Cocoas and powdered sugar often clump upon storage and we recommend sifting before using your dry measuring cups.
1. Sift your dry ingredient in a bowl, using a larger than required amount.
2. Using the exact sized measuring cup called for, dip it into your ingredient so that it overfills the cup.
3. Scrape off the excess with a straight edge implement, such as an icing spatula.
Do you always use that type of sifter? Do you not use a regular flour sifter?
When I learned to bake growing up my Mom always had a flour sifter. When I started working in bakeries we would just grab a big mesh strainer and use that. It made so much sense to me as a strainer is a multi-purpose tool that most people have in their kitchen. Nothing wrong with a flour sifter, but the point is that you do not need to buy this specialized tool. The only caveat is that your mesh strainer has to have the right size mesh…not too big and not too tightly woven.