Cocoa Powder

The powdery substance that remains after most of the cocoa butter is removed from the chocolate liquor. The unsweetened powder is made by pulverizing and sifting the solid portion (press cake) left behind, and used to prepare chocolate drinks or to sprinkle truffles and chocolate tarts.

The two main types of cocoa powder are:

• Dutch cocoa powder (also known as Dutched, alkalinized, or Dutch processed cocoa powder)
• Natural cocoa powder (also known as natural process cocoa and non-alkalinized cocoa)

Cocoa powder is also classified by fat content:

• Lowfat cocoa contains less than 10% cocoa butter
• Medium fat cocoa from 10% to 22% cocoa butter
• Breakfast cocoa 22% cocoa butter (or more)

However, the percentage of cocoa butter alone should not be used to pre-judge the quality of a brand of cocoa, as most of the flavour is due to the quality of the cocoa beans from which it was made. In general though, higher percentages of cocoa yield a richer and smoother cup of hot cocoa.