What is the difference between sweetened and unsweetened cocoa powder (besides the obvious)?
Well, the recipe does call for quite a bit of sugar….2 cups. I would think you would want to decrease the amount of white sugar by a 1/4 cup if you use the sweetened cocoa. At the same time you will also want to increase the amount of the sweetened cocoa to have enough cocoa in the mix. Just play it by ear, taste the mix and adjust the amount of sweetened cocoa till you get the taste you want. Be careful though, Cocoa tends to “develope” (get a little stronger tasting and darker in color) after a few minutes, so you can overdo it. I wouldn’t think any additional milk products that may be in the cocoa mix will effect the cake. The recipe already calls for butter and sour cream…both milk products, of course. If anything you will just end up with more of a “milk chocolate” taste. Yummy!
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used. It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids. Its delicate flavor makes it ideal in baked goods like European cakes and pastries where its subtle flavor complements other ingredient Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder tastes very bitter and gives a deep chocolate flavor to baked goods. Its intense flavor makes it well suited for use in brownies, cookies and some chocolate cakes. When natural cocoa (an acid) is used in recipes calling for baking soda (an alkali), it creates a leavening action that causes the batter to rise when placed in the oven.
