guide
Carob in the kitchen
A Mediterranean pod with a sweet, toasty powder for baking.
Carob is a Mediterranean evergreen, also called locust bean or St John's bread. The tree makes pods. When the pods are ripe, the pulp inside is taken out, roasted, and ground.
That powder is what traveled. It tastes sweet without added sugar, and a little toasty. Bakers put it in cakes, desserts, and drinks, often in the place cocoa would go. Eaten plain, the powder is dry, so it is better mixed with something else.
Next to cacao, the difference in the cup is simple. Carob pulp comes from the pod. Cacao comes from the seeds of a Central and South American fruit, and those seeds are fermented and ground. Carob is naturally sweet and has no caffeine. Cacao is naturally bitter, and it does have caffeine.
The trees
Pod
Carob
Ceratonia siliqua
A Mediterranean evergreen, also called locust bean or St John's bean. The pulp inside the ripe pods is roasted and ground. The powder is naturally sweet and a little toasty, and it has no caffeine. Bakers use it where a recipe might otherwise call for cocoa.