Last August I made a culinary discovery that I have been meaning to share with you ever since. If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, mine is cobblestoned with boxes of Droste cocoa ("cacao") powder.

Droste is not just any cocoa powder. Dark, rich and super chocolatey, it exposes its brethren as the bland piles of brown dust that they really are. With Droste, gone are the days of brown cookies and cakes passing for chocolate.

To really highlight the power of Droste, let’s look at the vegan chocolate pudding I wrote about last August. If you dared to try it, you may have found that it tasted just a touch “healthy”. Regular run of the mill cocoa powder just didn’t have the strength to carry the avocado-based pudding from the land of vegan dessert alternative to that of the sinfully decadent. Well, Droste does. With just that one simple ingredient swap, the pudding transforms into a true dessert - so thick and fudge-y, that a glass of milk becomes a mandatory companion.

Since I can’t offer you a taste test, see the difference for yourself:

Don’t let the smirking nun on the box*, or the price ($9-$15 per 8 oz box) deter you from trying Droste. The end result is well worth it. Afterall, if you’re going to take the time to make something chocolate, shouldn’t it actually taste like chocolate?

*Move over Rembrandt, the Netherland’s real contribution to the art world is the Droste Effect - the effect of a picture recurring within a picture. Take a closer look at the box above. See how the nun is holding a Droste box, which also has a picture of her holding the Droste box? Droste was the first to do that. Here are some other examples of the Droste Effect:

Tartufo

The Droste Effect