How to change a vanilla cake recipe to make a chocolate cake? I've seen this question about how to alter a chocolate cake recipe to make a plain cake, my question is the other way around, how to alter a vanilla cake recipe to make a chocolate cake? I read in a website that replacing 1/2 cup of flour with cocoa powder would do, is that right? I'd like to know a formula to use for every recipe but in case that is not possible and depends on the recipe one is using, here is the recipe for my vanilla cake:


  4 eggs
  1 and 1/2 cups sugar
  1 cup oil
  1 cup buttermilk
  2 and 1/2 cups flour
  2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
  1 tsp baking soda
  1 tsp vanilla powder
I did this as an experiment last month, because I wanted a marble cake. The part that I wanted chocolate, I just swapped out a half-cup of the flour for cocoa. I should note, however, that while it tasted great, it made a denser, slightly drier cake than did the white cake batter. Next time, I plan to add a couple of teaspoons of grapeseed oil and some extra baking powder to counteract that problem.