You Might Be Using the Wrong Cocoa Powder

Chocolate is a foundational flavor in desserts, from cakes and brownies to mousse and ice cream. If you want to make a decadent chocolate dessert at home, one thing you need to stock in your pantry is cocoa powder. But walking the aisles of the grocery store and reading recipes, you may have noticed there are many types of cocoa. Read on to learn the difference between common types and how to use them correctly.

What is Cocoa Powder?

Cocoa powder is the solids from ground, dried cocoa beans. The beans are ground and separated into cocoa butter and solids, which are processed further, dried, and packaged as cocoa powder. Cocoa powder should not be confused with cocoa mix, a combination of cocoa powder, sugar, and sometimes other ingredients to mix with water or milk to make hot cocoa. Cocoa powder has a highly concentrated chocolate flavor and packs much more of a punch than chocolate chips or bars. It is unsweetened and can be extremely bitter if consumed on its own.

Common Types of Cocoa Powder and When to Use Them

Dutch Process

The term “Dutch” refers to a process the cocoa goes through. The powder is processed with a chemical called potassium carbonate to raise the pH and slightly alkalize the cocoa. Why alkalize? Because the process reduces the acidity naturally present in cocoa and gives it a deeper, chocolatier flavor. This process pulls the pH of the cocoa to about 7, or neutral, meaning it is not overly acidic or alkalized. Removing the top note of acid lets the true chocolate flavor emerge and be more pronounced. 

Tamping down the acidity while not tipping into fully alkaline territory means Dutch cocoa is super versatile and doesn’t react to acidic or alkaline ingredients such as leaveners or buttermilk. Reach for Dutch cocoa for recipes leavened with baking powder, which don’t need an acid to rise, or dessert recipes that don’t call for leaveners, such as brownies or chocolate pudding. 

Natural Cocoa

Unlike Dutched cocoa, natural cocoa has all the natural acidity of the cacao beans. It also has a sharper, more complex flavor with some nuanced fruity and floral notes. Dutch-processed cocoa punches you in the face with concentrated chocolate flavor, while natural cocoa lets you taste the many subtleties of chocolate. Because of its higher acidity, natural cocoa powder is used in baked goods that use baking soda since it needs an acid to react and rise. Natural cocoa is also great in unleavened sweets, when you want a fruity, bittersweet flavor, or desserts that combine chocolate with other flavors. 

Black Cocoa

Black cocoa gets its name from its inky color. Small doses are even used as a natural food coloring due to its saturated color. You probably know black cocoa best from its most common use: Oreo cookies. Black cocoa takes the Dutch process several steps further, yielding a much more alkalized product. This process also reduces the fat in the cocoa, so black cocoa is best for baked goods where you want a crisp or snappy texture; it doesn’t perform well in moist chocolate cakes. Black cocoa can also be a great addition to fudgy brownies since brownies usually contain much more fat, so they can easily compensate for black cocoa’s low fat. Black cocoa is the least bitter and acidic of all types of cocoa powder and infuses recipes with an extremely smooth chocolate flavor.

Red Cocoa

Sometimes called rouge cocoa, red cocoa powder is technically a type of Dutched cocoa. It sits between classic Dutch cocoa and black cocoa at the midpoint of alkalization. Red cocoa is named for its rich mahogany color. What makes it so special is its high fat content, nearly double what’s present in Dutch cocoa. Pair red cocoa with other fatty ingredients like butter in a frosting recipe or cream cheese in a decadent no-bake chocolate cheesecake. 

How to Substitute Cocoa Powders

Due to the precise chemical reactions that need to happen, it’s best to avoid swapping cocoa powders when possible. However, sometimes substitutions are unavoidable in situations when half your chocolate cake batter is already made. If your recipe doesn’t call for leaveners—baking powder, baking soda, yeast, etc.—you have the green light to use any cocoa powder. It might impact the flavor, but no chemical issues will arise. 

If a recipe calls for natural cocoa and is leavened with baking powder, it’s best not to swap it in Dutched or any other low-acid cocoa powder. If you absolutely must, use an equal amount of cocoa powder and replace a couple of tablespoons of whatever dairy the recipe calls for with an acidic form of dairy like buttermilk or sour cream. The results won’t be precisely the same, but it won’t be a disaster. 

If a recipe calls for a Dutched cocoa powder and baking powder and you only have natural cocoa, you can swap them with no alterations—but the end result will be more bitter and acidic with less of a chocolate flavor. If a recipe doesn’t specify, look at what leaveners it calls for and let that guide you. In the case of recipes that call for baking soda and baking powder, any type of cocoa powder is likely OK, but Dutched powder is a safer choice since it doesn’t add an acid that isn’t intended to be in the recipe.