Cocoa Powder
$11.99 - $19.99
Cocoa powder is a standard pantry staple, and yet it’s almost impossible to find anything other than a very generic, big-brand cocoa powder in the supermarket. It’s time for something more interesting. The word “cocoa” is an Anglicization of the Mayan word “cacao.” Some people make the distinction that it should be called cacao until sugar is added, but most people use the terms interchangeably. We sell three different types: Natural, Dutch-processed, and Black Onyx.
Cocoa powder is simply cocoa beans that have been pressed to remove the majority of the cocoa butter and then milled to a fine powder. Natural cocoa powder has been cold-pressed and is lovely in baking. It has the strong, slightly bitter flavour of pure, un-processed cocoa. Dutch-processed cocoa is the most common type; it has been treated with an alkali that darkens the cocoa and mellows the flavour, creating a lovely, rich cocoa that’s excellent for every use, including hot chocolate.
Black Onyx cocoa has been “Dutched” to the maximum possible extent, for a super-rich-tasting result. It’s incredible in brownies and cakes but should be mixed 50/50 with another cocoa powder, as it is too intense on its own and contains less cocoa butter than other powders.