Organic Cocoa powder - Vegan, pure dark chocolate ingredient - Unsweetened and ideal for baking, hot chocolate and smoothies - 200g

Product Information

Cocoa comes from the cacao tree that produces large pods. Inside those pods are cacao beans. Those beans produce cocoa powder and cocoa butter that is used to make your favorite chocolate products. What would we do without cocoa? It’s the source of much-loved candy bars, drinks, and any number of tasty chocolate-based recipes. But is cocoa powder vegan?

As coconut oil is slightly cheaper than cocoa butter, it means that you can make your own vegan chocolate on a budget. I don’t have any cocoa powder, can I use something else? Clinical evidence suggests that natural cocoas are high in flavanols, but when the cocoa beans are treated with alkali, also known as Dutch processing or Dutching, the flavanols are substantially reduced.Despite these alterations, the cocoa powder still remains vegan. Potential Cross-Contamination From what I’ve researched there are two basic types of cocoa powder: one derived from the Dutch process and another derived from the Broma process. They’re labeled differently, so you can easily tell them apart. Viva Naturals Organic Cocoa Powder. USDA-certified organic, Non-GMO Project verified and contains just one ingredient: organic cocoa powder. You could use any type of ‘real’ sugar, but the problem is that unless you can grind it very fine (even if you use icing sugar) you’ll always be able to fell the sugar crystals in your mouth. If you are not worried about it, go ahead and swap it and see how you get on. Can you add coconut oil to melted chocolate?Naturya cacao powder comes from a Fairtrade supplier in Africa who sources the finest quality cacao beans from the very best farming cooperatives around. These cacao beans go through a stringent fermentation process and are left out in the sun to dry out and lose some of their original bitterness. This doesn’t mean that these companies are actively promoting child-labor, it’s just that their inability to trace and solve these issues is quite worrying. However, from a pure consumer standpoint, purchasing ethical products is, quite possibly, the only way to prevent these issues from reoccurring. How To Find Ethical Cocoa Powder The most common type is natural cocoa powder. You can easily find it in your local grocery store. When a recipe refers to cocoa powder, they are referring to natural cocoa powder unless otherwise indicated. It is less expensive than the other varieties. It is sometimes labeled as “unsweetened cocoa powder” or “pure cocoa powder.” It is rather acidic and has a strong flavor. Dutch Process Cocoa Powder

Otherwise labeled as unsweetened or baking cocoa, these terms are used interchangeably to describe the same thing. Visually, it’s light brown color and comparatively pale to other options. It’s more acidic, bitter, and emphasizes more fruity notes. Because it has a slightly lower PH, that can affect the way that some baked goods rise, particularly if they’re leavened with baking soda alone. Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder If you want to avoid cacao powders that may be processed within environments where animal ingredients are also handled, your best alternative is to either seek vegan-certified products or choose ones without the allergen warning. While you may have some reservations due to the potential for cross-contamination, at its core, cocoa powder is an ingredient derived from a plant-based source. It’s a common mistake to confound cocoa powder and chocolate powder together, but they’re very different. When cocoa butter (also called cacao butter) the fat from the cacao beans is removed, the leftover solids of the bean are processed into a powder. Cocoa powder is in essence cocoa solids.Cacao powder is the most pure and natural form of cocoa powder and retains the most nutrients, vitamins and enzymes. However, it also has the strongest and most bitter flavor.

However, the “Dutch process” has an impact on cocoa powder’s flavonol antioxidant properties, which are associated with cardiovascular health benefits. Most cocoa (90%) is grown on small family farms, and only 5% is made on large plantations. The production of cocoa accounts for the livelihood of 40 to 50 million farmers. The Problem with Some Cocoa Powder Brands Bake the brownies for 22 minutes. They will be wet in the middle at first if you put a knife through them but they will firm up once they’ve cooled down. Step 8:Fair trade chocolate is produced ethically. The farmers are paid a fair wage, they do not use child laborers, and they have safe working conditions. Fair Trade Cocoa Oftentimes the misunderstanding arises because cocoa powder and chocolate powder can be mentioned interchangeably. This gives rise to the notion that they’re one and the same but that’s not true. Dairy-free white chocolate chips seem to be the hardest to come by so if you can’t get a hold of them, I recommend just cutting up your favourite vegan white chocolate bar into small pieces instead. Here are some of my favourites: If you follow a vegan diet one of the most important things to consider are the the hidden ingredients in foods you’d otherwise think are free of animal products. Whereas milk chocolate is obviously not vegan since it has the word “milk” in it, what about dark chocolate? How about cocoa powder and cocoa butter?