I finally had the chance to make this adapted version of the Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake again, this time for my daughter’s birthday and as requested.

Personally, I find the recipe for both the cake & frosting way too sweet for my tooth and liking. Like everyone, we all have our personal likes and dislikes as well as tolerance on sweet stuff. This is the best and easiest Chocolate Cake recipe that I have come across and used time and again.

The birthday cake is finished with a small amount of frosting as well as Chocolate Covered Strawberries  , which happen to be a favourite of my girl.

Ingredients: 

2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Method: for 3-layer 8″ cake

• Grease and flour 3-8″x 2″ round baking pans.
• Heat oven to 180ºC (350ºF)
• Sieve all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl of a stand mixer.
• Add eggs, milk & oil. Beat for about 2 minutes or until the ingredients are well mixed.
• Set the mixer to STIR if this function is available, if not, you will need to manually stir in the hot water.
• Pour in the water on the side of the mixing bowl so it doesn’t splatter like it did for me. Mix well until the cake batter becomes liquid like hot chocolate.
• Pour the liquid batter into the prepared baking pans.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until cooked.
• Leave to cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning out to cool completely on rack. This will give you the same texture as the Hershey’s promised cake. I let mine cool in the pan to achieve a denser texture which is easier to handle when frosting.

 

Ingredients for Chocolate Frosting:

80g unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoon cocoa powder

2 tablespoon milk

Method:

• Dissolve the cocoa powder in the milk.
• Whip the butter and icing sugar together till it comes together. It might look more like bread crumbs than frosting. Don’t worry.
• Add in the cocoa powder liquid and continue to whip. This is when it turns into a nice frosting.

Note: If you want a darker frosting, increase the amount of cocoa powder accordingly. And if you want a sweeter frosting, increase the amount of icing sugar.

When you are ready to frost, you will likely need to cut off the tops of the cake. Use a bread knife and saw slice across the top.

It is easier to frost the bottom of the cake than the top. Once you have finished frosting between the layers and the sides, it will look like this.

I only decided to sprinkle some chocolate rice around the ring of the finished cake and top with the Chocolate Covered Strawberries