Hershey's Chocolate Cake With Frosting

This cake is excellent. I've used it for years and have recently made a couple of changes just to kick it up a notch! I use 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup melted butter instead of the 1/2 cup oil. The butter adds richer flavor while the oil adds more moisture. I also use 1 cup very hot coffee instead of the 1 cup boiling water. The coffee just kicks up the chocolate flavor, you don't taste coffee at all. The frosting has good chocolate flavor. To Gloss it up a bit, I add 1 tablespoon light corn syrup to the melted butter, then add the rest of the ingredients as directed.

This recipe is AMAZING!!! I followed it exactly and doubled the icing recipe to create a beautiful 3 layer cake with iced rosettes. I also made cake balls with the extra cake I had from leveling the layers. I just crumbled the cake, added a bit of icing, shaped them into balls, chilled them, then dipped them in melted chocolate. After they chilled completely they tasted almost like truffles they were so moist. I also made cupcakes and added about 2 tsps. of chocolate chips to each before putting them in the oven. I used this recipe for my moms birthday who is a crazy chocolate lover and she thought it was amazing. I love this recipe and will be using it many more times in the future.

I make this cake EVERY time I need a cake now. It is my and my family's absolute favorite! I make it with the modifications noted by Soozzee on 2/25/08 and that makes all the difference. Especially substituting brewed hot coffee for the water, it is fantastic, so rich and yummy. Also, I add parchment paper to the bottom of my 9" rounds first so that the cake doesn't stick to the bottom of the pans. Without parchment, I had a couple crumble on me, so now parchment is a must. I make it for every family birthday, so so good!

THE CAKE EXPLOITED IN MY OVEN!

Yum! I made this cake over the weekend but I didn't make the frosting. I covered it with ganache--it was delicious! As some other commenters have said, it is not super sweet or rich, but it makes the perfect backdrop for a rich frosting or ganache. I like that this doesn't require baking chocolate squares since I never seem to have them on hand. It would be good with espresso or cinnamon to spice it up a bit, but for a simple chocolate cake, this is a great choice! I baked in a 9x13 glass pan and it was done in 30 minutes.***Edit to add: the cupcake pictures I posted have Recipe #454493 on them and that was fantastic as well as the ganache I usually use. This cake really is delicious and easy!