Recipe of the Week: My Favorite Chocolate Cake

It's my birthday, so I'm not making this cake today. (I think there's some law about making your own birthday cake.) But it is my all-time favorite chocolate layer cake recipe. The fine folks at Hershey's know chocolate and this recipe demonstrates that perfectly. Do we need an excuse to bake a cake? If you do, and you want to impress a birthday boy or girl, or dinner guests, give this recipe a try.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for two 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 ten minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with your choice of frosting (cream cheese, chocolate buttercream, seven-minute or coconut pecan frostings are all good pairings.)

Happy baking,