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A Beginner’s Guide to Cacao Powder
Raw cacao powder is a must-have ingredient for any cupboard. Whether you want to boost the nutritional value of your meals or add a touch of indulgent chocolate flavour, it’s incredibly versatile and easy to use.
From enhancing your morning smoothie to creating homemade treats, cacao opens up endless possibilities. And with its natural health benefits, it provides more than just a chocolate hit.
In this article, we cover all the cacao powder basics, so you can make informed choices about enjoying this natural superfood.
What is Cacao Powder?
Cacao powder is made from raw cacao beans (the seeds of the cacao tree) which are processed at low temperatures to preserve their nutrients.
Unlike cocoa powder, which is roasted, cacao powder retains more of the natural antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It has a rich, slightly bitter chocolate flavour, making it a popular choice for both sweet and savoury recipes.
Packed with nutrients and free from artificial additives, cacao is celebrated as a superfood for its potential health benefits and incredible versatility.
How is Cacao Powder Made?
Cacao powder is made through a careful process that focuses on preserving the natural nutrients of the cacao beans.
First, the raw cacao beans are harvested from the pods of the cacao tree and then fermented to develop their flavour. After fermentation, the beans are dried and gently processed at low temperatures to ensure they retain their nutritional content. Once dried, the beans are cracked and separated into nibs, which are then cold-pressed to remove the cacao butter. What remains is a nutrient-rich powder that is finely ground into the cacao powder we use.
This low-heat process helps preserve the natural antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that make cacao powder a sought-after superfood.
Why is Cacao Powder Good For You?
Cacao is packed with nutrients that can contribute to overall health and well-being.
It’s an excellent source of antioxidants, which help fight free radicals in the body and support cellular health. Rich in magnesium, cacao powder plays a vital role in muscle function, energy production, and maintaining a healthy heart. Additionally, it contains iron, which is essential for oxygen transport in the blood, and potassium, which supports heart health and helps regulate blood pressure.
Cacao also contains natural compounds like theobromine and flavonoids, which are known to promote mood enhancement and brain health.
How Much Cacao Powder a Day for Health Benefits?
The recommended amount of cacao powder to consume daily for health benefits typically ranges between 1 to 2 tablespoons.
This amount provides a good balance of essential nutrients and natural compounds like flavonoids without overloading your diet with excess calories or caffeine. Keep in mind that moderation is key—while cacao offers numerous health benefits, consuming too much can lead to unwanted effects, such as increased sugar intake if paired with sweeteners.
Opt for unsweetened, raw, or minimally processed cocoa products to maximize the health benefits and ensure you’re enjoying it as part of a balanced diet.
How to Use Cacao Powder
Cacao powder is incredibly versatile and can be used in a variety of delicious ways.
Add cacao powder to smoothies for a chocolatey boost that pairs well with fruits like bananas or berries. You can also stir it into oatmeal or yogurt, giving your breakfast a rich, chocolatey flavour along with added nutrients.
Although cacao powder can be used in baking in place of cocoa, it is best used raw (or at low temperatures) to retain nutrients.
Whisking cacao powder into warm milk or a plant-based alternative is a great way to indulge chocolate cravings. You can add a touch of natural sweetener if you wish, but it is also great unsweetened.
Finally, you can sprinkle a little cacao powder into your coffee to create a mocha-style drink or blend it into energy balls with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit for a quick, nutrient-packed snack.
With a little creative thinking, there are endless ways to use cacao powder to create healthy alternatives to chocolate.
Tips for Balancing Flavour When Using Cacao Powder
Cacao powder has a naturally bold and slightly bitter flavour, so balancing it out can really enhance your recipes. Here are some tips to get the most out of its unique taste.
Pair it with natural sweeteners
Ingredients like honey, maple syrup, or mashed bananas can complement cacao powder’s bitterness while adding a touch of natural sweetness.
Use creamy ingredients
Blending cacao powder with items like almond butter, coconut cream, or avocados can help mellow the bitterness and create a smoother, richer flavour profile.
Add a pinch of salt
A small amount of salt can bring out the cacao’s natural flavour and subtly tone down any overwhelming bitterness.
Combine with spices
Warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or chili powder add complexity and balance to cacao-based dishes.
Try adding a whole vanilla pod to your stored cocoa powder, to add a hint of sweetness.
Pair with fruits
Sweet fruits like ripe berries, oranges, or even dates pair wonderfully with cacao powder and help create a naturally well-rounded flavour.
With these tips, you can create delicious cacao-based treats that highlight its unique flavour without letting the bitterness overpower the dish.
