Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

Awesome cake! Turned out very fluffy and light. Perfect for cupcakes, except they raise quite a bit, so I couldn't get flat tops. Totally fine, though. I will slightly decrease the salt next time, because I could taste it just the tiniest bit and I didn't like that. All around, perfect consistancy. Thank you.

This is the best tasting chocolate cake! I never make chocolate cake from a box anymore, this cake is worth all the extra time and preparation. I brought this to church meals quite a few times and everyone loves it.

I only have one thing to say about this cake! PERFECT! Oh my! This was my very first attempt at making a cake from scratch and it was so easy to do and so good to eat! I didn't change anything. I made it both ways in the 9 inch pan and in a sheet cake pan and they both turned out great!

You guys are going to love this one. After reading the reviews, I had to make this. Indeed it was delicious. I only had enough powdered sugar to make 1 batch of the buttercream frosting (I usually like to double my frosting on chocolate cakes...goes to show how much of a sweet tooth I have). Anyway, out of desperation for extra frosting, I made a batch of No Bake Cookies with about half the amount of oatmeal called for. I added this to my buttercream frosting while it was still warm. I poked lots of holes in the top of my cake and poured the frosting over. I don't recommend you do this unless you plan on going into a sugar coma, but I definitely got my sugar fix. Needless to say it turned out delicious.

A really basic cake that is easy to make. I iced it with Hershey's chocolate mousse which made it very rich.

This cake has been standard birthday cake in my family for as long as I can remember. It is certainly deep, dark, and chocolate! Once I was at a birthday party and everyone was commenting how moist the (box-mix) cake was. But since I was used to this cake, I thought that cake was dry! It is delightful with a variety of chocolate frostings, fillings, etc. It can be made as cupcakes, too; just bake for a shorter time.

I know there are already a lot of reviews, but I'll add mine :) This cake and frosting recipe is the absolute BEST!!!! I have never had luck with frosting- past recipes have come out grainy or the sugar overpowers the flavor. This frosting turned out so delicious~! I didn't have any problem it being runny- I just added a little bit of milk at a time assuming that I might not need it all. I did end up using all the milk and my frosting had a "whipped" effect. It wasn't the least bit runny. I don't think I can ever eat a cake mix or canned frosting again without thinking of this recipe!

BEST chocolate cake ever! I was told it was better than a bakery's. I used Nestle Toll House chocolate lover's frosting. I put the leftovers in the fridge and it tasted even better chilled!

Absolutely FABULOUS. This cake was easy to make but tasted like it came from a bakery. Thank you Hershey's.

This was my first attempt at making a cake from scratch, and after tasting it you'd think I'd been making them all my life! It was excellent! One critique: the frosting was pretty runny.

GREAT CUPCAKES! I got about 30 cupcakes out of the batter and had left over frosting. Paper baking cups worked better than just greasing the tins. Hershey's ® 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake has the same cake recipe and includes instructions for cupcakes and other pan sizes.

Two words: WOW! This cake was a snap to make; I put all of the ingredients in my stand-up mixer and let it go. It was thin, as the recipe states, but baked up perfectly dense and rich and wonderful! I increased the amount of frosting by an additional 50% to be sure I had enough for the sides, too. A REAL winner of a recipe -- 100% delicious!

Have made this many times and always turns out wonderful. Used it tonight with chocolate mousse cake IV recipe instead of using cake mix as that recipe calls for. This recipe never lets you down.Thanks Hersheys

Made this cake for my husbands birthday,it is absolutely wonderful, very moist! After adding the water I wondered if it was going to turn out, as the batter was very thin, not to worry it does certainly does.

I have made this a couple of times since I found the recipe. It is a good recipe and they eat it as fast as I can make it. Thanks..

I have been making this cake for years. The recipe has been on the Hershey's Cocoa can since I can remember. I suggest you don't change a thing, follow the recipe. It's the best!

This recipe is the best ever. I double the recipe and made a three layer cake and a sheet cake for a family party and it was the talk of the party. Sever with ice cream or whipped cream and it was great.

This was a delicious cake. It really was. Very moist and so chocolatey. The icing also was very good. I hate to ice cakes (because I'm so bad at it), but this icing spread so easily. I will make this again.

Oh yeah! Awesome! I made this for a baby shower I hosted and it was beautiful as well as delicious. This was actually my FIRST TIME ever making a cake from scratch! It was easy! I used a Bundt pan and, just as a warning, it was a little too much for my pan (I believe it was 12 cup?). Next time I would reserve maybe a half a cup of batter b/c as it rose some overflowed and burned onto the bottom of the oven. Another thing to take note of, the batter is VERY thin after pouring in the boiling water...I thought perhaps I had done something wrong, but it bakes up just right. Just wanted to warn you. I just made a glaze so it wouldn't compete with the cake and I think that it was great. I can't comment on the frosting in the recipe since I didn't attempt it. For my first "from scratch" cake attempt I think I picked a winning recipe! I will make this again and again.

