Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate cake is an old classic, which I can’t recommend enough. However, I always say that this recipe doesn’t take the credit it deserves because it’s probably sitting in your kitchen cupboard as you read this, and you didn’t even know it’s there. So if you have a box of Hershey’s cocoa powder, go ahead and check the back side of the container, and you will find it there. This chocolate cake recipe is super easy, requires your basic cake ingredients, and tastes absolutely delicious. You can find the original recipe on Hersheyland.com, and I provided a detailed video below to show you how fast it comes together, how I trimmed the cake and decorated it too.
I paired this cake with the chocolate frosting recipe from Hershey’s cocoa powder, which you can find here. At first, I was skeptical about this frosting recipe, but it just needed a little more milk than mentioned in the recipe, and then it came together nicely and was delicious. The frosting consistency is not strong enough to use inside and on top of themed cakes, but it’s good enough for simple or rustic cake designs or home-entertaining.
If you love baking, check out my best tips on how to bake a perfect cake, and my complete guide to buttercream frosting. This is not a paid ad or collaboration. I just wanted to share one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes with you, so tell me if you made this recipe before and how it turned out.
Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder unsweetened and sifted
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup milk at room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water or coffee
For the chocolate frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder unsweetened
- 3 cups powdered (icing) sugar sifted
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake
- Heat oven to 170°C. Grease and place baking paper in the base of two 9-inch or 8-inch round baking pans.
- In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed.
- Stir in the boiling water or coffee (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely. Frost with chocolate frosting
For the chocolate frosting
- Melt butter and stir in the cocoa powder.
- Alternately, add powdered sugar and milk, beating to combine.
- You may add a few more tablespoons of milk until you reach spreading consistency.
- stir in the vanilla extract.
Video