• Home
  • Tips
    • Tips That Help In The Kitchen
    • Meal Plan 101 And Why You Need To Do It
    • Tip Friday 6 Tips To A Perfect Cheesecake Experience
    • Do’s and Dont’s To Make The Best Crock Pot Meal Ever
  • Recipes
    • Conversion Chart
    • Meal Plan 101 And Why You Need To Do It
  • Party
    • Why Choose Linkup Parties?
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Legal
    • Comment Policy
    • Copyright
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy and Cookie Policies
    • Terms and Conditions

Marilyns Treats

June 17, 2016 · 29 Comments

Tip Friday Straining Unsweetened Cocoa

Tip Friday

Straining unsweetened cocoa is a snap when you use this tip. Never have clumpy batters again! Another baking tip on Marilyn's Treats Tip Friday. #baking #tip #cocoa

Strain Unsweetened Cocoa

Straining unsweetened cocoa is a snap when you use this tip. Never have clumpy batters again!

Why You Need to Sift Cocoa Powder

It might seem like sifting dry ingredients is an unnecessary step, but it serves two purposes.

First, it gets the lumps out of the powder. As dry ingredients sit in a box or a bag, they start to compact and cling together.

It’s most evident with ingredients like brown sugar, but you’ll also see it with flour, cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar, too. Running them through the sifter breaks up any clumps and prevents dry pockets from forming in your batter.

The second more important function is aeration.

Overmixing wet and dry ingredients is the easiest way to end up with a cake that falls flat or turns out dense.

If the dry ingredients are light and fluffy, it’ll be easier to incorporate them into the wet ingredients. This is especially important with delicate cakes, like pound cake or angel food cake.

Straining unsweetened cocoa is a snap when you use this tip. Never have clumpy batters again! Another baking tip on Marilyn's Treats Tip Friday. #baking #tip #cocoa

You may have noticed that those clumps are incredibly difficult to break up, even with a whisk, once in your bowl of other ingredients.

If you don’t get rid of them, they can bake up into dry spots in your brownies. Take the extra few seconds to sift the amount of cocoa powder called for in the recipe with a sifter or a fine mesh strainer.

You can sift it onto a piece of wax or parchment paper before adding it to the other ingredients or you can even sift it right into the bowl.

Here’s What to Do When You Don’t Have a Sifter

Sifting flour is one of those secret tricks that can take your baked goods to the next level, but you don’t need a gadget to get the job done.

There are a few different ways to learn how to sift without a sifter, and one of them happens to be fast and easy.

Straining Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Straining unsweetened cocoa is a snap when you use this tip. Never have clumpy batters again! Another baking tip on Marilyn's Treats Tip Friday. #baking #tip #cocoa

Push the cocoa powder through a strainer, after measuring it and before adding it to your recipe.

Unsweetened cocoa contains cocoa butter, which can cause it to clump. To make sure it combines evenly with the rest of the dry ingredients in your recipe, it’s best to strain it.

Whisk together the dry ingredients, then add them to the wet ones, stirring until the mixture is evenly combined.

How to Sift Without a Sifter

Straining unsweetened cocoa is a snap when you use this tip. Never have clumpy batters again! Another baking tip on Marilyn's Treats Tip Friday. #baking #tip #cocoa

The most common substitution for a flour sifter is a fine mesh strainer.

Unlike bulky flour sifters, strainers are multitaskers. You can use them to drain pasta, remove the bones from simmering stock, line them with cheesecloth to make labneh cheese from yogurt or use them to sift and mix dry ingredients for baked goods.

Simply load the dry ingredients into the bowl of the strainer, hold it with one hand and tap it against the other hand to move the ingredients through.

Straining unsweetened cocoa is a snap when you use this tip. Never have clumpy batters again! Another baking tip on Marilyn's Treats Tip Friday. #baking #tip #cocoa

An even easier and faster way to sift dry ingredients is to add them to a large bowl and mix them using a balloon whisk. Most small clumps will be broken up by the tines of the whisk, and the whisking motion also adds air to the flour, aerating as it mixes.

