My Mom’s Chocolate Cake Recipe.

My mom has made this chocolate cake for my family since I was a little girl. Seriously: it tastes like my childhood. It wasn’t a birthday party without this cake! Believe it or not, I had never made a cake from scratch until a couple weeks ago. It was my friend’s birthday and I had a lighter day of work and thought it would be nice to try making a cake as opposed to buying one or (gasp) using a box mix.

It was intimidating (I definitely called my mom a few times!) but actually so so super easy. The cake turned out really well and I impressed myself. I know I have a lot of seasoned bakers reading here (not me – I bake maybe once or twice a year) but for my fellow novice bakers, I cannot recommend an electric mixer enough. The one I have is small and was cheap and I laugh because I don’t even remember why I bought it, but I am so glad I had it on hand as it made the frosting so much easier to make. I probably won’t use it for another six months but I was really relieved when I found it in the back of my kitchen cabinet.

My Mom’s Chocolate Cake Recipe

Adapted from Hershey’s Collection.

The Cake

• Two 9″ round cake pans, greased!
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups unsifted flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cup water

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture, adding the water as you go.

Make sure your pans are greased really well (it makes it easier later, trust me!). Bake the cakes at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes (longer if you use 8″ pans! Let the cakes cool for ten minutes and then remove from the pan.

The Frosting

• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, very soft!
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Using your electric mixer, beat the ingredients together until creamy and fluffy. This was so satisfying to make! You will want to lick the bowl.