New, More Flavorful Cacao Powder
Hey Everyone!
However, we now have two Cacao Powders. One is the regular 10-12% fat Cacao Powder that we’ve always carried, and we now also have a 20-22% fat Cacao Powder.
Low in Heavy Metals: Why My Cacao Comes from the Dominican Republic
There’s been a lot of hype about heavy metals in cacao, especially from Peru and Ecuador. We take that seriously, so our cacao comes exclusively from the Dominican Republic, a region known for naturally low metal levels in its soil. Our cacao even passes California’s strict Proposition 65 standards. You can enjoy cacao’s minerals, antioxidants and flavor with peace of mind.
Recently, I’ve been reading how some chefs state that the secret behind the most flavorful Cacao Powder is the fat content. Therefore, I had our Cacao Supplier get us a Cacao Powder with double the amount of fat (Cacao Butter). We now carry both kinds just in case some of you prefer our previous Cacao Powder. They are both the same exact Cacao Powder, but one just has double the amount fat compared to the other.
I started digging further, and I learned that Cacao butter is the main ingredient used by every major chocolate manufacturer. The Cacao Powder is simply the byproduct of this industry. I then discovered that the FDA stipulates that Cacao Powder must contain at least 10% Cacao Butter.
There are a good handful of Cacao Distributors that supply the entire Raw Foods Community its Cacao Powder. They are always trying to get my cacao business. I enquired with them all, and they all use a Cacao Powder with 10% fat. The higher the fat content, the higher the cost of Cacao Powder. There is nothing wrong with the 10% fat Cacao Powder. It does get processed a little bit more in order to get more butter out, but the nutrition is still there.
The main benefit that you get from the Cacao Powder with a higher fat content, is a much more flavorful taste. It tastes much better to many and it is said to be far richer. It provides for a creamier more enjoyable chocolate flavor in your favorite chocolate recipes, smoothies, protein drinks, and yogurts. It’s also really good to simply sprinkle it on your favorite desert.
To give you a deeper understanding of this 20% fat content flavor enhancement, let me explain this in regards to if you were going to use it for baking.
The higher the fat content of your Cacao Powder, then the less starch content contained within your Cacao Powder. The starches are somewhat chalky and zap moisture. They can absorb up to 100 percent of their weight in moisture. Therefore, in baking, this could lead to dry cakes, cakey brownies, crumbly cookies and chalky or bland chocolate frosting. Overall, the less fat, the less chocolate flavor.
So when you use a Cacao Powder that is around 22% fat like our new Cacao Powder, it results in a richer chocolate flavor with cakes that are ultra moist and tender in texture, brownies and cookies that are chewy and fudgey, and a frosting that is ultra smooth.
Bringing it back to what most of us would use it for, you can now see why it would provide a creamier more enjoyable chocolate flavor in your smoothies, protein drinks, yogurts, and so on.
Some people might not like that richer flavor, and may appreciate how the Cacao Powder with the 10-12% fat absorbs the moisture. They may also not like the slight change in texture of the Cacao Powder, and many people like what they are used to. This is why we are offering both of our Cacao Powders on an ongoing basis.
The Cacao Powder that we’ve always had is about 10-12% fat. This new Cacao Powder is about 20-22% fat. It may go as high as 24% fat.
The 20% Cacao Powder is about 15% higher in cost.
Thanks everyone for your support!
Sincerely,
Matt
