— Katherine Fenstermaker Fenstermaker

This is foundational information that anyone who wants to bake delicious and reliable desserts needs to know. I have seen too many recipes that say, for example, half a cup of flour, half a cup of cocoa powder, what kind of cocoa powder? There are two main types of cocoa powder. One is natural or non alkalies. The other is alkalized cocoa powder, often seen as Dutch cocoa powder or European style. And within the Dutch cocoa powder you will see black cocoa, which I do not recommend for anything maybe more than a tablespoon for color. It's just highly, highly alkali. So if the recipe does not tell you which kind of cocoa powder to use, look at the leavening in the recipe. If the recipe contains baking powder or mostly baking powder, maybe a little bit of baking soda, but it's baking powder reliant, that is your clue to use Dutch process. If the recipe uses calls for mostly baking soda or all baking soda, that's your clue to use natural cocoa powder. It will absolutely make a difference in the way that a batter based dessert bakes or tastes. Uh, and by that I mean a cake or a muffin. If you're making hot cocoa, you can use the one that you like the best.