How do cocoa powder and cacao differ?

What happens next determines whether the beans become cacao or cocoa. They start from the same place, but the processing makes all the difference. read more

Recently, manufacturers of raw vegan food products have usurped the more authentic spelling of the word in an attempt to distinguish their products from products which use roasted cacao beans (i.e. raw cacao powder vs. cocoa powder). So, in general, these days,"cacao" generally refers to raw vegan chocolate products which come from unroasted cacao (chocolate) beans and are minimally processed with no additives. read more

Cacao can refer to any of the food products derived from cacao beans – the seeds or nuts of the cacao tree. These include cacao nibs, butter cacao, cacao mass or paste and (probably the most common) cacao powder. Cacao v cocoa powder. Raw cacao powder is made by cold-pressing unroasted cocoa beans. read more

Cocoa starts the same way cacao does: as harvested beans from the plant’s seed pods. During processing, however, it’s heated at much higher temperatures. This results in a slightly sweeter flavor and different health effects. Cocoa powder is extremely popular in dessert recipes. There are actually two types available: Dutch-processed cocoa powder. read more