Buying and Storing Cacao Powder
When it comes to buying and storing cacao powder, a little knowledge goes a long way in ensuring you get the best quality and retain its rich flavour for longer.
Where Can I Buy Cacao Powder?
You can find cacao powder at most grocery stores, typically in the baking aisle or health food section. It’s also widely available at speciality health food stores and organic markets.
If you prefer shopping online, numerous retailers and brands offer cacao powder on websites like Amazon, Thrive Market, and other health-oriented platforms. When purchasing, look for cacao powder labelled as “raw” or “minimally processed” to ensure you’re getting a product with maximum nutrients and pure flavour.
Organic and fair-trade options are also worth considering for high-quality, ethically sourced cacao.
Our cacao powder is raw and organic, and available to buy online with bulk buy savings.
How to Store Raw Cacao Powder
To keep your raw cacao fresh and flavorful, it’s important to store it properly.
Always keep your cacao powder in an airtight container to protect it from moisture and contaminants. Store it in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight or heat, as exposure to these elements can degrade its quality and taste over time (the pantry or a kitchen cabinet works perfectly for this purpose). Also, make sure the lid is securely closed after each use to prevent clumps from forming due to humidity.
Proper storage will help maintain the powder’s rich flavour and nutritional benefits for months.
A Final Word
As we have seen raw cacao is a versatile and nutritious addition to any pantry. Used unsweetened, especially when mellowed by dairy or other creamy ingredients, it provides the ideal sugar-free chocolatey hit.
By choosing high-quality raw organic cacao and storing it correctly, you can ensure that it remains fresh and packed with nutrients. Why not explore the possibilities and enjoy incorporating this superfood into your daily routine? It’s a small change that can make a big difference!
Keen to learn more about why some foods earn superfood status? Read our in-depth article ‘What Are Superfoods?’
Take a look at our cacao products, or explore our larger range of superfood smoothie ingredients.
This article was reproduced on this site with permission from operafoods.com.au the “Superfood Ingredients Wholesalers”.
See original article:- A Beginner’s Guide to Cacao Powder
How to Make your own Chocolate from Cacao Powder
Making your own chocolate from cacao may seem a little extreme, yet there are several compelling reasons to do so. The good news is that it is far easier than you might think, and whilst it may not quite match up to the shop-bought stuff it is still pretty good.
Why Make Homemade Chocolate?
For many of us (maybe most of us) chocolate is non-negotiable. A life without chocolate is simply unfathomable. Yet chocolate is widely available, so why go to the trouble of making your own, especially when the results may not be as silky smooth as the real deal?
The main reason for wanting to make your own chocolate is most likely the sugar content of the commercial stuff. Even dark chocolate contains sugar, which if you are on a completely sugar-free diet is a bit of a problem. Vegan chocolate is becoming more and more widely available, but sugar free?
And then there are all the other things that find their way into chocolate. The list of ingredients just seems to get longer and longer. It just makes sense to try and find a way to get your chocolate fix closer to home.
Different Types of Homemade Chocolate
Homemade chocolate all follows pretty much along the same lines, but your reasons for making it in the first place will dictate your eventual recipe. Most homemade chocolate recipes still contain sugar, albeit in a somewhat more natural form such as honey. If you want to go completely sugar free then the only way forward is to include milk powder. This tames the bitterness of the cocoa to a palatable degree. Anyone who says they like 100% raw chocolate with no sugar and no milk is possibly lying. If only to themselves.
Or you can keep the sugar, and omit the milk powder. Like we said; you can’t really do both. You could of course, try adding sugar AND milk powder.
Making Milk Chocolate from Cacao Powder
For us, the whole point was to be completely sugar free. With sugar, wheat, and all food additives off the menu it was a case of ‘well if you want to eat this thing, then you will have to make it yourself’.
We discovered the buffering effect of milk on the bitterness of cacao completely by accident. Our first sugar free chocolate fix was simply hot cocoa made with cacao and milk. Which was surprisingly good. Then, adding a spoonful or two of cacao to rice pudding made without sugar resulted in a creamy, deeply chocolatey, almost ganache like affair.
The only natural conclusion to this was ‘can we make milk chocolate with no sugar?’. The answer turned out to be yes.
How to Make your own Chocolate
Whilst you do not need any particularly special kit for making chocolate, there are a few items that you cannot do without. The first is a probe thermometer. These are really inexpensive and come in handy in all sorts of ways in the kitchen. You can make chocolate without one, but for the best results you need to follow as professional procedure as possible.
