Professional pastry chefs are using ChefShop Grande Brut because it does several things well at once: deep flavor, smooth texture, rich color, easy blending, low acidity, and real versatility across applications. It is a many-trick cocoa powder.

We stock it now because after working with it ourselves, we found it spectacular! It makes a giant difference!

What makes this new Grande Brut cocoa powder special, and why do professional chefs keep reaching for it? The answer comes down to flavor, texture, color—and one number that matters more than most people realize: fat content.

ChefShop Grande Brut contains 22% to 24% cocoa butter. That is significantly higher than most cocoa powders on the market, and it is one of the main reasons we chose it. That extra cocoa butter is not a minor detail. It changes how the cocoa tastes, how it blends, and what your finished desserts actually feel like.

What "Brut" Means

The word comes from French means raw, pure, uncompromised. In cocoa powder, it signals a bold, concentrated style with deep color and serious chocolate flavor. It is the cocoa you reach for when chocolate needs to be the point.

Why Cocoa Butter Content Matters

Most people focus on cocoa percentage (and with cocoa powder it is always 100% as it has no sugar) and overlook fat content entirely. It is the balance between cocoa mass and cocoa butter that matters. Cocoa butter is the natural fat in the cacao bean, and it shapes everything about how cocoa performs in a recipe.

At 22% to 24%, Grande Brut gives you:

Richer flavor - fat carries aroma and rounds out bitterness
Smoother texture - less dry, less chalky on the palate
Better blending - whisks cleanly into liquids and batters
Creamier frozen desserts - especially valuable in ice cream and sorbet
A fuller finish - dusts and glazes look polished, not powdery

Dutch Processed for Smoothness

Grande Brut is Dutch processed, meaning it has been alkalized to soften acidity and mellow the flavor. The result is a darker, smoother, more rounded chocolate character which is excellent when you want deep chocolate flavor without sharp or sour edges. It dissolves beautifully into liquids, which makes it as useful in a cup of drinking chocolate as in a mousse.

The Technique That Makes the Biggest Difference: Blooming

Before you add cocoa to almost any recipe, bloom it. This means mixing the powder with a hot liquid, just briefly, before combining it with everything else. It hydrates the cocoa, wakes up the aroma compounds, and noticeably deepens the chocolate flavor.

Bloom it with:
Hot water or coffee for cakes, brownies, and sauces.
Warm cream for mousse, ganache, and fillings.
Melted butter for brownies and dense cookies.
It is a small step that makes a real difference.

Where Grande Brut Cocoa Powder Really Shines

Truffles and finishing dusts: Grande Brut is the classic choice for rolling truffles and dusting tiramisu. Its fine grind gives an even, elegant finish. The color (a deep reddish-brown) looks warm and rich rather than pale or ashy. Dust just before serving for the cleanest result.

Ice cream and Frozen desserts: This is where the higher fat content matters most. Fat stays smooth at cold temperatures in a way that water-based ingredients simply do not, giving frozen desserts a creamier feel and stronger chocolate presence. It works beautifully in ice cream, gelato, frozen mousse cakes, and chocolate sorbet.

Cakes, brownies, and cookies: Grande Brut bakes with a dark color and a flavor that holds up well under heat. Brownies especially benefit as the color goes deeper and the chocolate flavor doesn't fade the way lighter cocoas can. It works equally well in layer cakes, chocolate sponges, muffins, and cookies.

Mousses, ganache, and cream desserts: A spoonful stirred into mousse or ganache deepens both the color and the flavor without adding sweetness. It gives chocolate desserts more complexity and a longer cocoa finish.

Hot chocolate and mocha drinks: Because it is Dutch processed, Grande Brut disperses smoothly into liquid without graininess. For the best texture, whisk it with a small amount of boiling water first to make a paste, then add hot milk. The result is drinking chocolate that actually tastes like chocolate.

Decorative and finishing work: Its fine grind and deep tone make it ideal for:

Decorative and finishing work: Its fine grind and deep tone make it ideal for cocoa-dusted cakes and pastries, chocolate soil for plated desserts, mirror glazes and chocolate sauces, cappuccino stencils, dessert plate garnishes and more.

Everything about it just makes every recipe better!

This recipe is adapted from one by chef Tim Love, in an issue of Food and Wine magazine. This is a delicious rub that uses a bit of sugar to help the meat brown, but cooks over low heat so the sugar doesn't char. The combination of the cocoa powder with the pepper gives a wonderful depth of flavor.

When Dark Muscovado is too dark, try the Light Muscovado! John says this is the best sugar for his morning brew of Indian Chai.

