My struggle choosing between cocoa powders for a chocolate cake

Last weekend I was baking a double chocolate layer cake for my niece's birthday and got stuck deciding between Dutch-processed and natural cocoa powder. I went with Dutch-processed because I read it gives a richer flavor, but my cake came out way too dense and almost flat. I think the baking soda in my recipe didn't react right with the Dutch cocoa. Has anyone else had this issue and found a good way to swap one for the other?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jenny17d ago

12 tablespoons of butter and a whole cup of sugar for that frosting? Man, that is a lot of fat for a cake that already sounds heavy. I mean, Dutch-processed cocoa is usually more mellow, but it really does need buttermilk or something acidic to lift it up with baking soda. Maybe next time try swapping it with natural cocoa and see if the texture gets better, or just use baking powder instead of soda.

matthewkim17d ago

Dutch made mine flop too, now I just use natural cocoa and it bakes up fluffy every time.