I Need a Simple-Yet-Impressive Cake Recipe

SU: What was once a naturally acidic ingredient, natural cocoa powder, was now alkalized to become neutral and it doesn't react the same way in a recipe anymore, it's not acidic.

JS: Exactly. So, if you have chemical leaveners going on, it's not going to react with them at all. Versus, if you're using natural cocoa powder, it's going to mingle with baking soda or baking powder and go, shhh, and produce bubbles.

SU: Is there a difference in the taste between natural and Dutch processed cocoa powder?

JS: Yes. And I can attest to this because my partner just tried it for the first time last week and he was like, “Whoa, this is really good.” There is a difference. I think that chocolate has a lot of off flavors naturally. Off flavors, it's aggressive, it's very acidic, it's very bitter, it's-

SU: It's a fermented product, yeah.

JS: It's a fermented product, it's intense. And this Dutching process really softens and tones it down and strips it of those really harsh flavors and you're left with a very pleasantly bitter, deep, dark chocolate flavor is how I think of it. Dutch processed, it tastes more like chocolate, it's softer. I love Dutch processed cocoa.

SU: I agree.

JS: And it makes a huge difference.

SU: It does. Are there any brands that we like in particular?

JS: As a test kitchen, I think every one of us gravitate towards Guittard, it's called Coco Rouge, because it has a slight red tint to it. It's really, really, really lovely. If you can find it, it's worth the little bit of splurge, for sure. I think maybe the most common variety you can find is it's not even labeled, obviously, it's labeled Hershey's Special Dark and it's right next to the regular natural Hershey's and that is actually Dutch. So, you can use that in any recipe that calls for Dutch processed cocoa powder.

SU: Mm-hmm. Finally, for a little extra credit that we snuck into the head note for this recipe, it's instant espresso powder. Jesse, do you want to talk about why instant espresso powder is a good idea in chocolate cake specifically?

JS: Sure. Basically, instant espresso powder mimics those bitter, sweet, chocolatey, rich, caramelized notes that chocolate does. So, oftentimes, bakers will add a bit to chocolate desserts, not necessarily for a coffee flavor, but just to heighten those nice notes that we want to capture out of chocolate, yeah.

SU: Yeah. They're related, they're both beans of plants-

JS: Yeah, they're both dark roasted.

SU: … they're both roasted, they're both fermented so it makes sense why they pair so well together. And do we want to talk about the fact that the instant espresso powder is a different beast from instant coffee powder?

JS: It is, yes. The granules are much finer in espresso powder, I find. And also it's just you can get that deep chocolate flavor with less. It's a much more intense punch of bitter, earthy flavor versus coffee.