— Diane Dankert

Now, cacao powder and cocoa powder are really the same thing. Um, there's all this interesting conversation about did somebody misspell cacao? Cacao refers to the cocoa pod and cocoa powder, which is deep fatted chocolate is not 100% without fat, but ranges between 10 and 22% fat. They're, they're kind of the same thing, but cocoa powder, we're gonna call it cocoa. So cacao powder, let me go backwards a minute. 10. People tend to think of that as raw chocolate, raw cacao, raw powder. There is no such thing as raw, although you'll see cocoa powders and chocolates labeled as raw. And I feel confident in saying that to you because I have asked the people who run companies that say raw and they say, well, you're right. It's really unroasted chocolate not raw. During the first processing of the cacao pod, when they're opened and the beans are laid out, the temperature goes above naturally while they're fermenting above what's allowable for raw desserts. So they're unroasted. Now, cacao powder would be the equivalent of natural cocoa powder. Cocoa powder is essentially, there are two forms. One is called non alkali or natural, and the other is Dutch or alkali. And they can be used interchangeably if you're making hot chocolate or even chocolate pudding. It's a flavor, it's up to what your palate likes. But when you're using them to make a better based dessert, they are not interchangeable. And this is why we have a very interesting assignment that I know some of you here have done in essential vegan desserts for making hot chocolate, both with a non alkalized and an alkali. So sometimes alkali cocoa powder is seen as European style and non alkalies or natural cocoa powder is considered American cocoa powder. Um, if you're making a beverage or you're making chocolate pudding, use either one. But when you're making a bat or based dessert, the recipe should state which you need to use. If the recipe writer didn't say so, that's not a good thing. But look to the leavening. If most, if all baking soda or mostly baking soda is the leavening agent in that cake, then it means you're using non alkalized cocoa powder. If it's baking powder, baking powder and a bit of and baking soda, then it's non alkali. So I have some here also. The colors are different, but you know, depending on the purveyor, you're gonna find differences in the cocoa powders. Anyway. So let me get the, this is a natural cocoa powder and you can see it's kind of tan, kind of tan. Um, I think that's pansies. It smells like cocoa powder. It should, and this is the one that I like the most. It's Barry, and I'm trying not to get it on my white jacket. And you can see that it's quite a bit darker. So they would not be necessarily interchangeable to me. I like the flavor of Dutch process, which was invented by Van Hooten.