Natural Cocoa Powder vs. Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder

Have you ever thought about different types of cocoa powder? Confused?

Welcome back to my series of baking basics where I try my best to clear the doubts of bakers’ about baking. If you are a curious baker like me grab a cup of hot chocolate just like me and let us go on a chocolaty ride to explore the world of cocoa powders. 

Before I get into the depth of differences in these two, first you have to get some knowledge about What is cocoa powder and How does it derived?

Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is the dry solid remains of fermented, dried, and roasted cacao beans. The beans are cracked into nibs, and then grounded to form a smooth paste. After roasting, the beans have their hulls removed and are then processed to extract their fat, which is known as cocoa butter. The leftover solids are further ground into what eventually is sold as cocoa powder.

Natural Cocoa Powder

Natural cocoa powder is untreated, so its light reddish brown in color and is slightly acidic, with a pH between 5-6. Natural cocoa powder is made from cocoa beans that are roasted and then ground into a fine powder after most of the fat is removed. Natural cocoa powder is acidic and often paired with baking soda (an alkali) in recipes to neutralize its metallic taste and create carbon dioxide bubbles that help baked goods rise in the oven.

Dutch processed cocoa powder

First let’s understand why do we need to dutch cocoa? Cocoa is very acidic and our tummies can’t take it much, so it is important to tone it down in pH levels so that we can enjoy it without having bouts of acidity. This toning down of pH levels or alkalization is known as dutch process.

Dutch-process cocoa is made from beans that have been washed in an alkaline solution that neutralizes the acidity and raises its pH level closer to 7 or sometimes more in heavily alkalized powders, so it’s darker, smoother, and less bitter than natural cocoa.

The Dutch process

• Lowers Acidity
• Increases Solubility
• Changes Color
• Smooths Flavor

How does it affect baking

The neutral pH of powder that has been Dutch processed is its key characteristic when it comes to incorporating it into recipes. Lets understand it with an example: if you want your moist chocolate cake, to rise appropriately, using dutch processed cocoa with baking soda will not be a good idea if the recipe does not calls for any other acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, vinegar.

Substitute one type of cocoa for the other. The two types of cocoa have a different pH, so recipes will call for one or the other. It’s best to use the type of cocoa called for in a recipe, but in a pinch, you can try to substitute natural cocoa for Dutch-process and vice versa but it may affect the way baked goods look, taste and rise.

• Combine 3 tablespoons (22 g) of natural cocoa with ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 g) of baking soda to replicate Dutch-process.
• Combine 3 tablespoons (22 g) of Dutch-process cocoa with ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml) of lemon juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar to replicate natural cocoa.

When to use Dutch vs Natural

Using the wrong type of cocoa will can result in dense, gooey textures or soapy, bitter flavors.

If a recipe (such as: hot cocoa, sauces, frostings, some brownies) does not call for any chemical leavener such as baking powder or baking soda you can use any of the cocoa powder that you like.

But recipes with leavening are a different story. Leavening work in concert with the acidity of the ingredients in the recipe to produce the right texture, color and flavour in the product, so it is best to use the specific type of cocoa in the recipe.

So in simple words, If a recipe lists a majority of baking powder , go for dutch-processed cocoa. If baking soda is largest, natural cocoa powder is the one you want to use.

References:

• Sallys baking addiction
• Wikipedia
• The Chocolate and Coffee Bible by Catherine Atkinson
• Photo by samer daboul from Pexels