While I ate more than my fair share of sugar over the holiday season, I didn’t really get my chocolate fix. I had lots of delicious cookies and pies, but I was craving cake. Not just any cake though – a rich, double chocolate layer cake! Nothing fancy, shmancy though – no piping, splitting layers, or elaborate recipes that take all day. I was craving a good, old-fashioned chocolate layer cake, so that’s exactly what I made! =) I used one of my favorite recipes for classic chocolate cake – the one on the back of Hershey’s cocoa. This was my first time using Hershey’s special dark cocoa though, and if you’re a dark chocolate fan like me, you’ll appreciate this version even more than the original. I actually halved the recipe and made a 6-inch layer cake instead of 9-inch, since there are only two of us and it worked out perfectly. The cake is very moist with lots of chocolate flavor and the icing is the perfect compliment. And best of all, is that you probably have all the ingredients you need already on hand! So what are you waiting for? Go make some chocolate cake! 😉 Enjoy!
Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake
for the cake:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed with mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
for the frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
3. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.
*from Hershey’s Kitchens
Notes: Recipes (both cake and frosting) can be halved to yield 2 6-inch layers. Adjust bake time to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