Tips For Using Cocoa Powder

Make Chocolate extract. Chocolate extract can be used to add flavor to cookies, cakes, puddings, dessert dishes such as chocolate mousse, frosting cake filling, drinks (milk-based), orange juice, and alcoholic beverages.

Research Wikihow, Taste of Home, The Kitchn

Most images in my Tip Friday Series use free stock photos. This article is part of the Tips That Help in the Kitchen Series, Tip Friday.

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
Peanut Butter and Cocoa Whoopie Pies
Peanut Butter and Cocoa Pebbles Whoopie Pies A sandwich cookie with the perfect combination of fluffy peanut butter and crispy, crunchy Cocoa Pebbles.
Check out this recipe
Once you make the chocolate dough balls you can roll them into any topping you like. Powder sugar will sit on top of the crinkles that appear giving them the dark and white contrast.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Make a 100 different cookies from this recipe. Get the recipe and start baking!
Check out this recipe
Custard and chocolate, together in a dessert guaranteed to taste sensational. Not just any old pudding, or whipped dessert, but homemade custard! Chocolate grated over the top the flavor just wows your taste buds.
Vanilla Custard And Chocolate
Homemade custard and chocolate. Together in a dessert guaranteed to taste sensational. The skills are basic but the reactions are priceless.
Check out this recipe

You might want to browse around my site a bit more and have a look at

  • My Recipe Index
  • Kitchen Tips
  • Meal Planning and Guide

Please read my Privacy Policy for more information on how your data is used.

Follow Marilyn’s Treats

Previous Post: « Whoppers Malted Cheesecake
Next Post: Creme Brûlée Waffles »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. blankJess Powell (Babi a Fi) says

    June 30, 2016 at 8:15 PM

    Love this tip! Thanks so much for sharing over at #FridayFrivolity 🙂

    Reply
  2. blankMary-the boondocks blog says

    June 30, 2016 at 4:57 PM

    I have a whole bunch of cocoa lovers in my house so this will really come in handy Marilyn. Thank you for the great tip. I am telling my girls as I type. Pinning.

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 30, 2016 at 8:00 PM

      You are welcome Mary. It is the little things that take the frustration out of baking.

      Reply
  3. blankNikki Frank-Hamilton says

    June 29, 2016 at 12:01 AM

    I had no idea why cocoa clumped, now I feel much better about using it! LOL But this will make it so much easier to evenly blend. I have no idea how you come up with a tip each week, I love them. I’m learning so much from you! Thanks!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 29, 2016 at 4:23 PM

      I do a lot of reading and a lot of baking. I also make many mistakes as well as being lazy! Thanks Nikki.

      Reply
  4. blankFrugal Hausfrau says

    June 28, 2016 at 8:51 PM

    Great tip!! Thanks for sharing with us at Throwback Thursday!!

    Mollie

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 28, 2016 at 10:12 PM

      You are welcome Mollie! See you soon.

      Reply
  5. blankCassie @ Southeast by Midwest says

    June 27, 2016 at 12:01 PM

    I never thought of doing something lie this! Thanks for sharing with the Tips and Tricks Link Party

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 27, 2016 at 2:50 PM

      Thank you for sharing. I love that party!

      Reply
  6. blankKathleen - Bloggers Lifestyle says

    June 25, 2016 at 11:16 PM

    Now there is an important lesson to learn to keep the ingredients well mixed and even with the cocoa;

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 26, 2016 at 7:32 PM

      I dont use cocoa often but this tip will make me rethink.

      Reply
  7. blankLisa @ Fun Money Mom says

    June 25, 2016 at 11:13 AM

    I always love your tips and this is another very helpful one! Thanks so much for sharing them with us at Share The Wealth Sunday!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 25, 2016 at 7:27 PM

      You are very welcome Lisa. My tips are my easiest posts!

      Reply
  8. blankMichelle says

    June 24, 2016 at 6:42 AM

    Never knew this Marilyn. Always learning something here. Thanks for sharing this tip at Party at My Place.

