Top 10 Best Cocoa Powder Reviews
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Top Pick Cocoa Powder
Cocoa Powder – Add Chocolate Flavor to Your Favorite Desserts
Cocoa powder is an unsweetened chocolate product. It has the competence to add deep chocolate flavor to beverages and desserts. To make this powder, cocoa butter from the cocoa beans is removed when it is processed. The remaining dried solid is ground into a powder for the creation of this powder.
What is Cocoa Powder?
Cocoa powder is nothing but a powdered form of dry solids. Sometimes, this powder has a small amount of fat content from cocoa butter, while in some instances, the fat is removed completely.
When you intend to buy cocoa powder, you should check whether it is cocoa or cacao powder. Yes, these two are spelled in the same way even though they have different spelling. Also, there are certain differences between the two. For instance, to make cocoa powder, the beans of the cocoa plant are processed at a much higher temperature, while for making cacao powder, the beans are processed at a very low temperature. It will have a more raw taste as it passes through low temperatures.
What Does Cocoa Powder Taste Like?
Cocoa powder will have a bitter taste if you choose the unsweetened variant. But, you can also find sweetened powder, which will have a sweet taste. The unsweetened variant will have a deep chocolate, bitter and deep chocolate taste. The intense taste it produces makes it suited well for chocolate cakes, cookies and brownies making. This powder is the best option when you want to make desserts with an intense flavor but with lesser fat content. Also, it will have lesser sugar content as compared to regular chocolate powder. Now, are you thinking about making this powder at home? Here are some reasons to consider buying it:
- It is hard to make cocoa powder at home as you will have to get cocoa beans.
- You will have to remove cocoa butter even if you manage to get cocoa beans. This is not an easy process.
So, you are relieved of the hard process of making this powder at home. Thanks to manufacturers and farmers, who grow the cocoa plant and sell the beans to manufacturers. From thereon, the manufacturers follow a set of practices to produce this powder.
Is Cocoa Powder Healthy?
You might be thinking that eating chocolate causes gum diseases and cavities. But, when you take the case of cocoa powder, it contains many compounds that have immune-stimulating, anti-enzymatic and antibacterial properties. All these properties can contribute to beneficial oral health effects. What more can you get from cocoa powder? Here are a few to note:
Skin Health: Many people think that chocolates cause acne. But, cocoa powder is known for its beneficial cocoa polyphenols that are known for their considerable health benefits to the skin. Further, long-term usage of this powder will help with improving skin blood circulation, providing sun protection, skin hydration and improving the surface texture of the skin.
May Help People with Asthma: Chocolate powder is known for its theophylline and theobromine contents. They might be helpful for individuals with asthma. The reason is that these contents are known for their anti-asthmatic properties. Of these, the latter is similar to caffeine and it can aid with persistent coughing relief. The former is known for its ability to dilate lungs to relax inflammation.
How to Make Cocoa Powder Taste Good?
Generally, cocoa powder will have a bitter taste as mentioned earlier. However, if you wish to reduce this bitterness and expect better taste, you can consider the ideas given below:
- For lesser bitterness, you can consider buying Dutch-process cocoa powder if you are yet to buy it. In general, when you prepare any sweet dishes, adding a pinch of salt will enhance the overall taste. You can try this technique as well to reduce the bitterness from cocoa and to enhance the chocolaty flavor.
- If the burnt flavor from the cocoa powder bothers you, the idea that will suit you is to add cinnamon to any dish you prepare with this powder. A pinch of cinnamon powder can help with sweetening the burnt flavor from cocoa.
- You can also consider adding some Expresso Crystals to enhance the chocolate flavor and to reduce the bitterness.
- Also, organic cocoa powder will have lesser bitterness as compared to the inorganic product. So, you can consider choosing this option.
- Further, when you buy a not-so-good quality cocoa powder, it might bring bitterness to your desserts. So, the best thing you can do is to choose the best quality cocoa powder instead.
- Also, if you experience more bitterness from the cocoa powder, you can consider adding it a little bit to your dishes. Instead, you can add sugar to your dish to enhance the sweetness with a mild chocolate flavor from the cocoa.
It is not that you should use this powder only in your sweet dishes. Rather, you can use it in other savory dishes as well. When you do this, you will get a bit of chocolate flavor in your savories. Of course, this tip will help only when you like the aroma of chocolate and coffee. Otherwise, it might not help you. Here are some other ways, you can use this powder for better taste:
- You can use it in your smoothies
- Consider sprinkling this powder in a bowl of fresh fruits
- You can consider making fresh brownies
- Trying homemade granola bars can help
In other words, you can try some innovative ideas to enhance the taste of any dish with this powder. Again, make sure to check the quality of the product before you buy. It will ensure better taste from the powder.
What to Consider when Buying Cocoa Powder?
When you buy cocoa powder, considering the following points will help you end up with the right shopping of this powder that you can add to different dishes:
Go Organic: Organic cocoa powder is not just for your family but also for the environment as well in many ways. Further, organic powder tastes better as compared to its inorganic counterparts. So, you can consider buying organic powder.
Choose Unsweetened Variant: When you intend to buy the best quality cocoa powder, the best thing you can do is to choose an unsweetened variant. Purity is one of the important reasons to consider buying unsweetened variants. The other reason is that when you choose an unsweetened variant, you can adjust the sweetness level in your desserts as per your requirement and based on your family’s taste needs.
Go for a pack with less fat content: You might think that the high-fat content in cocoa powder does not make a good choice. But, when you plan to use the powder for making desserts for your kids, you can consider an option with high-fat content. However, high-fat content is something that correlates with less moisture-absorbing starch. So, your baked food will likely to taste dry and fudgy. So, the one with less fat content will be a good choice.
Lower Acidity Level: When the cocoa powder has a lesser acidity level, the chances of its reacting with baking soda will be less. So, you can get baked food with more moisture content. On the other hand, if you want the baked food to be crumbly and tall, you should go for a cocoa powder pack with higher acidity content.
Go For Dutched Cocoa Powder: Do you look for lesser bitterness from the cocoa powder? Then, you can consider buying cocoa powder that has undergone the Dutch process. It means that cocoa solids would have been processed using an alkalizing agent. This process reduces the acidity levels of cocoa, thereby reducing the bitterness. When you compare natural cocoa extracted with the broma process with Dutched powder, you will find that the latter has lesser bitterness.
At least 10% of cocoa butter: According to FDA Recommendation, the best cocoa powder should have at least 10% of cocoa butter. When the butter content is lesser than this level, the cocoa powder will zap moisture. So, look for this feature if you want the cake and confectionery to be crispy.
How Much Does Top-Rated Cocoa Powder Cost?
If you go for high-end cocoa powder, you should be ready to pay more than $50. On the other hand, if you intend to buy affordable cocoa powder, you can find cheap cocoa powder options at less than 10$. The average cost will be somewhere around $30. Otherwise, it will vary based on the size of the cocoa powder pack you wish to buy.
Final Verdict
Cocoa powder is undoubtedly a heart-healthy food. Make sure to include more of it in your diet as much as possible to make sure that your family can get the best health benefits. As mentioned earlier, quality should be a crucial consideration. Apart from this factor, consider all those factors discussed above to buy the right cocoa powder. You can turn innovative in using this powder in as many dishes as possible once you identify the right cocoa powder pack.
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