AUTHOR and chef Gene Gonzalez celebrated World Chocolate Cake Day on the last week of January by baking the Catalina Chocolate Cake, made with Catalina Cocoa Powder. Meanwhile, on the first week of February, YouTube chef Sheilla Lopez made Cocoa-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs with Cocoa Barbecue Sauce.

Catalina Cocoa Powder is a series of Dutch-Processed cocoa powders that comes in four varieties: Black & Bold, Creamy & Rich, Premium & Pure, and Natural Dark.

For her ribs, Ms. Lopez used Premium and Pure and Black & Bold. She describes Black & Bold as having a strong flavor and slightly bitter aftertaste — ideal for savory dishes. Premium & Pure, meanwhile, also has a strong flavor and a reddish-brown color. Mr. Gonzalez used the same blend in his cake.

Ms. Lopez rubbed the ribs with cocoa powder, along with brown sugar, salt, garlic, Cajun spice, oregano, and butter. She let the ribs bake in an oven at 240°C for 30 minutes. The sauce, meanwhile, was made with garlic, tomato ketchup, the two Catalina powders, coffee powder, sugar, white vinegar, Cajun seasoning, and some water. “It’s always nice to try and create something new,” she said during a livestream.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gonzalez made cake batter out of the cocoa powders, flour, eggs, butter, vanilla, baking powder, and baking soda. The cake was baked at 176.7°C (350°F) for 50 minutes. While the cake was baking, he made butter caramel filling, which he laced with some coffee, and thickened and enriched with cornstarch and egg yolks.

For the icing, he first made a chocolate fudge sauce made with butter, fresh milk, condensed milk, sugar, and both cocoa powders. Once cooled, he whipped this with some vanilla extract.

After the cake was done, he spread caramel sauce and chocolate icing over his creation and garnished it with some broken-up chocolate bars. With a smile, he said, “Life is chocolate.”

Catalina Cocoa Powders are available through EZbake.com, the online platform of Innovatrade Ingredients Corp. The complete recipes for the dishes and the dessert can be found on the Facebook page of EZbake (facebook.com/ezbakehomebaking/). — Joseph L. Garcia

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