I used half boiling water, half strong coffee. Doubling the recipe yielded 48 cupcakes, which I baked for 14 mins & then frosted with Caroline's Chocolate Fudge Frosting. The cupcakes were UNBELIEVABLE - so moist, absolutely perfect. Remember: it continues cooking after you take it out of the oven, so if it looks done in the oven, it'll be overcooked once it cools (and chocolate recipes are best undercooked anyway)

We didn't love this cake. I made it for a friend's birthday, and it turned out okay enough for us to eat, but it certainly wasn't one of my show-stoppers. I was disappointed in the flavor. I wanted something with true chocolate flavor, but the chocolate flavor wasn't as good as I had hoped. And it wasn't nice and moist like I wanted. I will use my great aunt's mayonnaise cake instead.

This was a delicious and moist cake, we all loved it. I halved the recipe and made a single layer round cake instead of a double and substituted yogurt for oil. Yumm, Yumm!

This cake is so moist and delicious, it doesn't even need frosting. But when I do frost it, I use the Fluffy White Frosting recipe posted on this site because it is light and not excessively sweet. This is the only chocolate cake recipe I use.

Best chocolate cake ever!

This is a very good chocolate cake recipe. My huband does not eat alot of sweets, but he liked this one. Thank you for such a good recipe.

I found this recipe years ago and make it especially at Christmastime. My kids always looked forward to this cake and a cup of hot cocoa on Christmas Eve (although I frosted mine with Buttercream Frosting as I didn't want to overdo it with chocolate). Even tho my kids are grown and on their own they still ask for this every Christmas Eve when they are home. Very rich, very moist, and very delicious!

This cake turned out great! I used a 9x13 pan and it took exactly 40 minutes at 335 degrees for in my oven. Everyone loved it!

Wow! My mom made this for Christmas, and I made it for New years eve. Everyone devoured it both times! Like eating a fluffy chocolate bar. Don't make the icing too early or you will need to add more milk to make it spread.

My mother-in-law actually told me this was the best chocolate cake she'd ever tasted! It was suggested to me after tasting this that I quit my graduate school career and make cakes for a living instead. I used coffee instead of water. It was absolutely fantastic!

This was incredible & very easy to make!!! I took it to the office & no one could believe I had made it from scratch!!

This makes a beautiful and downright naughty chocolate cake. My only changes were the addition of about 1 Tbsp of instant coffee and the use of Ghiradelli chocolate cocoa. I followed the directions exactly but split the cake in two when attempting to remove it from the pan (par for the course for me, so probably my fault). My husband and I ended up making Valentine's Day trifles in wine glasses with layers of this cake, whipped cream, hot fudge sauce and fresh raspberries--needless to say I wasn't disappointed about splitting the cake. My search for a good chocolate cake recipe is now over, I just need to figure out how to get them out of the pan!

Oh my GOODNESS this is the BEST chocolate cake I have ever had! I have never baked a cake from scratch and was worried. I was baking this for my birthday, people were coming for cake and coffee. I had nothing to worry about though. I followed the recipe and this cake was soooo GOOD! Will be baking this one for many years to come!

This is indeed the BEST!I have been using this recipe for over 20 years. However, I have made one change. I reudce the water from 1 C to 1/2 C. This gives a more cake-like texture, otherwise it tends to get a bit sticky.

This cake is soooooo good! I made 30 cupcakes from this recipe. They are so moist and fluffy, I would recommend this recipe to anyone I know. The icing was a bit thin for my taste, but still very good. Overall, this recipe will be a hit no matter where you go. Anyone making their first cake from scratch, try this one. It's amazing! Thanks!

This one is a keeper! Prepared according to directions and it turned out wonderful. This recipe has changed my mind about store-bought mix & frosting.

I substituted the sugar with Splenda and used Egg beaters in this recipe. It was good that I checked them at 25 minutes because they were very dark and almost overdone (!) The cake tasted good. It was more dense than I prefer in a chocolate cake, however. I don't know if that was because of the substitutions, next time I will use sugar and eggs to compare. The icing was really good.

Great cake! Do not overbake, cake will dry out. I used the chocolate cream cheese frosting found on this website and they were wonderful together!

