This is from the recipe box of a time gone by, when dessert (especially a homemade chocolate cake) was the highlight of the meal. Every mom had her special chocolate cake recipe, served on special occasions as the finish to a great dinner.
This recipe is dark and decadent, and when topped with homemade chocolate buttercream it will take you back to a simpler time and place when dinner was enjoyed in stages.
Midnight Velvet Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup Hershey’s Cocoa or Hershey’s Premium European-Style Cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Rich Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (recipe below)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes.
4. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with Rich Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
Rich Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
2 ⅔ cups powdered sugar
½ cup Hershey’s Cocoa or Hershey’s Premium European-Style Cocoa
⅓ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Beat butter in medium bowl.
2. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed).
3. Stir in vanilla. Makes 2 cups frosting.
Other Great Cake Flavors to Try
Serving a nice dessert after dinner is always a great way to finish your evening. These days, most parents don't have time to make a great dessert every single night. Still, you can make it into a tradition to do it on Saturdays or Sundays, when you have more time. Here are a few great cake flavors to make for an after-dinner dessert.
Many of you have likely enjoyed chocolate peanut butter pie before! Kids also love this dessert flavor, since it's everything sweet. Why not turn it into a cake? A good chocolate peanut butter cake will delight everyone in your family, both young and old. Cut extra large slices for the hungry kids!
Making a nice filled cake is also a delight. The filling you choose is entirely up to you, but if you need an idea we suggest a chocolate cake with raspberry filling. This dessert manages to be sweet, without being overpoweringly so. For those who like a subtler cake, this is a great choice.
Speaking of subtler cakes, there are few cake flavors that tackle that task as effectively as lemon. Lemon cake somehow manages to be both sweet and tart at the same time. It's truly a unique experience. Lemon cake can be enjoyed at any time of the day, making it both a flexible dessert and a sweet snack. Frost it with vanilla frosting if you want to kick the sweetness up a notch.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Laperla777 / Dreamstime.