I am researching no-dye red velvet recipes and I know it's important to have unprocessed cocoa to get the right chemical reaction for the reddening of the cake. But how do I tell if the cocoa is unprocessed??

Is Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder unprocessed?? It doesn't say anywhere on the container.

Ghirardelli is natural unsweetened, not Dutch-processed.

Here's an article that should be helpful to you: http://www.joyofbaking.com/cocoa.html

A-ha, thank you! BUT, if it's acidic, which accounts for the reaction that makes the cake red, but needs baking soda (alkali) to leaven, how do I get leavening if I leave out the baking soda!!??

I think I better test all of these recipes this week :/

You don't leave out the baking soda. It's the reaction between the acidic cocoa powder and the alkali baking soda that causes the reddish hue. Don't forget that there's vinegar and buttermilk in there increasing the acidity of the batter. Without the reaction between the acids and the alkali bs, producing carbon dioxide bubbles, the cake would not rise.

Aaaahhh, thank you!