Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake

I made this cake for my brother's birthday (beginning of April). Originally, I wanted to make this old-fashioned chocolate cake from America's Test Kitchen, except seeing all that butter made me change my mind. Instead, I chose this recipe that used the healthier vegetable oil for making a moist chocolate cake. This cake was so good that my family requested for another one the next day. So I made another one, and used some of the leftover frosting to frost part of the cake. I made the second cake with my friend and it only took a few minutes to whip up. It's always nice to have a helper when baking. :)

Because I baked two cakes at the same time, I had to put the cakes into the oven side by side. What happened was that my cake was puffier on one side than the other one because the sides of the cakes that were in the middle of the oven did not rise as much. To solve this problem, you can rotate the pans halfway through baking, or you can just match up the puffy side and unpuffy side of the two layers and make an evenly leveled cake.

This was my first layer cake ever and I was so excited to frost it. It was so easy to make. In fact, this recipe reminded me of the easy chocolate cupcakes I made before. Also, after tasting this cake and looking at it, I was reminded of that humongous chocolate cake in Matilda, the movie. I don't know if you ever watched it, but in the movie and the book, this boy was forced to eat a whole chocolate cake by the mean principal.

I was inspired to make this cake when I saw it here.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake
Recipe slightly adapted from Hershey's
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1 3/4 cups white sugar, I reduced the sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY®'S Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water + 2 tsp of instant espresso

7 tbsp butter, softened
2/3 cup HERSHEY®'S Cocoa Powder
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup milk, warm
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and dust two 9-inch round cake pans with cocoa powder.
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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 with the instant espresso. (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
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You just have to eye it when portioning the batter.
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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. Frost with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting.
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Bumpy!
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4.To make "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting: Bring butter to room temperature. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.
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Frosting the first layer!
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Place the second layer on top.
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Frost the whole thing and pipe decorations if desired.
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Cut the cake~
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5.One Pan Cake: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

6.Three Layer Cake: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350 F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

7.Cupcakes: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350 F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

12 comments:

  1. I remember the cake in Matilda! It looked so good- every time I watched it, I though I wouldn't have minded eating the cake myself! :D Your cake looks delicious too! I actually remember seeing this recipe a couple of years ago when i first started baking, but I didn't end up making it....I was thinking of making a chocolate cake soon- I might have to try this recipe now! :)

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  2. wow, this is very beautiful! The frosting is nice, the piping looks pretty, with that perfectly choc, this cake is definately perfect!

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  3. I love Hersey's so I can perfectly imagine that this cake must be heavenly...! So sad that I cannot get Hersey's here...:(. I recently just watched Matilda, you're right, the cake looks just like the one in the film ;).

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  4. Hey Esther,

    Nice job for a 1st attempt on a layer cake. I'm sure there will be more layer cakes to come in future =]

    I realised that this is one recipe that uses a whole lot of liquid (2 1/2 cups in total), no wonder you mentioned the batter is quite thin. But I bet that contributed to the moistness of the cake.

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  5. surely this must be heaven-sent chocolate cake... so yummy... leave me a piece will you? :)

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  6. wow...love this splendid cake..beautiful presentation...
    visiting your blog for the first time..awesome space you have...excellent clicks..
    happy to follow u..:)
    do stop by mine sometime.
    Tasty Appetite

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  7. Sorry everyone, I feel like I’m responding to my comments less frequently. I’ve been occupied with other things. After tomorrow, I’ll be more free! AP’s will be over. :D

    Von, I loved reading the book. :) Thanks! Just remember to stock up on your cocoa powder, because this recipe uses a ton. I chose this recipe because I wanted a easy cake that I wouldn’t mess up on.

    Thanks Cathy!

    Lena, Thanks. I still need to learn how to make the piping prettier. Some parts were really lopsided. It is perfect for a chocolate lover. :D

    Cooking Gallery, Yea, their chocolate is delicious! Well I’m sure you can get other good quality cocoa powder or chocolate there, maybe those that are even better than Hershey’s. I want to watch that movie again! I haven’t watched it in such a long time.

    Bakertan, Thank you! I want to try out some of your layer cakes. Maybe I’ll try out your sponge cake or the black forest cake. Yea, I also chose this recipe because it didn’t use butter, instead it used vegetable oil = more moist.

    Olivia, Ok! :D

    Jay, Thank you for visiting. Honestly, I think some of my pictures are pretty sloppy. :/ I have to work on that. You have a nice cooking blog =)

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  8. OMG, see what I miss when I'm out of blogging for a long time. Been very ill but I'm much better now. Not bed ridden haha. This is an amazing cake! And I LOVE Hersheys! Honestly Esther, all your baking is just brilliantly perfect. Wish you were my neighbour! Haha ;). How are you doing anyway? I've got a lot of catching up to do lol.

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  9. Sharon, I hope you feel better!! I've missed your uplifting posts, your funny posts, fashion posts, all your posts. ;) Trust me, not everything turns out perfectly. I've had lots of spills, figuratively. But, I totally wish you were my neighbor too! I've been doing fine. Just a bit tired. How about you?? Take care!

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  10. I baked this for my friend's birthday and she liked it! She said it was "SO CHOCOLATEY" in all caps. :) -Isabel

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  11. Isabel, Yay! I'm glad she liked it. :) Did you get to eat a piece too?

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Thanks for reading my blog. I love hearing about your thoughts and/or your advice. :)

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