The Deep freeze and chocolate cake…

The temperatures have been freezing! Too cold to work in the yard and to do the usual hardscape maintainance I like to do during the Winter! The days have been in the low 30s or even upper 20s with the night temps in the low twenties and a few times down to about 10f! Just crazy.

So my thoughts turn to cooking. I set my internet radio to Amsterdam Dance Radio or put a Depeche Mode CD in!

I have been looking at the label recipes of the Hershey’s Cocoa package and decided to make the chocolate cake recipe and the frosting recipe, too!

HERSHEY’S “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING (recipe follows)

Directions

  1.  
    Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
  2.  
    Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
  3.  
    Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

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The two layers cooling in the pans. The middle cooked slower then the side so next time I will cook them on the lower shelf and not on the top shelf.

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And

“PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
  • 2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Soften butter at room temperature. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
  • Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

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Hmm, chocolate buttercream frosting!

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And the final product! Hmm, I don’t think I would be a good sculptor or mason as I am very messy!

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But it all taste the same in the end!!

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Of course, later in the day we headed to downtown Raleigh (http://www.godowntownraleigh.com/) and The Borough restaurant (http://theboroughraleigh.com/) for my favorite drink: “How do you Q?” Pretty, isn’t it?

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xxx

13 Comments

Filed under cooking, Food, General Gardening

13 responses to “The Deep freeze and chocolate cake…

  1. how do you Q? really, you are drinking iced drinks with maraschino cherries in subzero temps? tough guy! What is in the drink?

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  2. Ha! The drink is called a “How do you Q?” and it is a combination of: Stoli + Stoli Citros + Stoli Ohranj + Stoli Blueberi + Stoli Razberi + Stoli Vanil + sour mix + grenadine + soda: I am only allowed to have one per my friends! 🙂

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  3. My favorite! ( the cake, not the weather)

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  4. I’ve seen this Hershey recipe before. I’ll have to try it now!

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  5. kitchenriffs

    We had a high today well into the 50s. Tomorrow? Zero. Maybe a touch below. Yeck. Time for chocolate cake! This looks excellent – thanks.

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  6. Yum that looks so moist. There’s nothing life a good chocolate cake to warn you up.

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  7. Thank you for sharing this intresting cocktail,and great job with the choccolate cake!

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  8. Hahahhahaha,..;I am very messy too! The finished frosted cake looks just stunning & ooh so fabulously appetizing too! Yummmm! 😉

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