Want your chocolate desserts to taste their best? Add just a teaspoon of this ingredient.
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Want your chocolate desserts to taste their best? Add just a teaspoon of this ingredient.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.Learn more.
It might be surprising to hear, but the secret to chocolatier desserts isn’t more chocolate, it’s another ingredient altogether: espresso powder.
You may have heard that coffee or espresso can accentuate chocolate flavors before and been wary, but I’m here to tell you that even a dash of this ingredient really does amp up your desserts.
Now, I can’t say scientifically why adding a touch of espresso powder or instant coffee helps boost the flavor of chocolate, but I can say through lots of experimenting, that it does help accentuate the flavor of cocoa.
Think of coffee in this equation the same way you might think of a sprinkling of salt to your bakes. You’re not adding salt to make the recipe salty, you’re adding it to give the recipe balance and to amplify the flavors. In the same way, a bit of espresso bumps up the flavor of chocolate.
Do not worry: Adding coffee to your recipes will not make your bakes taste like a mocha from your favorite cafe. If you add this ingredient judiciously, you won’t taste the coffee at all. In fact, my mom—someone who cannot stand even the slightest whiff of coffee—enjoys my favorite chocolate chip cookies with my secret ingredient: a teaspoon of espresso powder. She even asked for the recipe!
Here’s how you can add espresso and coffee to any dessert to elevate the chocolate flavors:
You’ll notice that some recipes already call for coffee, even if they’re not coffee-flavored. Our top-rated Chocolate Comfort Cake uses coffee and totally satisfies cocoa cravings without the cafe kick.
So snag a jar of instant coffee or espresso powder and keep it in the pantry next to the cocoa powder. Be sure to reach for it next time you bake up a pan of brownies.