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Super-dark chocolate cake looks stunning with bright white icing. This cake is so moist that is doesn't slice very neatly (as you can see), but boy is it delicious! The dark chocolate color really looks black when you put it next to white icing. This comes from using Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder and strong coffee. This recipe is inspired by the classic Hershey's chocolate cake recipe, but I have made several adjustments until I have something that I like even better than the original:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep two 9" or 10" round cake pans with parchment paper.
1 3/4 Cups All-purpose Flour
2 cups Sugar
3/4 Cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Cup hot strong coffee
In a large mixer bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. (To make it easier, you can just mix this in your KitchenAid mixer on low until well-combined).
In a smaller bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add the milk, oil, vanilla and stir well.
Add the egg/milk mixture into the dry ingredients and beat on medium for about 90 seconds.
Add the coffee in last, stirring by hand just until it is thoroughly mixed. This batter is very liquidy, so don't be alarmed when it looks thin.
Bake approximately 30-35 minutes (until the center springs back to the touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
Cool and frost with Seven Minute Icing
When slicing, wipe the knife clean in between cuts. You may even want to run the knife under hot water before cutting to make it even cleaner. But let's face it - when you have a really moist dark cake with white icing, you're going to get crumbs all in it. Oh well. Enjoy! :)
