Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Have you decided on your Easter dessert yet? If you haven't got one of these adorable Easter lamb molds, how about a good old fashioned chocolate cake?

Years ago, I found a delicious chocolate cake recipe in a magazine. It used boiling water and cocoa and was easy to make. More importantly, it was so moist and tender that it always wowed anyone who took a bite. It became my go-to chocolate cake recipe. So when I decided to bake a chocolate cake for a dinner party not long ago, I scoured my bookshelves for the decades-old tattered magazine that contained the recipe. Unfortunately, it was missing in action -- not to be found anywhere I looked.

At the same time however, Jamie, author of "Life's A Feast" blog, posted a chocolate cake recipe that looked and sounded delicious - and very similar to the one of my memory. Except that she substituted hot coffee for the boiling water called for in the recipe I remembered -- an inspired decision since the coffee makes the chocolate flavor even more "chocolate-y."

Since then, I found the original recipe, not in that magazine that seems to have disappeared -- but from Hershey's Chocolate Company's website. It's called the "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake.

I would have to agree -- and I'll bet you will too.

Make it with the chocolate frosting they suggest. Or with Jamie's Chocolate Mocha Mascarpone Frosting recipe here.  I love chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Especially when there's a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

But this time, I wanted to make a chocolate mousse filling and a white buttercream frosting for contrast. If you want the chocolate mousse filling recipe, click here.  For the buttercream icing, I don't even use a recipe per se. I just dump a box of confectioner's sugar into my mixer, add about 1/4 cup of softened butter and mix. Add enough milk (and 1 teaspoon of vanilla) to bring it to spreading consistency.

Just to shake things up (and cover up any imperfections in frosting) I smeared the sides of the cake with chocolate Jimmies (maybe you call them sprinkles in your neck of the woods). 

The top decoration is easy to do too. Just pipe parallel lines in chocolate over the white frosting, then run a toothpick back and forth in the other direction to create the design.

Give it a try. Even if you're a beginning baker, it's a cinch to make and the taste is dreamy.

Speaking of dreamy, isn't this a gorgeous place? You could be here too in September, if you enroll in our writing retreat on Lake Como, Italy. We've just had to change the dates to make it a week earlier because of a government meeting that will take place during our original week. But the good news is that Villa Monastero, (in the photo below) where we'll be staying, has given us a price break because of the change, and we're passing that on to you. So click onto Italy, In Other Words to find out more, or contact me via the blog.

Check out Ciao Chow Linda's Instagram page here to see more of what I'm cooking up each day. You can also connect with me on here on Facebook, here for my Pinterest page, here for my Twitter feed.

Happy Easter.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

printable recipe here

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water (I use a cup of hot coffee instead)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. (I used three 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 of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (or coffee) (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.

  

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.

Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.