I want to try a chocolate cake recipe here on CC but it calls for Hershey's cocoa..I cannot get Hershey's cocoa here but I do have a bag of Hershey's chocolate chips.Can I melt the chips and add them...If so how do I know how much to add? The cocoa ratio for the recipe is 3/4 cup

Can you tell I am not a scratch baker....

Thanks

No. Cocoa powder is a drying agent in cakes and chocolate chips are not. The recipe is not going to come out the same. It might be possible to add flour to replace the drying agent, but I don't think that will work.

You must have some kind of cocoa powder available in Canada.

I don't think you can do that. Can you find another brand of cocoa powder? I don't know what other chocolate companies make cocoa, but here are a few that might. Cadbury, Ghiradelli, Nestle, Godiva, Lindt. Maybe there is a store brand?

Good luck!

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/02/cocoa-powder-faq-dutch-process-v/

Here is a link to a great article all about cocoa powders. It gives suggestions for shopping resources, too.

Well we do have cocoa powder in out stores and I have it at home but it's not Hershey's so I guess I'll just use that since the chips are not the same.

Thanks for letting me know that is wouldn't work!!!

The only thing to watch out for if you buy a different brand is if it's Dutch press or not. Hershey's is NOT Dutch press, so try to avoid buying any kind that is.

The cocoa I have is a store brand..I just say premium quality on the can but nothing else...I think it will be fine!!

Go read that article by David Lebovitz that I posted.
He states that Hershey's cocoa is natural, not dutched. He states that natural is not commonly found in countries other than USA. He also stated that substituting one for the other could cause the recipe to not turn out as well as could be. I think he said what to add if you are using dutched and the recipe calls for natural. Science is so fascinating!

That article is interesting..I had no idea the science behind cocoa...Thanks for posting the link!!