Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is what remains when roasted cocoa beans are pressed to remove most of their butter, then ground fine. Unsweetened cocoa gives real chocolate flavour and colour without added sugar, which lets you control the sweetness yourself. It is part of our baking range, and it is a different product from sweetened hot chocolate powder, which is made for stirring straight into milk.

Bakers use it, with a lift from baking powder and a drop of vanilla from our essences, in chocolate sponge, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cupcake frosting and eggless chocolate cake. It dusts tiramisu and truffles, and it goes into cold coffee, chocolate milkshake and the chocolate layer of a biscuit pudding. Stirred into chocolate barfi or a chocolate modak filling, it makes a festival sweet that children ask for first.

For the deepest flavour, bloom cocoa before baking by whisking it into hot water, coffee or melted butter and leaving it for a few minutes. To make hot cocoa, mix a spoonful with a spoonful of caster sugar and a splash of cold milk into a paste, then whisk in hot milk. Store it sealed and dry, as cocoa absorbs smells easily.