From Mauritius, this sugar retains much of the flavor of the cane. It has a fine, moist texture with a high molasses content and a deep, rich, flavor. Use it in recipes calling for light brown sugar for mouth watering results.

This is an adaptation of a brilliant recipe conceived by Shauna Ahern. She likes to blanch her cauliflower first, but you can just put the florets straight into the oven on a shallow baking sheet. They turn out lovely every time.

Pimenton de la Vera is a paprika made from luscious red peppers (pimientos) grown in the La Vera microclimate of Spain's Extremadura region.

When harvest begins in the fall, entire families get involved. The mature peppers are placed in drying houses, where they are smoke-dried over oak fires—the mark of genuine Pimenton de la Vera.

The dried peppers are then stone-ground into a powder. La Dalia Pimenton de la Vera is D.O. protected and Pimento de la Vera was the first pepper to receive such designation in Spain.

Dulce is the "sweet" version of this smoked paprika (rather than hot-spicy); its hint of sweetness flows through its smoky warm flavor.

The flavor of smoked pimenton is much more complex than Hungarian paprika and is an absolutely essential ingredient for many Spanish dishes.

Use Pimentón de la Vera in all the ways you normally use Hungarian paprika and savor its depth of flavor and smoky complexity. We especially love Pimenton de la Vera on Roasted Chickpeas making a delicious, healthful snack.

Pimenton de la Vera was the first chile pepper product to be granted a Denominaclon de Origen, or controlled name status. Family history and expertise are the soul of Pimenton "la Dalia," a company that has long honored the land, its people and their traditions.

Our basic recipe is delicious and it is when you make variations and changes to this very simple recipe that it becomes yours. Add cream in combination with milk, or use oat milk or coconut milk for a different richness. Add in cinnamon, or sprinkle some on top, dust with more cocoa powder, or with nutmeg or cardamom, or top with a zest of citrus.

Add more or less sugar to match your preferences when you make the base, and then try finishing with different sugars. Don't forget to consider sweet syrups and candy canes.

Consider freeze-dried coffee to a cup, or citrus bitters—actually any bitters will make an interesting change to the personality of the sip.

And of course, use your "milk" (dairy or non) to make a design in the chocolate before you serve. Or go old school with a handful of marshmallows.

Lastly, add a little of your favorite chocolate bar to the mix for a nice, rich difference! Delicious drinking chocolate is a classic comfort food and making it your own is the fun!

No chemicals or nasty synthetic imitations here. Only the best organic vanilla beans are used for cold extraction and its unique aging process. The result? A true vanilla aroma and the purest taste imaginable.

This versatile Bourbon vanilla extract is perfect for all your baking needs. Whenever a recipe calls for vanilla extract or essence, turn to this amazing double-strength vanilla. Freshly harvested each year, this bourbon vanilla extract tastes like vanilla and smells more like a bean than alcohol.

This is double-strength vanilla (two-times the vanilla flavor or less diluted than 1X), it contains no sugar, and is wheat-free.

Double fold extract has 37% alcohol. Using a whey alcohol, this ethanol has no allergens. It is free from dairy and wheat, and has a less offensive alcohol odor.

What's Happening in the Store

Mother's Day Honey Tasting Event - May 9, 2026

Eliza will be talking about Honey! Join us Saturday, May 9 from Noon to 4 pm, for a tasting that celebrates the kind of nuance, depth, and character that deserves a little extra attention. Because just like the best honeys, the best moms aren't one-note.

We'll be sampling a curated lineup that shows just how expressive honey can be—light and floral, rich and herbal, bright, deep, and everything in between. Each one shaped by place, season, and the quiet work of bees doing their thing.

See more about Mother's Day Tasting Event Here!

May 2026 Store Hours
Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm
ChefShop Retail Shop, 1425 Elliott Ave West, Seattle 2 Parking Lots

Mango and cacao come together here in a way that feels both familiar and completely new. This 58% dark chocolate is refined with 100% natural freeze-dried mango, not added as chunks or inclusions. The result is a bar with a delicate golden hue, soft tropical aroma, and velvety smooth texture.

On the palate, it is gently sweet, indulgent, and lingering—comforting yet refined. The mango adds a mellow fruit note that enriches the chocolate's natural warmth, making this bar as easy to savor as it is to love.

For Levelez, pairing cacao with mango is a celebration of Mexico's bounty. By fusing two cherished flavors into one seamless chocolate, this bar reflects the brand's devotion to crafting experiences that feel both inviting and extraordinary.

