with cocoa powder isn't about fullfiling the definition of chocolate, it's about the experience and the result, which still tastes good.

So what if hand mixing is gritty? Put it in a blender or food processor (which most people have at home) to make it less gritty (or substitute the sugar with something like honey). So what if adding liquid milk makes it a ganache? To us it's the making of chocolate, regardless of your definition.

[ilbsli]

I saw this video before I made my first attempt at making chocolate at home with the regular method and I was very downed but I bought the ingredients already so I did it anyway and it turned out to be FINE! so please stop downing people 👎🏼

[louieh]

I tried a cocoa powder recipe(without milk) and replaced the powdered sugar with honey and it turned out sticky and chewy, not what I would call chocolate exactly but still pretty good

[thatlimeygit]

Definite conflict of interest here, guy is just pissed nobody's buying his chocolate making equipment.

[moonwalker.]

Actually I’ve tried a homemade chocolate with (cocoa powder, unsalted butter, cream, sweetener) and i put it the refrigerator for 15 minutes and it was so so delicious that it all finished in one day and my family really liked it, if you wanna do it at home, go for it and give it a try💕

[macheadger]

this guy is off target. first off you don't just use random Cocoa Powder you use fine grain meant for Chocolate making. The particles are half the size of say Hersey Cocoa Powder. next you never just add sugar into the melted Cocoa butter. you mix the sugar and milk powder and Cocoa Powder into simmering WATER until all crystals/particles are broken down then you reduce it down then you add the melted Cocoa butter to that. It is a type of crème anglaise used to make ice cream but tweaked for Chocolate making. If you use heavy cream instead of milk powder you can make ice cream. (and of course the Cocoa butter stays on the shelf)

[serahbrandenn]

I'm amazed that such an innocuous video has garnished so many angry comments and accusations. I bought a melanger a month ago and it is true...I've only completed two batches so far, but what I've made on a stovetop doesn't even compare to the combo of cocoa butter, cocoa nibs, milk powder and sweetener ground to a much lower micron particle size after 12-24 hours in a melanger. And I haven't even learned how to temper it yet, which, with my third batch, which should be ready in an hour, I will attempt to do.

[santrolina]

The way you were adding those ingredients into that melted cocoa butter. I was confident it wouldn't turn out well. 🤷
You had just made up your mind "I will not make this work" because that's the only way this video is gonna be different from the millions floating in the Internet.

[williamhartzelljr.]

I don't know very much about cooking but first of all you have to sift those ingredients and you add them slowly until they're thoroughly mixed you just don't dump ingredients like that and expect it to be anything other than clumpy or gritty.

[satyam]

4:20 the whole country is under lockdown and I NEED chocolate mate .

PS : I don't give a damn if it's the perfect chocolate or not. it should be ' good enough '



Edit : Okay it turned out not smooth ( ofc ) but c'mon it's better than not having any chocolate

[gecsus]

Do you even pay attention to what you are doing?
SIFT the Fine Ground Cocoa Powder, CONFECTIONER's Sugar and maybe Powdered Milk.
It comes out wonderful if you actually pay attention.
My chocolate is smooth and creamy. NO crystals, no crunchies, just smooth, silky chocolate.
What is your problem? 
You are just selling your stuff. You do not tell the whole truth.
Shame on you.
There are several great videos on tempering chocolate with methods that do work well and can be done anywhere including at home with common tools.

[sadeedaabdullatheef]

To everyone out there, this video is aimed on making the perfect chocolate that actually tastes like the store bought. The recipe shown here is great if you are fine with not getting it smooth and refined or for your instant craving. The individual in this video is trying to bust the myth that you can make a perfect chocolates out of cocoa powder. He has mentioned suggestively that you can make an okayish chocolate.
So there's no need to say that the video was useless.

[kofteci]

There are really two different issues here: (1) sugar will not dissolve in oil/butter; (2) all the dry ingredients are too coarse to generate a smooth texture when mixed with the melted cocoa butter. Even if (1) were not an issue and contrary to chemical fact, sugar did dissolve in melted cocoa butter, the coarseness of the other ingredients (at 2:07, you say "and it gets more gritty when we add ...") would still prevent one from achieving the "smooth and refined" texture by means of which you define "modern chocolate". In fact, when the cocoa nibs and the other ingredients are ground to superfine levels with the "proper/professional" equipment, (1) does not really matter. Sugar still does not dissolve in that "mélange" but it is too fine for your tongue to feel it... Correct?

