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The Wonders of Cocoa Powder

by Miranda Kohout

A trip to the supermarket for cocoa powder will usually yield just two options: natural or Dutched. Quality may vary from brand to brand, but overall, options are limited. Professional bakers, chefs and chocolatiers, however, are being introduced to an ever-growing range of cocoa powders suited for different applications and desired outcomes. Wh

ile it is possible to produce excellent pastry with just the two standard options, exploring the differences among cocoa powders and why those differences exist can help a chef increase production, adjust outcomes and save money.

I. How Is Cocoa Powder Made?

Cocoa powder, like chocolate and cocoa butter, is a product of the cocoa bean. To create cocoa powder, you first crush the shelled and cleaned cocoa beans into nibs. At this stage, the nibs can be alkalized, which has a notable effect on the final product (more on this later). Whether the nibs are alkalized or not, you can then roast them to help develop their flavor. In the case of “raw” cocoa products, you can omit this step.

You then grind the nibs using special equipment and further refine them depending on the manufacturer’s specifications. The grinding process produces cocoa liquor. Then press the cocoa liquor to obtain two separate products: cacao butter and cakes of cacao solids. It is these cakes that you grind to create cocoa powder.

II. Types of Cocoa Powder

Putting the finer details aside for now, as we’ve seen in the grocery aisle, there are two main categories of cocoa powder: natural and alkalized (also called “Dutched”).

A. Alkalized Cocoa Powder

To create alkalized cocoa powder, the manufacturer will treat the cocoa nibs with an alkalizing agent such as potassium carbonate early in the process. This treatment raises the pH of the final cocoa powder, resulting in some notable differences. The most obvious difference is in color. Alkalized cocoa powder is darker than its natural counterpart and often has a reddish hue that is not readily visible in natural cocoa powder.

When a cocoa powder is dissolved in liquid or mixed with other ingredients, its color can change significantly, becoming darker or lighter than the pure powder.

Because alkalized cocoa powders are lower in acidity, they have a milder flavor and a smoother taste. They also tend to be less bitter than natural cocoa powders. However, their cocoa flavor is not as pronounced.

Best uses for Alkalized Cocoa Powder

Alkalized cocoa is common in baked items and dessert components in which its milder flavor is a better foil for ingredients that might otherwise be overwhelmed. Alkalized cocoa’s intense color can help communicate rich flavor or offer striking color contrast in plated desserts. In baked goods such as brownies, alkalized cocoa powder can lend a deep and intense color, with dark chocolate or even cocoa paste contributing most of the chocolate flavor.

B. Natural Cocoa Powder

Natural cocoa powders have not undergone an alkalization process. In our current era of heavy marketing, many will assume that natural cocoa powder is better and of higher quality than Dutched cocoa because of the word “natural,” but whether a cocoa has been alkalized or not has no bearing on its quality.

Natural cocoa powders are much paler in color than alkalized cocoa, and while their lackluster hue makes them look as though they would offer less cocoa flavor, this is not the case. Natural cocoa powders tend to have a richer and more intense chocolate flavor because they retain their natural acidity, which contributes fruity and citrusy notes and overall chocolate taste.

Best uses for Natural Cocoa Powder

Natural cocoa powder is a good choice for pastry components that are not subjected to prolonged high heat, such as mousses or even ice creams. In items like these, the cocoa’s intense flavor can truly shine. These items are also a good choice for any application in which the chef is looking for a pronounced cocoa flavor with or without the addition of chocolate.

C. Black Cocoa Powder

Black cocoa powder has been very heavily alkalized, resulting in a deep, dark color and a muted chocolate flavor with strong bitter notes. The color of baked goods made with black cocoa is undeniably dramatic. For chefs seeking trendy color as well as good chocolate flavor, combining regular alkalized and black cocoas can bring the best of both to a recipe. Thinking of black cocoa as an ingredient with its own unique flavor can open a world of possible flavor pairings that go beyond those typically associated with chocolate.

For chefs striving to keep their ingredient storage uncluttered, adding a small amount of baking soda to a recipe that calls for alkalized cocoa can deepen the cocoa’s color without purchasing a special product.

III. Fat Content

The only type of fat found in cocoa powder comes from the cocoa bean: cocoa butter, the same fat found in chocolate.

When the cocoa cakes are pressed during the cocoa powder-making process, a manufacturer can choose to press as much fat as possible from the cake, resulting in a cocoa powder with little to no fat, or apply less pressure and allow a higher percentage of cocoa butter to remain in the cocoa powder. The fat content of cocoa powder can range from 0 to 24%.

High-fat cocoa powders tend to be very dark, similar to an alkalized cocoa powder, when dry. However, their color lightens significantly when blended with water or used in a dessert. As the fat particles in cocoa powder dissolve, the remaining cocoa solids will lend color to the finished product. High-fat cocoa powders have a lower percentage of cocoa solids and, therefore, a less intense color once the fat has dissolved.

IV. Ingredient Reactions

A. Water Absorption

Cocoa powder can absorb up to 100% of its weight in water, so gradually increasing the amount of cocoa powder in a recipe will eventually result in a dry, crumbly product. Alkalized cocoa powders can absorb more water than natural cocoa powders, so achieving the right texture in a baked good may require not only increasing or reducing the amount of cocoa powder but switching the level of alkalinity as well.

