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See also: Cocoa Butter; Chocolate
COCOA POWDER
Cocoa powder, or unsweetened cocoa is made by crushing cocoa nibs (roasted shelled cocoa beans) and extracting the cocoa butter.
The powdery remains of chocolate liquor after most of the cocoa butter is removed. The least fatty form of chocolate. Includes dutched chocolate. Strong to mild chocolate flavor without the texture characteristic of cocoa butter. Colors range from light tan to red to black. Used for reduced fat and calorie recipes; chocolate milk; ice cream; chocolate flavored coatings; syrups.
National Confectioners Association & Chocolate Manufacturers Association
Cocoa powder has a natural acidity, and when it is treated with an alkali (lye) to neutralize this acidity it is called Dutch process cocoa. (The process was developed in 1828 by C.J. Van Houten in the Netherlands)
There were 1,271 U.S. manufacturing establishments producing chocolate and cocoa products in 2003. These establishments employed 43,379 people and shipped $13.5 billion worth of goods that year. California led the nation in the number of chocolate and cocoa manufacturing establishments (with 146) followed by Pennsylvania (with 120).
* US Census Bureau, July 2006
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