Black Cocoa Powder for Baking - Unsweetened, Extra Dark, 1 Lb

If you are “Cocoa Illiterate” like me somewhat— You need to do some SERIOUS study with this particular Black Cocoa or ANY Black Cocoa Powder that is dark as this—using the naked eye. If you do not believe me, go on Google or go on YouTube and search for black cocoa and you will see ‘visibly’ what comes up is NOWHERE as JET black—as this. Yet it will most likely still be labeled—Black Cocoa. THIS...(that I’m reviewing) would definitely be the BRUTE of a an excellent glass Champagne. When I first tasted Brute Champagne...lest just say NOT what I thought...till I matured. This stuff here—is seriously powdered “Kingsford” charcoal in color and that color means something if you are considerIng swapping this here ‘cup for cup’ —in your favorite chocolate cake recipe. WORD OF CAUTION...DO NOT. Just....don’t. I KNOW how to bake and I sell cakes. I am not however, scientific with reactions and results. I used a recipe calling for 1 2/3 cups of ‘black cocoa powder’. She stated it was a recipe for a ‘wedding cake’ and it looked moist...beautiful. Black. I wanted that. And I wanted it for not a wedding cake but the amount of cake itself it would yield for what I was doing. Suffice to say—she may have used (for all I know) Hersheys Special Dark because her recipe (even her comments before the recipe) did not mention anything on WHAT she used. To be honest when most people bake and say they used BC powder, it is more likely it is Hershey’s SD because it does produce a ‘dark’ cake. Now don’t get me wrong I DO love me some H S/D. But I wanted BLACK. So here’s what I’ve learned after using this BRUTE BCP. The blacker the Cocoa...the more ‘dutched’. The more dutched means less acidic due to high treatment of Alkaline which from what I understand (AFTER the fact of using—still good) the TEXTURE and height—WILL BE affected and THAT... IS CRUCIAL. So ‘cut’ your cups used. If the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of cocoa powder and you want to use black—use 1 cup of cocoa powder and test with 1/2 cup of THIS brand— black. And that is what I used in my most favorite chocolate cake recipe however....While the results was better than the cup for cup swap out that this other recipe call for— I think next time I will use a ratio of : 1 1/4 cup cocoa powder + 1/4 of this Beautiful yet dangerous (if you don’t know what your doing) ....Jet Black Cocoa Powder. Good Stuff. And one more thing. Someone said on here that the package says “not for taste” or something of that effect....that is true. This level of Cocoa does not have a distinct chocolate flavor but a ‘note’. That is because of the processing of it being HIGHLY Dutch. It is or would be best for color but it does add a good earthy chocolate NOTE in flavor. I hope all of that made sense because I really think this is an excellent, diamond rated Cocoa Black. But to avoid giving an unfair rating—know what your doing with this Black Cocoa because you maybe expecting something that is just not going to happen with it depending on what may be.

Great product! I was skeptical. I did have to add quite a bit but then I realized I can use my handheld immersion blender in order to make the black more vibrant. The stick blender is the trick to get it extremely black. Lots of people saying it doesn’t have flavor but I definitely taste a bitter cocoa flavor… just add more powdered sugar to sweeten it up. So much healthier than using food coloring! And it won’t stain your teeth

If you are looking for a true black cocoa, this is it! My husband loves black velvet cake. This is the best cocoa I have found or used for that recipe. It even makes black velvet buttercream icing. I find it to be very high-quality. The one thing I would say is that it’s a really fine silt and it goes everywhere. If you are not careful when you’re using it.

My cake came out black! The icing was a bit tricky for me. I made cupcakes and the icing looked grey on some and blacker on some. I do think I will add more next time and let it sit before using it. I do love the fact it doesn’t leave your mouth/teeth that blackish purple color. Not much change in the flavor, which is a plus.

I am an avid baker who has been baking for over half a century. My husband loves dark chocolate, so I love to soothe his sweet tooth...lol. The Cocoa Trader got several good reviews so I thought I would give it a whirl. I stumbled across a truly decadent Midnight Black Chocolate cake recipe with Black buttercream frosting. The recipe itself was in need of tweaking only where volume is concerned. The taste, moistness, color & flavor was spot on!!! Many people were complaining about being able to achieve a truly black chocolate cake & frosting. The Cocoa Trader came through with flying colors!!! The frosting needed to be tweaked for volume & a little tweaking for the black color, but again, it passed mustard! I am truly happy with my purchase & although this product is pricy it's worth it's weight in gold. I highly recommend buying this product. You won't regret it.

I bought this to make black frosting (I wanted to avoid dyes). The packaging says it's used for color, not flavor. However, there IS a flavor. It's good. It reminds me of an OREO cookie (minus the filling). The color is fantastic - a very rich black, and it doesn't stain surfaces, teeth, etc. My only complaint is that it says there's not a flavor. It worked with the yellow cake I made, but the flavor may not work for all desserts.

Buy it, don’t even finish reading this review, if you’ve come this far and you’re not sure this is your sign to buy it. Never in my life had I heard of black cocoa powder until I was scrolling through Pinterest and saw a black shortbread cookies and I was fascinated. I ended up using it to make that sea salt caramel chocolate cake (it’s from King Arthur if you want the recipe) and it was a massive hit. I measure how well my bakes do by how long they exist after I make them. That cake was gone in less than 12 hours and I was giving people thin wedding cake slices. Next I made a chocolate cheesecake and it did crack but we don’t cover mistakes in this house we prefer to “highlight the differences” and again gone in 8 hours and I was giving everyone “I’m on a diet” sized slices. This black cocoa powder has such a rich unbeatable flavor that’s going to remind you of an Oreo because that’s what they use to make them and it’s probably most peoples first time encountering black cocoa. However the flavor and the color are both such a jaw dropping shock you’ll have everyone seduced by flavor. It didn’t change the texture of my names from what they’re usually like and didn’t effect bake time, it just wowed everyone who tasted it. Get the cocoa powder. Just get it. The flavor is simply unmatched, I can’t describe just how good this cocoa is. You just have to get it and find out. I was excited for the color alone but the taste is better than my expectations in my wildest dreams.

Great cocoa powder. I used it to make homemade chocolate sandwich cookies and the taste was right on point for what I was looking for. The black coloring is perfect for adding to desserts where you desire the color without artificial food coloring. The bag reseals well and I didn’t have any issues with the powder blending well. I will repurchase when the time comes.