WOW!! This was great! I brought it to a BBQ and 3 people asked for the recipe! It is chocolaty but not too sweet. Moist!! YUMMMMMMMM.

The best chocolate cake ever......by Hershey's of course!! When i added the boiling water and saw how thin the batter was...i was unsure....but it was such a moist cake. And the icing was great..spread perfectly and tasted like heaven!! A sure winner!!

The texture and moistness of this cake are excellent, but I didn't find it very chocolatey. This cake would benefit from the addition of melted chocolate squares or bars.

Excellent cake. I used chocolate cream cheese frosting instead as others have suggested and it was a great compliment to the rich cake. The cake batter was indeed very thin and it took 45 or more minutes to bake a 9 x 13 pan. My husband didn't compliment the cake when we tried it for a midnight snack (I made it at night to satisfy my sweet tooth)but I thought he was going to lick his plate after he ate a huge piece. This recipe is a keeper.

so moist! Instead of cow's milk I used coconut/almond milk blend (blue diamond makes it) and I used coconut oil instead of butter. I used the same measurements and it worked perfectly. So this recipe can be a dairy-free one as well. So good! (I also used coconut sugar, and no, they don't taste coco-nutty at all.)

Absolutely delicious! Best the day after. I actually won't even cut it until the next day because the taste is so different.

Oh my goodness! I will never have to buy a chocolate cake mix again. This is the best cake I've ever made or tasted. One thing I do is sift all of the dry ingredients. I've found this helps make the cake not as dense. I also don't use as much milk in the frosting as it calls for. Mine seemed a bit runny when I used the full amount.

With finals, I didn't think I'd have the patience to make this cake -- but it was definitely worth it! I poured half the mixture into cupcake liners (~22 minutes) and the other half as a single cake layer, and both turned out great! Also, to shave off a little fat, I substituted the 1/2 c. oil with 1/2 c applesauce + 2 tbsp vegetable oil, and no one could tell the difference! The frosting was a little sweet -- I should have cut down the sugar, as another reviewer suggeted. Thanks!

Cake was too heavy, it didn't raise very much. Was disappointed.

i used this recipe for the base of my friends' birthday party and followed this recipe to a 'T'. i tripled it to make 3 separate square cakes to form a one layer rectangular-shaped cake. i recommend to just use 1 teaspoon of b/soda to limit the bitter after-taste of the cake, and add 1 full cup of cocoa powder instead of just 3/4 to get a more chocolatey cake. I substituted the white sugar to icing sugar and added a tablespoon of milk one at a time to get the right, smooth consistency. hence, i'm giving this a 4-star. But yes, the cake is really dark and moist! It was gone as the party ended! I managed to save a a big piece and i ate it a day after, and it tasted much better as the cake has blended with the frosting.

The cake tasted very rich and I was very disappointed that the cake fell considerably after I took it out of the oven. I made this for New Years Eve and had friends over. One friend said it was awesome but everyone else didn't care for it at all. Even the children didn't finish their pieces. I think I will go back to box cakes. The frosting was great though. Very easy to make.

Cake was slightly dry and frosting was too rich!

This is a really thin batter, but wow does it ever taste good. It freezes well too.

I took this cake to a party and it got rave reviews! It was moist, chocolatey and delicious!

WONDERFUL! With all of the rave reviews, I wasn't even go to enter a review, but I had to get my 2 cents worth in! My husband and 6 year old love it! To quote Truvy (Dolly Parton) from "Steel Magnolias" ' I served it with ice cream to cut down on the sweetness...'!

Sorry but not inpressed with this cake,had a very plain flavor. My daughter liked it but there again she doesn't like chocolate. I think by far the best cake recipe is " Grandmother's Pound Cake", have made this many times and always comes out great.

I have been using this Hershey recipe for almost 20 years now; this cake is always a hit and generates many recipe requests. It tastes delicious and always bakes up moist.

This is a perfect recipe! It turns out wonderfully moist and flavorful, and the frosting is delicious. I did use coffee instead of the water, and I think that did make a difference, for the better. The recipe is so easy to make, after being used to cake recipes that require creaming, and adding ingredients slowly. This was a breeze, in the oven in just a few minutes, and a big hit with the family! Thanks!

This recipe is not for those who are at altitude! This cake never baked all the way through, even after adjusting temperature and time. I don't think there are any ways to alter the recipe for altitude as it is supposed to be very thin batter.

This was an excellant cake. The only thing i did was change 3/4 cup of cocoa. i cut that to 1/2 cup & 1/4 cup of black cocoa that i had. I did the same with the frosting too. Half and half for the cocoas. It was perfect!! My son wanted a black cake with a black fudge frosting, by goodness he got it. :) thanks for the recipe.

delicious!! I made this cake exactly the way it said, however I substituted eggs for eggbeaters and sugar for splenda and milk for nonfat milk. And it stilllll tasted GREAT!! However definently make the frosting the same way though, nothing will be compromised!!

