Black cocoa is one of the most striking ingredients a baker can keep in the cupboard. Open the pack and the powder looks closer to soot than to the warm brown of ordinary cocoa, and it can turn a sponge, a biscuit or a scoop of gelato a deep, near-black shade without any added colouring.
It also causes a fair amount of confusion. Is it made from a different bean? Is it the same thing as black cacao? Can it simply replace the cocoa you already use? This guide explains what black cocoa is, where its colour comes from and how cooks, bakers and food businesses use it.
What Exactly Is Black Cocoa?
Black cocoa is cocoa powder. It comes from the beans of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, and starts out like any other cocoa: the beans are fermented, dried and roasted, the shells are removed, the nibs are ground into a paste, much of the cocoa butter is pressed out and the remaining solids are milled into a fine powder.
What sets it apart is a processing step called alkalisation, also known as Dutching. The cocoa is treated with an alkaline solution, which reduces its natural acidity and darkens its colour. Most Dutch-process cocoa is alkalised moderately and ends up reddish or dark brown. Black cocoa is alkalised far more heavily, and the result is a powder that ranges from very dark brown to almost black.
So black cocoa is not a separate plant, a rare bean variety or a colouring additive. It is regular cocoa taken to the far end of the Dutch-process scale.
Black Cocoa or Black Cacao?
The same ingredient is sold under several names: black cocoa, black cocoa powder, black cacao and black cacao powder. You may also see it described as extra-dark or heavily Dutched cocoa.
In English, cacao is often used for the tree, the pods and the raw beans, while cocoa usually means the processed powder. On packaging the two words are used loosely, and black cacao normally describes the same heavily alkalised powder as black cocoa. It should not be confused with raw cacao powder, which is not alkalised and is much lighter in colour. When buying, the ingredient list and the look of the powder tell you more than the name on the front.
Why Is Black Cocoa So Dark?
Cocoa beans contain natural compounds that turn brown during fermentation and roasting. Under alkaline conditions and heat, these compounds react further and become darker still. The stronger the alkalisation, the darker the cocoa: from the light, warm brown of natural cocoa, through the reddish browns of standard Dutch-process cocoa, to the near-black of black cocoa.
The colour therefore comes from the cocoa itself rather than from anything added to it. Each stage of processing is described in our guide to how black cocoa is made.
What Does Black Cocoa Taste Like?
Heavy alkalisation changes the flavour as well as the colour. Black cocoa tastes smooth, roasted and low in acidity, with a mild bitterness and very little of the fruity, sharp edge found in natural cocoa. Many people recognise its taste straight away from dark chocolate sandwich biscuits, which owe much of their colour to this type of cocoa.
On its own, black cocoa can taste less intensely chocolatey than such a dark powder suggests. That is the main reason it is so often combined with regular cocoa or melted chocolate. For more on flavour and pairings, read what black cocoa tastes like.
How Is Black Cocoa Used?
Black cocoa is used mainly where colour matters as much as flavour. Typical uses include:
- dark chocolate sponges, layer cakes and cupcakes
- crisp black biscuits and sandwich cookies with a pale cream filling
- brownies, muffins and loaf cakes with a deeper colour
- dark buttercream, frostings and fillings
- ice cream, gelato and cocoa sorbet
- hot chocolate, mochas and milkshakes
- themed bakes for Halloween and other occasions that call for a dramatic dark colour
Small amounts also turn up in savoury cooking, for example in chilli, slow-cooked stews, spice rubs and dark sauces, where cocoa adds depth and colour without sweetness.
Can Black Cocoa Replace Regular Cocoa?
Sometimes, but rarely one for one. Because black cocoa has so little acidity, it does not react with bicarbonate of soda the way natural cocoa does. A recipe built around natural cocoa and bicarbonate of soda can rise and taste different when black cocoa is swapped in.
Using black cocoa for all of the cocoa in a cake can also give a flatter flavour and a drier, more crumbly texture. For that reason most bakers replace part of the cocoa rather than all of it, and keep the full swap for crisp biscuits and decorations where colour leads. The differences between the main cocoa types are set out in our comparison of black cocoa vs Dutch-process cocoa.
Is Black Cocoa a Food Colouring?
No. Black cocoa is a cocoa ingredient that happens to be very dark. It brings chocolate flavour, a little bitterness and dry solids to a recipe, so it affects taste and texture as well as appearance. That makes it quite different from concentrated colourings, which are added in tiny amounts purely for colour.
It also means black cocoa will not give a flat, jet-black shade in every product. Depending on the recipe, it produces anything from deep chocolate brown to near black. Pale ingredients such as white flour, cream, eggs and milk all soften the final colour, while a higher proportion of black cocoa and fewer light ingredients push it darker.
How to Store Black Cocoa
Like every cocoa powder, black cocoa should be kept dry and sealed. The product page for our retail pack advises storing it in a cool place below 25°C. Close the pack after each use and keep it away from steam, heat sources and strong-smelling ingredients, because cocoa powder picks up moisture and odours easily. A dry spoon helps prevent lumps.
Where to Buy Black Cocoa
Home bakers can try the ingredient with our Black Cocoa Powder – 100g, which lists black cacao powder as its only ingredient. Cafés, bakeries and food producers interested in larger quantities can request a wholesale quote and tell us about their application and expected volumes.