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 24, 2016 at 8:26 AM

      I don’t use cocoa often, but this tip really helps. I hate lumps.
      ,

      Reply
  9. blankAngela says

    June 23, 2016 at 10:03 AM

    This is a great tip Marilyn! Thanks for sharing at the Sunday Fitness & Food Link-Up, Pinned 🙂

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 23, 2016 at 8:35 PM

      You are welcome Angela. Thanks for hosting!

      Reply
  10. blankJess says

    June 22, 2016 at 12:48 PM

    Such a great tip! 🙂

    I would love for you to share this with my AMAZING Facebook Group with over 300 Members to share easy craft projects and recipes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 22, 2016 at 4:02 PM

      Thanks for the visit and the comment! Have a wonderful day.

      Reply
  11. blankCristina at Ava's Alphabet says

    June 21, 2016 at 3:40 PM

    What a great tip, Marilyn. I would never have thought to strain cocoa powder but it makes so much sense! Thanks for sharing on Family Joy Blog Link-Up Party. Have a great week!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 22, 2016 at 4:01 PM

      Thanks Cristina! It’s like straining flour. Have a wonderful day.

      Reply
  12. blankSandra Garth says

    June 21, 2016 at 9:49 AM

    Not the most fun task but very necessary. Thank you!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 22, 2016 at 4:00 PM

      Exactly. I always regret when I try to take shortcuts. Have a wonderful day.

      Reply
  13. blankWinnie says

    June 20, 2016 at 2:40 AM

    You are sooooooo right!
    Very important to strain the cocoa. It’s a bit messy, but important!
    I usually weightit after staining it though…..

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 22, 2016 at 3:59 PM

      Weighing it is important since the density changes. Have a wonderful day.

      Reply
  14. blankCS Calkins says

    June 18, 2016 at 11:55 PM

    DIG unsweetened cocoa! We use it alot here so it really does not have the chance to clump! Good tip to know tho”! Many thanks for linking up at Small Victories Sunday, Marilyn!!!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 19, 2016 at 10:25 AM

      Thank you CS. I am glad to hear that fresh doesn’t clump as much. As I don’t use it much I would never know!

      Reply
  15. blankSherry Legan says

    June 17, 2016 at 5:36 PM

    Great tip. I don’t used it often so sometimes it does get lumpy. Thanks for sharing. I’m signed up for your emails so I get notice of all your posts! I hope you’ll come over and visit me. I have a great DVD giveaway going on right now. Come over and check it out!

    Reply
    • blankMarilyn says

      June 17, 2016 at 7:51 PM

      I only have a recipe or two that uses it. I hate working with it! Checked out your blog. it is darling! Added you on G+!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Meet the Chef

Marilyn owner Marilyns Treats Meet The chef.

Marilyn Lesniak. Writer, Photographer and Chief Bottle Washer behind the scenes at Marilyn’s Treats. Don’t burn down the kitchen!! Let me help with my Kitchen Tips, Hacks and Recipes for all levels of Chefs. read more…

 

Find It Fast

Follow Marilyn’s Treats

Receive My Weekly Email

Please read my Privacy Policy for more information on how your data is used.

Can’t Find It?

Feature Pages

Conversion Chart Featured Image. Shows kitchen tools in Imperial and Metric.

Conversion Chart

Meal Planning is a habit that is easy to fall into. Getting your week of meals together ahead of shopping actually takes less time and removes the stress of thinking about dinner.

Meal Planning 101

This is the series named Tip Friday. It provides all types of Kitchen hacks and tips.

Tips That Help In The Kitchen

Whether you make a lot of cheesecakes, or this is your first you want to read these tips first! Bain Marie.

6 Tips to a Perfect Cheesecake Experience

Worst Crock Pot Meal Irish Soda Bread In crock pot prior to cooking.
Do's and Dont's To Make The Best Crock Pot Meal Ever

Copyright © 2021 · by Marilyns Treats