Hershey’s Chocolate Cake
This Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake is the same recipe that your mom or grandma made! The recipe has been on the box of Hershey’s brand cocoa powder for nearly a century.
This deep, rich, yet airy chocolate cake recipe has been on the back of a can of Hershey Cocoa Powder since the 1940s. It is an incredibly easy cake that can be baked in a 9″ by 13″ pan or in 2-8″ round cake pans and made into a layered cake with frosting in between.
This recipe is incredibly uncomplicated and easy enough for novice bakers. It isn’t overly sweet for a chocolate cake recipe, and we find it one of our favorites.
What you Need
Dry Ingredients
- Sugar
- Flour: All-purpose flour is preferred. Be sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup; don’t scoop it out of the flour tin.
- Cocoa Powder: Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
Wet Ingredients
- Eggs
- Milk
- Oil: Use a mild flavored oil such as vegetable or canola oil
- Vanilla Extract
- Water- The water must be boiling so that the cocoa powder dissolves in the liquids.
What is Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder?
The process of “Dutching” is treating cocoa powder with an alkaline solution to remove some of the bitter flavor. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is darker than cocoa powder. It has a milder flavor with less acidity, and it will dissolve in liquids more easily than cocoa powder.
How to Make it
- Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla.
- Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
- Add the boiling water. Stir to combine. The batter is quite thin, so don’t be alarmed.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pans. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes until a tester comes out clean in the middle.
- Cool the cake in the tins on wire cooling racks if you make a layer cake for 10 minutes. Then, remove the layers from the tins. Cool completely.
- Frost as desired.
This cake is moist, light, fluffy, and so very chocolatey all at the same time!
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Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate”™ Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 2 c Sugar
- 1-3/4 c all-purpose flour
- 3/4 c Cocoa powder
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 c Milk I substitute coconut milk
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 c boiling water
For Buttercream Frosting
- 3 c powdered sugar
- 1/2 juice of 1/2 lime to taste
- 1/3 c Butter
- 1 tbsp coconut milk 1-2 tbsp.
- sweetened flaked coconut for garnish
- lime zest for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
- 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 (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
- 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 frosting
- Cream butter and sugar together. stir in lime juice and 1 tbsp. coconut milk. Taste. If you like more lime, add more lime juice. Add enough more milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. Spread frosting on cakes. Sprinkle with coconut on top and sides. Grate lime zest on top, if desired.
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“You put da lime in da coconut” This cake look delicious. I love all things chocolate! This cake looks like it would hit the spot! Mmmm.
Thanks, Elaine! I made this cake on May 20 and finally managed to get the song out my head!! It’s back now!
Chocolate, coconut and lime? What a delicious combination! I can almost taste it and what a lucky son you have getting this made for him every year. Looks great Beth!
I know, Right? I tell him that often! Thank you, Gabby!
My best friend is a coconut lover and I Always look for new recipes to make when she comes around.
I think this will be the next 🙂
Thank you so much, Claudia! I hope your friend enjoys it!
The coconut lime buttercream is calling my name. I am such a sucker for anything lime an this cake looks like absolutely perfection!
Me too! I love anything lime as well! Thank you Megan!
This is my favorite kind of cake, but I never would have thought to use the lime and coconut in the frosting ~ genius!
Thanks Sue! I really appreciate that! We love it!
What a creative way to incorporate lime into dessert! I’ve never paired lime with chocolate.
I love lime with chocolate! It’s even brighter than orange but I don’t like lemon! Thanks Lindsey!
This is perfect! I need to get to baking it up!
That sounds like a great combination… the lime and coconut with the chocolate. I am not much of a baker but I love baked goods. This looks delicious! Your son has good taste!
Thanks, Denise! I’m not much of baker, either! This cake is so very easy though, it’s foolproof!
That coconut lime buttercream sounds delicious! This chocolate cake looks so good! No wonder it is a favourite in your house 🙂
Thanks so much, Hope! It is definitely one of our favorites!
Loving that lime and coconut topping! It’s like adding a little bit of summer to one of my favorite desserts! This sounds marvelous.
Thank you so much, Catherine! I, too love lime!! And Coconut!!