Maurizio Di Iorio
Cocoa Processed with Alkali
Cocoa powder has a bite, a not-so-appetizing orangey tint, and is pretty much impossible to dissolve. But a quick soak in alkali salts fixes all that. (A Dutch chemist developed the process in 1828, so it’s still called dutching.) Nobody quite knows how the alkali bath boosts solubility, but it’s possible the basic molecules react with fatty acids in the cocoa, creating soaplike structures that help spread the starchy powder once it’s in solution.
Sweeteners
Alone, cocoa is bitter, but too much sugar would add calories and bulk (increasing weight, packaging, and cost). Food scientists use a bit of the artificial sweetener sucralose instead. It’s derived from sucrose, but it’s not absorbed by the body and is up to 1,000 times sweeter.
Marshmallows
Originally a mix of sugar and the sap of the marshmallow plant, most marshmallows now combine gelatin and cornstarch to re-create the gooshy texture. This version uses sodium hexametaphosphate as a whipping agent to create even more fluff.
Vegetable Oil and Dairy Product Solids
The dry mix is meant to be combined with hot water. These ingredients provide some of the fattiness and mouthfeel you’d get from making hot chocolate with actual milk. (Extra viscosity from cellulose and guar gums helps too). Of course, oil and water are like oil and water, so the mixture of coconut, palm kernel, and soybean oils gets sprayed on more- soluble corn syrup solids to help the oils mingle better.
Emulsifiers
Monoglycerides and diglycerides also bridge the gap between oil and water; their hydrophilic glycerol heads latch on to H2O, while their fatty acid tails grab the oil.
Sodium Aluminosilicate
You probably have some of this stuff in your pocket: Gorilla Glass, which ends up on many smartphones, starts with sodium aluminosilicate. There, it helps improve the strength of your screen; here, it traps moisture in its molecular pores, ensuring the only lumps in the mix are the marshmallows.
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