A classic Spanish Tapas with a Moroccan twist. This is a simple way to add more flavorful Chermoula into your diet, and it's as simple as can be. If you're not used to cooking shrimp, don't be afraid as this recipe is so simple, you'll be making it all the time once you take the plunge and make it the first time.

Just make sure the shrimp are deveined when you buy them and you should be set. This recipe calls for medium shrimp, but can easily be made with bigger shrimp, although the bigger the shrimp, the longer the cooking time. Serve over angel-hair pasta.

This is a dark chocolate with presence—smooth, expressive, and unapologetically spicy. Crafted with 70% Jamaican cacao and infused with fiery Scotch Bonnet pepper, this bar delivers a slow-building wave of heat that unfolds as the chocolate melts, warming the palate and sharpening the cocoa's natural intensity.

The heat doesn't arrive all at once. It blooms gradually, allowing the deep, rounded chocolate to lead before the pepper asserts itself with a bright, lingering kick. The result is bold but balanced: rich cacao, a flash of tropical fire, and a finish that stays with you long after the last bite.

Made bean-to-bar at origin in Jamaica, Likkle More's approach keeps flavor close to its source, celebrating both local cacao and one of the Caribbean's most iconic peppers. Each bar is finished with the brand's signature cocoa-butter splatter, a visual cue that what's inside is anything but ordinary.

This bar is for heat lovers, adventurous palates, and anyone who enjoys chocolate that pushes boundaries.

Without a doubt, some of the best sweetened dried cranberries we have ever tasted. None of that super-sweet stuff here. These cranberries are sweetened with a touch of all natural sugar so they are not overly sweet, and you can still taste that great cranberry flavor.

Amongst making fruitcake, fruit breads, it is a regular in my oatmeal. Get the benefits of the cranberry and some flavor and bite and sweetness, too!

Inside this very classic pry-top can is housed minty fresh mints, all wrapped individually. So you can steal a couple for your pocket or purse, seal it back up, and give them away. And no one will know.

Or, skip the giving away and throw the can in the car for that long trip to the country when holiday traffic is so bad.

Uncle Joe's mints "keep you all aglow"! This is made with the premium English Mint. Who would think just three ingredients could make the most delicious mint candy.

Uncle Joe's masterfully blends golden brown cane sugar, cream of tartar, and oil of peppermint to create a treat that keeps you on the happy side. The recipe has remained a closely guarded secret, but these refreshing minty treats are still manufactured in the traditional way, over open gas fires.

Perhaps the very best on the planet, it's not just a "mint", not just a "candy"; we consider Uncle Joe's Mint Balls a food.

Whether you soak them in gin made with juniper for drunken raisins or eat them out of the bag in the palm of your hand, these raisins are so much better than the raisins in the little box you had in your lunch at school!

Just a few are satisfying and good for your brain, and your teeth, too!

Munch on a bag of raisins to curb your candy desires!

Raisins contain iron, vitamin C, calcium, boron (essential for bone health and osteoporosis prevention by helping absorb minerals like calcium and magnesium), kaempferol flavonoid (may reduce your risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease with its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent), quercetin (antihistamine properties), catechins phytonutrient (may help to oxidize fat and improve your cognitive power!), and oleanic acid, which makes this candy a fighter of tooth decay by attacking the bacteria that causes cavities.

Golden raisins (which, because they are organic, are actually light brown) have more of the above than dark raisins, except for the nutrient that makes you smarter.

"Made for me originally by a friend, in a wonderful cottage on the lake. We sat with friends and ate the nuts along with a cool drink. Who would think that nuts, as simple as this, would be so perfect on one summer afternoon! Cheers!" Based on Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe Bar nut recipe. If your are in NYC have dinner there!

A handful of mixed nuts is hard to beat. Finding the right mix is harder than you think. And that's where Fastachi's Cranberry Nut Mix, which has been with us for virtually forever, comes into play.

This bag of mixed nuts with cranberries is our go-to, always-have-in-hand staple—the best bag of nuts you can find.

This mix, the nuts themselves, hand-salted with sea salt to perfection, double-sifted to ensure whole nuts in your hand, with just the right combination of soft, hard, harder, crunchie, salty. It just doesn't get much better than this.

A handful of the right nuts is a good mouthful for creating joy for life!

This "service pack" of ChefShop cocoa powder is designed for commercial users like baristas, bakers, and gelato makers. It is sealed in a thick zip-lock style bag for production baking with a Plain Jane label.

Price relative to quantity is also a crucial part of the commercial kitchen — quality and consistency relative to cost. The resealable bag keeps the cocoa powder fresh for a good long time.

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