Dutch-Process Cocoa: Nibs Treated with Potash, Ground and Pressed

Van Houten's cocoa: around 1828 the Dutch pressed most of the fat out of cocoa, leaving a cake that grinds to powder, and treated the nibs with alkali, which makes the cocoa darker and less bitter. Soak shelled nibs in a potash solution, dry and roast them, grind them warm to a liquor and press out the cocoa butter; grind the cake to powder. The picture: a cocoa press cake.