Pin It Have you ever wondered: What cocoa powder should you buy?  what's the difference between Dutch-processed cocoa powder and those typically sold at a US supermarket?  or what is the best cocoa powder? I've asked myself all of these questions and it wasn't until I made Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes by Cooking Light that I realized there is noticeable difference depending on the cocoa powder used.  I originally made this recipe with the Droste cocoa powder purchased from Whole Foods and it was amazing.  Then I made it again but used a local organic brand from Trader Joe's.  The recipe was a disaster and I tossed it out as I was expecting a much richer flavor.

Fast forward three more years and somehow I found myself living in the Netherlands where Droste is readily available at the supermarkets at half the price as Whole Foods in the states....I was in heaven! I never really thought much about cocoa powder till my engineering foodie friend from the UK (also American) came to visit me.   During her visit we went to Brugge, Belgium and visited the chocolate shops.  I noticed many of the shops made their chocolate with Callebaut cocoa powder.  One shop sold Callebaut (but only in 1kg bags...ouch), which we passed up.  We went to another chocolate shop which sold van Houten cocoa powder and picked up a box.  We had just gone to Cologne, Germany and visited the Chocolate Museum where I picked up a  rather pricy bag of French cocoa powder.  When we got back to the Netherlands what did we do?  We decided to conduct a cocoa powder challenge.   This is of course what happens when you get two foodie engineers together who have nothing better to do with their evenings.

We pasted stickers on the bottom of mugs and made a brownie in a mug by chow.com where we only changed the cocoa powder for each recipe.  Amongst the three cocoa powders (Droste, French brand from the Chocolate Museum in Cologne and van Houten) there was a clear winner....van Houten.  It was by far the best.  Since this experiment I've taste tested several more including the popular French brand Valrhona, Belgium's Callebaut, a local Dutch brand called Blocker and a French brand called La Maison Du Chocolat I picked up in Paris.  I continue to sample and try but as for now here is my take on the best...

1. La Maison Du Chocolat
2. van Houten
3. Valrhona (it's a bit burnt tasting)
4. Callebaut
5. Droste
6. Chocolate Museum French Cocoa Powder
7. Blocker

For the next test I'd like to test Hershey's Dutch Cocoa Powder and King Arthur Flour's Black Cocoa Powder as they are easily available in the states.  I have to move back sometime and my cocoa addiction mustn't suffer;)