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The Kitchen Table

Mom's Chocolate Cake Recipe

12 years ago

Someone asked for it on the supermarket cake thread. It tastes, to me, very much like Wegman's chocolate cake. It's also a very easy recipe.

Mom's Devil's Food Cake

2 cups flour

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa (mom packed it in the measuring cup)

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2- 9" pans. Line each pan with a circle of waxed or parchment paper, grease the paper.

Put dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Whisk to blend. Add the oil, milk, water and vanilla. Beat 3 minutes. Add the eggs, beat 2 minutes more. Batter will be very thin. Divide between the 2 prepared pans. Bake 35 minutes or until cakes test done with a toothpick. Cool on racks, in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Frosting:

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 pound powdered sugar (about 4 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla

milk

Combine the melted butter, cocoa, powdered sugar and vanilla. Stir by hand, gradually adding milk (just a teaspoon or two at a time) until frosting is of spreading consistency. Taste--add more cocoa powder if a darker frosting is desired.

Frost cake. For it to truly be one of mom's cakes, you need to run the tines of a fork in parallel lines in one direction, then using the tip of a table knive, run wavy lines through them, in the other direction, about 1" apart.

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Comments (7)

glenda_al
12 years ago
I love a great chocolate cake.
kayjones
12 years ago
Thanks for the recipe, Azalea - I'm going to try it the next time I have occasion to bake a cake!
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Jasdip
12 years ago
I've just read that Hershey's cocoa has a much nicer and smoother flavour than Fry's. I tend to buy the store-brand cocoa though....
azzalea
Original Author
12 years ago
Jasdip--I've tried other cocoas over the years (rarely), but they just don't taste the same. And I think the texture of the finished product is different (dryer) with cocoa's other than Hershey's. Cocoa is one of the places I don't skimp--has to be Hershey's in our house--LOL!
pris
12 years ago
My personal all time favorite chocolate cake is the recipe on the Hersheys' cocoa can. (barring yours,of course, after I try it.) Sounds really delish.
Jasdip
12 years ago
There's only one chocolate cake that I make, and it's a chocolate-zucchini cake. The whole family likes it, and I don't ice it....just plain with ice cream is delicious. The zucchini makes it moist.

Having said all that, I guess because I make chocolate cake so infrequently, I just buy the cocoa that's cheap. OTOH, maybe "because" I make it so infrequently I should splurge on good, Hershey cocoa. :)
kathi_mdgd
12 years ago
If i need chocolate for something,i always have Hersheys cocoa in the house.It's what i grew up with and all my family still use it.That frosting on the side of the hershey can is the best.I end up eating what's left over with a spoon.Just eat it earlyin the day as the sugar content will keep you from sleeping!!! Learned that the hard way!!:)
Kathi

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