I love chocolate. It’s one of my favorite foods. A while back I started using cacao powder, in addition to cocoa powder.
Cacao powder and cocoa powder both are made from cocoa beans. The big difference is cacao powder is less processed than cocoa powder. Cacao powder is made by fermenting and cold pressing cocoa beans at a low temperature. Cold pressing removes the fat which is sold as cocoa butter. The cocoa beans are not roasted. This helps preserve the antioxidants and nutrients, such as magnesium, iron and potassium of the cocoa bean. Cacao powder is more bitter and costs more than cocoa powder though.
Cocoa powder is made by roasting the fermented cocoa beans before pressing them. This reduces the bitterness, but also reduces the antioxidants and nutrients. Some cocoa products are Dutch processed meaning the cocoa powder is alkalized to reduce acidity.
For taste, go with cocoa powder. For health benefits, go with cacao powder. I like to do a 50/50 split with cocoa powder and cacao powder to get less bitterness and some health benefits.
Challenge:
If you’ve never used cacao powder, give it a try. Make something simple like hot cocoa from scratch and see if you notice a difference. Make a very small batch in case you don’t like it though. Here’s a small starter recipe to try:
1/3 cup milk of choice
2 teaspoons cocoa powder or cacao powder
pinch sea salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
squirt of honey
dash cinnamon, optional
I also have started making my own dark chocolate.
Line a small square dish with parchment paper. I like to use my toaster oven tray.
Melt 1/4 cup cacao butter
Stir in 1/8 cup cacao powder + 1/8 cup cocoa powder
Add a 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Spread in the prepared dish
Sometimes I sprinkle a lit bit of a good quality salt over it almonds, and/or pumpkin seeds.
Refrigerate until firm.
These are the products I use:
Cacao butter
Cacao powder
Cocoa powder
Resources:
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/difference-between-cocoa-and-cacao/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cacao-vs-cocoa#process
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27346251/
https://www.forksoverknives.com/how-tos/cocoa-vs-cacao-vs-dutch-processed-whats-the-difference/