Warning: DO NOT attempt this cake in 2 cake-pans, as the recipe suggests. I did, and it overflowed everywhere, made a mess in the oven, burnt and stank up my kitchen. If you want a round cake, I'd suggest dividing this batter between 3 pans. I left the cake to cool 10 minutes, as the recipe says, but when I turned it out it all fell apart. :-( Plus, I don't think it tastes that good either (yes, I did put in a whole cup of cocoa powder) - rather tasteless, although the texture is good. Over all, pretty disappointing.

THIS CAKE IS AWESOME. So moist and a hit with the whole family. Made a very large cake and it stayed fresh and moist for several days.

This cake was EXCELLENT, but I'd make some changes. 1) There wasn't enough frosting, so I'd double it. 2)Better than doubling the frosting, I think I'll experiement with a different center... perhaps whipped topping with finely chopped pistachio nuts mixed in it? Or perhaps something with a cherry taste? It's unbelievably rare that I think a dessert is too rich, but this one came close. A fresh, crisp center with a contrasting taste might be perfect. This recipe is definitely a keeper!!

one word "DELICIOUS" I made this cake twice in 1 week, my family loved it. My husband thought it was the "BEST" cake I ever made. This recipe was very simple, just follow EXACTLY what it says, it should come out great. The icing was great. I don't have 2 round pans I only have a 13x9 square pan. So it definitely makes a lot of icing. I just halfed the icing recipe. This cake was very moist and delicious. I will definitely be using this recipe for my chocolate cakes. Thank you for the recipe, Enjoy.. :) !

Excellent Cake!!! So moist and chocolaty I could eat this the rest of my life!

My first ever from scratch Chocolate Cake. I'll never buy those cake mixes again. Please forgive me but I've eaten half the cake on my own! So moist and soft and goes heavenly with Carol's Chocolate Cream Cheese Topping. My only problem was I got quite a mound on both my cakes which I had to cut off before icing the cake. But being amatuerish, It slanted a bit so the top cake kept sliding sideways......luckily it was worth it :)

Great cake! Not to sweet, just the right amount of chocolate. I made it with chocolate cream cheese frosting instead of the buttercream, and used cherry filling. It was great!

This was a pretty good cake but the first time I made it it wasnt moist enough for me. So the second time I made this cake I used 1/2 of butter flavored crisco and only 2 tbs of the oil, the crisco is one of my secrets of making my cakes moist! And I used soy milk instead of regular milk for a little flavor in the frosting and I mixed in 2 cups of coconut in the frosting. Really great cake.

I've been making this recepie for YEARS! It's our favorite and I can't make any other kind or my husband would be mad. I got it out of my Hershey's Chocolate Lover's cookbook and I make it all the time. The frosting is to die for and I could just eat that but it's definatly a match w/ this cake!

I was looking for a cake recipe that didn't call for cake flour. I didn't want to have to run to the grocery store. Other recipes I've tried in the past that use all-purpose flour tasted so terrible. You could actually TASTE the flour, this cake, on the other hand, received RAVE reviews.

I made this cake for my husband's birthday last Saturday, everybody loved it! It was very moist and the recipe was easy to follow. I made the buttercream frosting too which was pretty good. I will be making this cake again for sure! My husband said it was most excellent.

My mom had me look this recipe up because she used to make the best chocolate cupcakes and she couldn't find her recipe. When she saw it she said this was it! She recognized it because of the boiling water in the batter. Now she's happy making (her) famous cupcakes again!

I was hesitant on this one since so many reviewers said this was the first "from scratch" cake they'd ever made and that's the only way I bake. But, this was fabulous! I baked it at 325 for 38 minutes. I've never tasted a softer, more chocolatey cake. I did shy away and make my own chocolate frosting, but the cake was the best! Hubby says I should have added chocolate shavings, but now he's just getting spoiled! I did add rainbow sprinkles on the kids' pieces.

Marisa

Wonderful! I also made this for work and iced it with the Whipped Cream Frosting.

I usually make the "perfectly chocolate" chocolate cake, the other chocolate cake recipe submitted by the Hersheys' company. I've made that one over and over again. But this one I like even better. I've got a new favorite, and my mother agrees! Also, the frosting is a new favorite! I made this for my sons' class at school for his birthday, and it went over big. I will make this one from now on!

