CATEGORY

Baking Cocoa

2007 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER

Ghirardelli

What Makes a Great Baking Cocoa?

Though very bitter by itself, baking cocoa brings a deep chocolate flavor to your favorite baked goods. Be sure to have some in the pantry the next time you whip up a chocolate cake, brownies, cookies or homemade pastries. To create an even more intense and complex flavor, you can also use baking cocoa in recipes calling for other baking chocolates. And, in a pinch, you can add it to fruit and yogurt smoothies for an extra boost of flavor.

Our chefs define high-quality natural unsweetened baking cocoa as having a dark color, more like a dark chocolate than a lighter milk chocolate. The bold chocolate aroma should be noticeable from the moment you open the packaging.

In the taste profile, its bitterness should be strong, similar to that of unsweetened chocolate, and there should be no sweetness.

The pronounced chocolate flavor intensity should be bolder than the aroma intensity. The chocolate character should be complex—not flat or one-dimensional—with warm spices, floral or roasted notes adding to its complexity. There should be no inappropriate off notes that detract from the overall chocolate flavor.

The mouthfeel of a high-quality baking cocoa should be smooth and clean, but it may reveal a slight chalkiness. The cocoa will have a fine grind, similar to that of sifted powdered sugar, and it is expected to make the mouth pucker briefly in response to its slight astringency. The powder should dissolve quickly.

Product Category Definition

The product judged was defined as powdered natural unsweetened baking cocoa for the consumer market, not including chocolate candies or bars, baking chocolate chips or baking chocolate bars, or powdered hot cocoa mixes.

Other Leading Brands:

Nestle, Hershey’s