So the obvious question is why do they not sell the ingredients fine enough so that when they are mixed, the resulting graininess is undetectable? Is it because even if you make (say) the sugar so it is superfine, it will clump after packaging?

[Around_The_Home]

I have a lot of extra cocoa powder on hand and wanted to use it to make some milk chocolate. So I checked several of the home made milk chocolate recipes on YouTube and followed one that used the same ingredients; cocoa butter, cocoa powder, powdered milk (I used full fat powdered goats milk) and confectioners/powdered sugar. I sifted the powdered sugar to remove the larger chunks. In this recipe, the sugar was added last.

When I removed the chocolate from the molds, the tops had even color and looked and felt smooth. When I cut open the chocolate, it was a lot smoother than shown in the video, but you could see, feel and taste the grittiness from the sugar. And the bottom of the chocolate had some blooming. The taste was so-so. The standard Hersey bar tasted much better than what the recipe made. Since my intent was to creatively use up some excess cocoa powder and not to become a chocolate maker, I guess I will be doing some internet searches on how to make hot chocolate this winter. So this video helped me not waste any more time. Thank you.

[wholderby]

I make the typical coconut oil version using organic cacao and the unrefined light brown sugar and all of that. Do everything right in a Ninja blender. It isn't Godiva but the grit and the earthy flavor of the cacao comes through. No way would I want to spring for a roasting oven or the other much more professional flavors. I learned my recipe from a cacao farm in Maui hawaii and the 50/50 mix of the raw brownish sugar with coconut sugar does work well together. Absolutely tasty though don't leave it out of the fridge for too long or the oil breaks down etc. I continue to tweak and refine my sweet little hobby. Appreciate the professional guidance here from someone who knows a ton about how to really pull off world class chocolate but if you don't mind the idea of cacao mixed with sort of a little sandy/sugar texture (I love that!) then mine works. Going to experiment with honey or maple syrup at some point to see what I can tried smashing up a load of Werther's Originals for for sort of a Heath Bar toffee thing....didn't work :) oh well not a single piece went to waste!

[nathanrogers]

A local company here in the Portland area is making a chocolate like substance using cocoa powder. Pretty sure they have to be using a melanger since it isn't lumpy and the texture is not too bad. They however are using coconut oil instead of cocoa butter. As a result, tempering is not an issue since it just flat out can't temper without the cocoa butter. Their product pretty much has to be refrigerated too since coconut oil returns to a liquid state at 75 degrees. Forget eating it with your hands either.

[crookshanksssssssss]

I tried simpler method yet it work wonders for me. I mix equal parts of coconut oil in liquid form, cocoa powder and honey to taste. I have no problem with the texture and it is silky smooth for me even that I am too lazy to shieve the powder, 15 minutes in the freezer and I am ready to dig it. However it needs to be cooled rightaway or else the honey will sink to the bottom and leave you with uneven sweetness. And this method may be unsuitable for gift as I predict that it melts easily

[wanderingbishop]

I knew when I saw this the comments would be full of people who don't know and apparently can't be taught. I've been making chocolate at home for over a year from the knowledge I've gained form this man's YouTube and website. Real chocolate, with a melanger. I bet I could make chocolate with cocoa powder, in the melanger, but why would I? If you don't want to deal with nibs, just start with 100% cocoa liquor chips from a manufacturer like Ghiradeli, add good cocoa butter and sugar, and maybe also milk powder, and you will have great real chocolate.

[Joy-ygnl]

I’ve seen some of your responses to the comments, and if I may offer mine, it’s really not the particle size on a chemical level that matters when you actually taste the smoothness of the chocolate. Your tongue isn’t some piece of lab equipment capable of detecting the difference between micro sized pieces of sugar, so sifting would in fact make a difference in taste of the chocolate between big and small particles when making chocolate with home equipment. Thank you for your video, but although some of your points are valid, others seem to be geared toward getting viewers to buy your stuff.