Product Review: Cadbury Bournville Cocoa – A Very Chocolatey Experience!

If you love chocolate, then you love cocoa, almost by definition. Don't you? Maybe it's a question of terminology. By cocoa, a lot of us tend to mean hot chocolate, rather than the powdery cocoa bean product. And does everyone love hot chocolate? An awful lot of people do, to be sure, but is it really a universal taste? Perhaps not: for many people it has associations with childhood, and for those of us who've developed more sophisticated tastes since then it might well be perceived as overly sweet, mild and wholesome. Give me an espresso and a little almond biscuit instead, please!

But all the wonderful products and confections and bakery goods that come into being as a result of the existence of the cocoa bean, product of cocoa pods, and its powdered product? Well, that's another thing entirely! Seriously, show me the person who doesn't love a slice of sinfully rich, dark, melting, delicious chocolate cake, and maybe a scoop or two of vanilla ice-cream along with it. They'd have to be crazy!

But if you're setting out to make chocolate cake – or brownies, or banana and chocolate milkshake, or whatever naughty confection you've set your heart on – then what about the raw materials involved? Most importantly, what cocoa should you use? What are the cocoa beans facts?

Certainly in the UK, the automatic answer for generations has been Cabury's Bournville cocoa. The thought of any other brand for many home cooks and bakers would be nigh on unthinkable! But in today's market, there are more competitors fighting for the pennies in your pocket. How doesn Bournville cocoa stand up?

Well, one huge point in its favour from my point of view is the fact that it is labelled and marketed as being a FairTrade product. This may or may not be important to you: but to me, it's just nice to know that the farmer who sweated and worked to get a product to my table, has been fairly recompensed for her or his labour.

And the cocoa itself? Well, I have to say that, compared to slightly cheaper (and often not fair trade) versions, I think it slightly has the edge in the finished product, when making my favourite chocolate cake. (Find the recipe for that fantastic cake right here). Why don't you try making a cake or some muffins yourself, and try it out?

Are there any nutritional benefits to cocoa, to enable you to justify an out-of-control chocolate cake habit? Well, in fact there's a whole lot of research out there: you might be surprised to learn that the product of the cacoa bean has been cited as potentially useful in ailments as serious as cardiovascular disease.¹ Hey, there's my excuse right there!

References.

1. KA. Cooper, JL. Donovan, AL. Waterhouse and G Williamson. Cocoa and health: a decade of research. British Journal of Nutrition Vol. 99, Issue 01. January 2008, pp 111.