Your Recipes Include Natural Cocoa Rather than Hershey's Cocoa. What is the Difference?

by Joyce
(New York)

Joyce writes Chocolate Questions to ask...
Your recipes include natural cocoa rather than Hershey's cocoa. What is the difference?

All of my recipes are made with Hershey's Cocoa. I love that stuff and have been using it for years. If you look closely at the Hershey's can you'll notice that it is natural cocoa. Unless you're using Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa which is a blend of both types of cocoa.

The reason I specify natural cocoa powder is because there are two types of cocoa powder, natural and dutched.

Natural is a better choice because it retains more of the healthy cocoa antioxidants. That's the critical difference.

Dutched cocoa is processed with alkali. Alkali makes the cocoa powder mix better with liquids and mellows the flavor. Unfortunately, it also destroys a lot those precious cocoa antioxidants.

Seems most people prefer the milder flavor of dutched cocoa.

Hershey's natural unsweetened cocoa is a great choice. Whichever brand you choose check the label. If you're trying to maximize your intake of antioxidants, go for the natural.

Thanks for the great question Joyce. Happy baking!