Hershey's Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Hershey's Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake - made August 13, 2010 from a newspaper clipping in the Sunday coupon section

This is one of those recipes I've had for so long that I don't remember where exactly I got it from. But it looks like I clipped it from the coupon section of the Sunday paper so I suspect it was part of an ad for a Hershey's product, likely Hershey's cocoa since that's one of the ingredients in the recipe. It's really easy to make as it's just stir, pour and bake. Since it's made with water, it's not particularly rich. I made it with Hershey's cocoa in honor of the title but I don't find Hershey's cocoa that rich-tasting in baking so the cake itself didn't seem very rich. It was good but not take-the-top-of-your-head-off chocolatey. The texture was fine.

I didn't add all the milk in the frosting as it seemed like it was at a good consistency when there was still a little milk left in the measuring cup. However that turned out to be a bit of a mistake unless you like your frosting the consistency of fudge because once the frosting had cooled, it was more like a block of fudge on top of a cake. Nothing wrong with that but if you like traditionally creamy frosting, add all the milk. I had the taste test piece at room temperature but later on, in thinking I didn't want a block of fudge as the frosting, I heated up another piece about 15-20 seconds in the microwave. I didn't want to melt the frosting, just soften it a bit. Holy chocolate orgasm, Batman - turns out that makes this cake absolutely fantastic. The bottom layer of the frosting closest to the cake melts a bit, the top stays intact and the cake is warm. Deelish. Try it.

¾ cup butter or margarine
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water

1. Heat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
2. In large mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat on high speed 3 minutes.
3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add alternately with water to butter mixture. Blend just until combined.
4. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely; frost with chocolate frosting.

8 to 10 servings

Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting

2 cups (12-ounce package) Hershey’s semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk

1. In a small microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate chips. Microwave on high (100%) 1 ½ minutes; stir.
2. Microwave on High additional 30 seconds or until melted and smooth when stirred. Chips may also be melted in pan over warm water.
3. Gradually add powdered sugar and evaporated milk, beating until smooth. About 2 ½ cups frosting.