Cocoa liquor can be processed further. It is made up of two different components – cocoa butter and cocoa powder – that are both essential for several different applications.
From liquor to powder
These two components can only be separated by pressing the liquid cocoa liquor through a very fine sieve. In fact, it is poured into cylindrical tubes and compressed under high pressure. The cocoa butter that is fine enough to pass through a microscopically fine sieve is collected separately while the cocoa solids remain pressed together in the cylinder and resembles a flattened cake.
At the end of the pressing procedure, this cake is removed and ground further in different stages into a very fine cocoa powder.