Great questions, Agata. -Cocoa powder has a good amount of fat in it. The boiling water allows that fat to melt so that the cocoa be mixed homogeneously throughout your batter. When using a cold liquid with cocoa, it doesn't become very cohesive, and then the cocoa powder sucks up as much moisture has it can while the cake bakes, leaving you with very dry results. -Cutting sugar in half would be risky, as shown in our blog article, How to reduce sugar in cake. However, you should be able to cut the sugar down in this recipe anywhere from 10%-25% without it compromising the texture of the final product. Happy baking! Annabelle@KAF

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