A low-fat cocoa powder naturally contains more starch. Starch is hygroscopic and will pull water from elsewhere in a recipe, resulting in a dry, crisp product. This can be great for creating light and airy macarons, but bakers seeking to perfect their fudgy brownie would be better served by a high-fat cocoa powder.

A cocoa powder with a higher pH (i.e., alkaline) will be easier to blend into liquids. This can have a clear effect on a hot cocoa mix and a more subtle effect on something like a chocolate mousse or pastry cream. While it is well-known that fat and water don’t mix, we may not think very often about the fat content of our cocoa powder, and it bears mentioning that a high-fat cocoa powder will not blend readily into liquids.

In any case, cocoa powder is easiest to dissolve in very hot liquids.

B. Combining with Leaveners

Baking soda does its work as a raising agent via chemical reactions with other ingredients. It has a pH of 9, making it an alkaline substance. Acidic ingredients in a batter containing baking soda kick off a chemical reaction that creates light and fluffy baked goods. Natural cocoa powder clocks in at a pH between 5 and 6, putting it solidly in the “acid” column and making it a good choice for batter containing baking soda.

If a cocoa powder-based recipe isn’t producing the expected outcome, a chef may need to evaluate the overall acidity of a batter, considering ingredients such as sour cream, brown sugar, or molasses, and adjust the amount of baking soda, amount of cocoa powder, or type of cocoa powder.  Substituting one cocoa powder for another in a baking soda recipe can produce drastic and unwanted results or may have little to no effect, depending on the amount of other acidic ingredients. Alkaline cocoa powders will not react with baking soda, and another acid, such as buttermilk, will be required for baking soda to create its leavening effect.

Because baking powder is a self-contained combination of acids and bases, the type of cocoa powder used will not affect its performance in recipes.

C. Color

Our modern red velvet cakes require copious amounts of food coloring to achieve the color expected by our guests and customers, but this wasn’t originally the case. The great-grandmother of today’s red velvet cake got its color as a result of the chemical reaction between alkaline baking soda and acidic natural cocoa powder. The hue was very subtle – especially compared to today’s unearthly red cakes – but notable enough that the cake has become a legend. A cocoa powder’s pH can affect a product’s final color, with the potential for chemical reactions adding another layer of complexity.

D. Dough Elasticity

The more alkaline a dough is overall, the less flexible it is. A less flexible dough will not expand readily and cannot hold air. A highly alkalized cocoa powder can produce baked goods that are dense and brittle. And don’t neglect the amount of fat contributed by cocoa powder. Fat prevents the formation of long gluten strands, creating “short” doughs. This may be desirable when making a shortbread but might be a source of trouble in a yeast dough.

E. Eggs

Egg proteins require an acidic environment to set well. A flourless cake made with an acidic, natural cocoa powder might set beautifully, while the same recipe made with alkaline cocoa might result in something more like a pudding. This is another instance in which substituting one type of cocoa powder for another can produce undesirable results.

Fat is a known enemy in any recipe calling for whipped egg whites, particularly macarons or meringues. At worst, fat can prevent egg whites from whipping at all and will, in best-case scenarios, negatively affect the final volume of a product. So, while a chef may be tempted to reach for a rich and luxurious high-fat cocoa powder when making meringues, for ultimate volume and yield, a low-fat cocoa powder will produce the best results.

F. Adding Cocoa Powder

While a chef or baker might think of cocoa powder as primarily contributing flavor, its capacity to absorb water places it firmly in the “solids” category, and it should be treated as such.

A good starting point for adding cocoa powder to a recipe that does not originally call for it is to replace 10% of the recipe’s flour with an equal amount of cocoa powder. Adding cocoa powder without removing some flour can cause baked goods to be overly dry. Whether you use natural or Dutched cocoa powder will depend on the recipe’s other ingredients and the type of cocoa flavor you’re looking for.

V. Determining Cocoa Powder Quality

The highest-quality and most flavorful cocoa beans are almost always reserved for making couverture. Those used for cocoa powder tend to be of lower quality, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t significant differences in high and low-quality cocoa powders.

A. Fineness

The finer a cocoa powder is ground; the more flavor is released. Finer cocoa powders have less sediment, a smoother texture and generally offer a more appealing and consistent color.

B. Fat Content

While in some cases a low-fat cocoa powder is desirable, cocoa butter is expensive and it is the easiest way for a manufacturer to cut costs. So, a high fat content can be a fairly reliable indicator that a cocoa powder is of good quality.

To determine the fat content of a cocoa powder, look at the nutrition information. Divide the amount of fat in a serving of cocoa powder by the size of the serving. For example, a store-brand cocoa might contain .5 grams of fat in a 5-gram serving, meaning it contains 10% fat. Premium cocoa powders, in contrast, tend to range from 22-25% fat and double the price!

Given that manufacturers now offer high-quality cocoa powders with varying fat contents depending on their recommended application, it can be equally important to consider factors such as cocoa origin and manufacturing processes.

VI. Cocoa or Cacao?

When the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they translated the indigenous word for chocolate to “cacao.” A spelling error when the word was translated by the English resulted in the word “cocoa.” So, while “cacao” is technically correct, “cocoa” is the spelling that’s been used in English since the word’s introduction.

In food marketing terms, “cacao” often refers to chocolate products that are minimally processed or, specifically, have not been subject to prolonged high temperatures.

(This article appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)

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