It’s entirely possible that even you, a die-hard chocoholic, may not yet know about San Francisco’s Kokak Chocolates. Founder and head chocolatier Carol Gancia opened her shop, which specializes in small batch, single origin chocolate, in the middle of the pandemic last summer, when everyone was staying close to home. But this female LGBTQ-owned chocolate company in the Castro district is definitely worth checking out.
Gancia, an Irish-Filipino immigrant, was raised in Manila in a family that loved chocolate. When she moved to San Francisco in 2004, chocolate was her passion, but not her career. She was a television show producer for KQED’s “Check Please! Bay Area” and “Jacques Pépin: More Fast Food My Way.”
But as Gancia got more involved in the chocolatier world, she became enamored with a single origin chocolate called Naciónal, a rare cacao variety sourced from the Manabí province of Ecuador and protected by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund. Its genetic lineage goes back to the earliest-known cacao trees cultivated some 5,300 years ago.
Gancia uses this distinctive fair trade variety in all her products, including her sensational brownies. But if you can’t get your hands on Naciónal, don’t let that stop you from making these dense, rich brownies. Use the very best quality chocolate you can afford, Gancia says. (Guittard is always a good choice.) And don’t be afraid to use a darker chocolate instead of bittersweet. The trick to these brownies dense texture? Bake them in small cupcake molds.
Tip: You can bake these one or two days ahead.
Noir Brownie Cupcakes With Your Favorite Nuts
Makes 12
INGREDIENTS
1¼ cups butter (2½ sticks)
1⁄2 cup all purpose flour
1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄3 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 3⁄4 tablespoons brown sugar
3⁄4 teaspoon vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)
3⁄4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
1⁄2 cup nuts of your choice, toasted and chopped
Whole, raw nut pieces to garnish
DIRECTIONS
Clear enough room in the freezer to hold a 12-count cupcake mold.
Place butter in a bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds or in a saucepan on the stove and cook on low until semi-melted. Stir until smooth. The butter should be creamy and opaque.
In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and salt together. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine eggs, sugars and vanilla, beating to blend. Add flour mixture and butter, alternating between the two and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition.
Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined. With a large spoon or rubber spatula, stir in the chopped chocolate and chopped toasted nuts, mixing only until just combined.
Cover with plastic wrap. Allow the batter to rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours in a cool area. (Do not store it in the fridge.)
Preheat convection oven to 325 degrees.
Divide batter across 12 cavities of your cupcake mold. Garnish with one or two whole nuts on top. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes.
Immediately transfer the pan to the freezer to stop the baking process. Let your brownies cool for 15 minutes in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and unmold. Finish cooling at room temperature.
— Courtesy Carol Gancia, Kokak Chocolates