I followed the recipe to a T and can't say I was that impressed. I made cupcakes, and I'm giving them four stars because they were very moist. However, I have definitely made deeper, darker, chocolatey-ier cake before. I probably won't be making this again.

This cake is amazing. It is so chocolatey and moist. I put chocolate mousse in between the layers and used chocolate buttercream frosting. I'll be making it many more times!

Good cake but awfully sticky. Make sure you have everything greased or you are in trouble!

Excellent chocolate cake. The best. Directions clear. Make this cake for son's birthday every year by request and other chocolate lovers too. I cut into 4 layers and use raspberry jam and pastry cream filling on layers. Also use strong coffee instead of water and some coffee in icing also. A great cake for special occasions!!!

This is probably the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten!

This was super easy to make and it turned out great. I made two 9x13 cakes and layered them for a birthday cake to feed a larger group. I used a different frosting recipe, Whipped Cream Frosting by Tom Parker (which combines whipped cream and cream cheese) and it was excellent. The cake is even better the next day!

This is great! Very rich and moist. Almost better the next day.

This was the first time I ever baked a cake. I chose this recipe because so many people had tried it and rated it five stars. It turned out great! So moist and smooth. My husband loves it!

This is my favorite chocolate cake to make for bake sale for my kids school. Everyone just loves it. As one person had suggested, using coffee instead of just boiling water; I tried it once and it still tasted excellent. I'm making one tonight as I'm posting my rating. It's very moist and chocolatey. YUMMY!!!!!

I took it to work for a potluck....the entire cake was gone in 5 minutes! They loved it and called me Betty Crocker all day.

The boiling water leached the flavor!! try coffee instead, works fantastic.

I was looking for a "scratch" recipe cake. I think I have found it. I love chocolate cake so much! I had a little trouble with the icing though. I believe it is because of my "less than Kitchenaid" mixer. It doesn't have all of the deluxe attachments, therefore, alot of my ingredients had to be mixed by hand also. I am definitely going to make the cake again, but this time I will try to perfect the icing. I added too much milk and ended up with something close to melted ice cream.

This is a great, moist chocolate cake recipe! And the frosting is terrific!! The possibilities are endless for different kinds of frosting...homemade peanut butter, raspberry, vanilla, caramel...this is a great versatile cake and it's beautiful if made into a layer cake!

Awesome! Will be the new recipe here at the homestead for chocolate cake. I added a chilled egg white to the frosting and used less milk. An old trick from my Ma. Definatley worth making.

I made this for my sister's birthday, at her request for chocolate cake. Everyone really loved it, and I was told by my Dad that it was the best cake he's had in 15 years. Enough said :)

Unreal how amazing this cake is! I subbed out the hot water for strong coffee, and it made this cake extra rich and amazingly delicious.

Great taste and texture on this cake! I was a little concerned since the batter was so thin but it baked up really beautifully. To give it a little kick, I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of chile pepper.

The cake itself was delicious and very moist, but almost too moist. I had to cook it longer because the toothpick was still coming out gooey. When it was done it took longer than usual to cool down and when it did and I transfered it from the pan it started to split, which I covered with frosting though. Luckily I used parchment paper cicles at the bottom of my pans, which I ususally do anyway, but with it being almost too moist I can see why so many might have had a prob. with it sticking to the pans. The frosting was way too sweet and chocolatey, which I didn't think there was such a thing cuz I like chocolate. Sorry, but I just won't be making this again.

Great moist chocolate cake that will get rave reviews. Also, try combining this recipe for a unique treat: http://cake.allrecipes.com/AZ/SnickersCake.asp

This is the best cake! I've been making it for a year. It makes especially good cupcakes (about 24). Very moist, very chocolatey, very very good.

I made this cake for the first time this weekend, for a very tough, hard to please crowd of 22 (risky) and everyone loved it. This is the first homemade chocolate cake that has totally impressed me with it's flavor and moistness. It's already earned it's place as THE chocolate cake in my house. I will make it many, many times.

This chocolate cake is to die for. I made it for my cousins birthday and her and the whole family thought it was amazing. I used a chocolate ganache to frost it (which is just 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate and 1 cup heavy cream, recipe on this website)It was a hit, Thanks for the great recipe!

This cake is Wonderful! My family loved it. It was very moist and rich. I baked mine in a bundt pan.

Soooo moist. Use the hershey's dark chocolate powder for the icing and the cake. Delicious!

This wasn't what I expected but it was delicious. The consistency was almost like a brownie, very dense and moist. The sweetness was just right and it was good and chocolatey. I didn't make the frosting but instead poured chocolate icing (One Minute Chocolate Icing) over the top.