What brand cocoa powder is most chocolaty for baking?
Every time I bake something that only has cocoa powder in it I find that it doesn't taste chocolaty enough.
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6 Comments:
Valrhona Cocoa Powder Cacao Gastronomie is the best. Having said this I only use it in my best baking. For making brownies and hot chocolate I use dutch process cocoa. It is cheaper but has good flavor.
JerzeeTomato at 8:33AM on 05/01/07
I second, most heartily, the Valrhona nomination. I mix it with a good-quality bulk dutch-process cocoa - 1: 4, and I, too, use it "straight" in my best baking. I also use a non-dutched cocoa for a few baked things that specify it. I buy the Valrhona in bulk at Central Market in San Antonio, TX; it may be available at some Whole Foods stores, too. I think I pay about $8.00 a pound, but don't hold me to it.
dksbook at 9:40AM on 05/01/07
I really love Scharffen Berger Cocoa, it's got a great deep taste to it.
Alm25 at 10:21AM on 05/01/07
Although the cocoa powder is infinitely more important, it's also key to consider the vanilla you're using in your recipes. The better quality vanilla, the more chocolatey your baked goods will seem. It sounds oxymoronic, I know, but there's just something about vanilla that brings out the flavor of chocolate.
hereandthe at 11:01AM on 05/01/07
Vanilla is so important. Amazing how when we are talking about chocolate we invariably talk about vanilla. Ying and yang.
JerzeeTomato at 10:53PM on 05/01/07
In general, go with Dutch-processed cocoa to get a smoother, less bitter chocolate flavor. Dutch-processed cocoa is cocoa that's been treated with alkaline chemicals to temper its bitterness -- but be careful, as some manufacturers can over-process their cocoa.
My copy of Cook's Illustrated says that they liked "the moderately alkalized Callebaut cocoa (our mail-order favorite) and Droste, a widely available brand that is now our top-rated supermarket cocoa."
kathryn at 3:58PM on 05/04/07