Here's everything worth knowing about creme de cacao and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 44 recipes to cook tonight.

What is creme de cacao?

Creme de cacao is a sweet chocolate liqueur, and despite the "creme" in its name it contains no cream. The word signals heavy sweetening, the old French label for a liqueur poured thick and syrupy with sugar.

It comes two ways. Dark (or brown) creme de cacao carries a roasted, cocoa-forward flavor and tints whatever it touches. White (clear) creme de cacao tastes nearly the same but leaves a drink or batter its original color.

Most bottles also carry a vanilla note, since vanilla is part of the traditional recipe.

Reach for the clear one when color matters and the dark one when you want visible chocolate depth. That single choice is the most practical thing to know about it.

How to Use Creme de Cacao

It is a finishing flavor, not a base spirit. In cocktails it carries chocolate without melting anything, which is why it anchors the Grasshopper family. Easy Grasshopper Pie and Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie both fold it together with creme de menthe for that mint-chocolate combination.

A Polar Bear or Golden Cadillacs leans on it for the cocoa half of a creamy after-dinner drink.

In the kitchen it belongs in desserts. A splash deepens chocolate batters and mousses without thinning them too much, the way Chocolate Fudge Cake (A. K. A. Death By Chocolate) and Cappuccino Pound Cake use it to round out cocoa and coffee.

It also poaches fruit beautifully, as in Pears De Cacao.

Because it is already sweet, count it as part of the sugar in a recipe. Add a tablespoon or two to a custard or whipped cream and pull back slightly on the other sweeteners so the result is not cloying.

Add it off the heat or near the end of cooking. Long boiling drives off the alcohol you want for aroma and can leave a flat, oversweet residue.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Chocolate liqueur loves what chocolate loves: mint, coffee, vanilla, hazelnut, and orange. That is why it slips so easily into a Brandy Alexander, a Mocha Kisses, or any dessert built on those flavors.

The most common mistake is grabbing the wrong color. Dark creme de cacao will muddy a pale pink or green cocktail to brown, so a Grasshopper or a white Alexander wants the clear version. Check the bottle before you pour.

The other slip is treating it like a full-strength spirit. At roughly 20 to 25% alcohol it is far weaker than vodka or rum, so a recipe that calls for it as the main flavor needs a real pour, not a cautious splash.

Substitutes

The closest swap is another chocolate liqueur, such as a cream-based one like a chocolate Baileys, though those add dairy and dial back the alcohol. For drinks that works fine; for baking it changes the texture.

No liqueur on hand? Stir a little chocolate syrup or melted unsweetened chocolate plus a splash of vanilla into the dish, and add a teaspoon of rum or brandy if you want the boozy lift. It will not be identical, but it covers the chocolate-and-vanilla role.

For a non-alcoholic version, use chocolate syrup with a drop of vanilla and reduce the recipe's other sugar to match.

Buying and Storing Creme de Cacao

Buy both colors if you make cocktails often, since they are not interchangeable on the plate. If you only buy one, the dark version is the more useful all-rounder for baking and rich drinks, where its deeper cocoa flavor earns its place and color rarely matters.

Brands vary widely in sweetness and chocolate intensity. Taste a new bottle before you commit it to a careful dessert and adjust the sugar accordingly.

Like most liqueurs it keeps a long time. Sealed, it lasts for years; opened, the high sugar and alcohol guard it, but the chocolate and vanilla aromatics slowly fade, so it is at its best within a year or so of opening.

Store it upright in a cool, dark cupboard with the cap tight. Refrigeration is not required, though a chilled bottle pours nicely into a creamy cocktail.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Food group: Creme de cacao is a member of the Beverages US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

奶酪和可可

British (UK) term

Creme de cacao

en français

crème de cacao

en español

crema de cacao

How much does creme de cacao weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 fl oz	34 grams
1 jigger 1.5 fl oz	52 grams

Related

Beverages

Recipes using creme de cacao

There are 44 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 44 recipes