A stick blender. Commercial and professional bean to bar chocolatiers put their chocolate through a really fine grinder. The best way to approximate this is to use a handheld blender during the cooling process. Your chocolate will not be as silky smooth as the stuff you buy, but it will be closer than if you did not blend it at all.
Culinary grade cocoa butter. This usually comes as buttons, that look like large white chocolate buttons.
Some ground spices help balance the bitterness. Vanilla powder, ground cinnamon, and ground cardamom.
Chocolate moulds, although not necessary, do give you a nicer finish. We used plain bar silicone moulds.
The rest is simply a bowl over a saucepan of water, a silicone spatula, and plenty of patience. If you don’t use moulds, then you will need a baking tray and some baking parchment/greaseproof paper.
And of course, cacao powder.
Basic Recipe for Homemade Chocolate (sugar-free)
Whilst not exactly milk chocolate, this does contain full fat milk powder instead of sugar.
250g cocoa butter
60g FULL FAT milk POWDER
1 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- Measure out all of your ingredients, and make sure your working space is clear of clutter.
- Set out 6 chocolate moulds on a baking sheet, or place a generous sheet of baking parchment on a baking tray. Make sure you have space to put the tray into the fridge, on a level surface.
- Have your stick blender plugged in and ready to go, and the digital thermometer ready.
- Wear an apron!
- Find a suitably sized mixing bowl and a saucepan that it will sit snugly over. You need enough water to cover the bottom of the pan, but not touch the bottom of the bowl.
- Sit this over a low heat and bring the water to a gentle simmer.
- Add your cocoa butter to the bowl and slowly melt it to 40C. You may want to take it off the heat when it reaches about 35C and let the rest melt in the residual heat. Once melted, you want that cocoa butter at 40C – 45C.
- Remove the bowl from the pan, and place on a stable surface where you are comfortable standing. This process while take a while.
- Add the rest of your ingredients and stir to combine.
- Now, you are going to cool that mixture down to 28C. It could take 30 minutes so you really need to be patient.
- Use the stick blender for as long as you can during this process. It can be noisy, and the motor can get hot, so alternate bursts of blending with bursts of stirring with the wooden spatula. You can get away with brief periods of not stirring, but it is the cooling and the stirring that creates the tempering of the chocolate.
- Once you reach 28C, pour the liquid chocolate into the moulds or onto the baking tray.
- Transfer to the fridge to set.
- The chocolate will set quite quickly, but keep it in the fridge for a few hours. You will find that the texture changes over time, and also depending where you store it.
- Either store the bars as they are, or break up your sheet of chocolate. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge or in the cupboard. You may want to experiment with both, to see what works best for you and your kitchen.
Tweaking your chocolate recipe
Once you have made your first batch of chocolate you are ready to evaluate how it went. A grainy texture cannot be avoided, but hopefully with the blender and the proper tempering process it was kept to a minimum.
How did you find the taste? Was it too bitter? Did the milk powder bring in a softer taste? Do you think you would rather add a little sweetness?
Homemade Vegan Dark Chocolate
Following exactly the same procedure above you can make a darker, yet sweeter, dairy-free version. Simply omit the milk powder, and replace the cacao with 125g of our organic drinking cacao, which is made with pure organic cacao and organic coconut sugar.
Have you explored our range of superfoods for boosting your smoothies, shakes and healthy snacks?
This article was reproduced on this site with permission from operafoods.com.au the “Healthy ingredients Suppliers”.
See original article:- How to Make your own Chocolate from Cacao Powder
Organic Cacao Powder Rich in Polyphenols Which Contain Healthy Benefits
Organic Cacao powder is a product of offered by Boost Nutrients that makes a perfect smoothie or acai bowl topping or ingredient. Cacao powder is produced from the Cacao beans that originated in South America.
It can now be available in every shop in Australia; moreover, people can purchase it from our online store. The powdered form of the product has become popular across different countries as it is easy to sprinkle on meals to increase your intake. Organic Cacao powder is considered as a healthy nutrient intake.
People can upgrade the nutrient value of smoothie shakes with the help of Organic Cacao powder. It can be used in smoothie bowl ingredients, toppings for granola bowl and Acai bowl. Organic Cacao powder is made up from crushed respective cacao beans which is slightly bitter and chocolate in flavor. According to research packs of Organic Cacao powder are considered to contain more calcium than cow’s milk. Organic Cacao powder helps to prevent depression, stress, blood pressure, heart attack, and several other severe diseases.
Buy Organic Cacao powder online from our Parent company online health food store at Opera Foods.
Boost Nutrients is a subsidiary of wholesale food suppliers Opera Foods Pty Ltd.