On Food and Cooking

flour only, and no wheat flour at all.

Standard    Cake    Proportions and Qualities

In chocolate cakes, cocoa powder takes on
some of the water-absorbing and structural
duties of flour; it’s around 50% carbohydrate,
including starch, and 20% nongluten protein.
Cocoa powders may be “natural” and acidic or
“dutched” and alkaline (p. 705), a difference
that affects both leavening and flavor balance;
cake recipes should specify which kind to use,
and the baker should not substitute one for the
other. If chocolate rather than cocoa is used, it
must be melted and carefully incorporated
into the fat or eggs. Different chocolates
contain widely varying proportions of cocoa
fat, cocoa solids, and sugar (p. 704), so again,
bakers and recipes should be clear about what