Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate "Chocolate Cake & 7-Minute Frosting

My Ole Sweetie-Pi just turned 61, and when asked what kind of cake he wanted, he requested the same cake that his mother made and the one that he's wanted through the years, chocolate cake with 7-minute frosting.

I have several favorite chocolate cake recipes that I turn to again and again; one of them is the back of the can recipe on the Hershey's Cocoa can, "Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate. Cake. This cake is moist, dark, chocolately, and truly deserves its name.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Divide equally between two pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to racks. Cool completely. Frost. (Because this cake is so moist, be careful when handling it, it likes to stick to the cooling racks.)

This cake is a good keeper; even after three days, it will still as moist as it was on the first day.


Seven minute frosting is not my personal favorite to eat or to prepare. It's sweet, sticky, (like marshmallow fluff) and can be a little cantankerous to get it to the point where you can use it. (The first time Ole Sweetie-Pi asked me for this frosting, I panicked because I had heard how difficult it could be.) Take your time, follow the directions, have your ingredients, bowls, pot, hot water and beater ready; be prepared to stand over it while it's being beaten, (depending on weather, it may take longer than 7 minutes, today it took 15 minutes because it was cold and rainy outside!) and it should work.

Once it's on the cake, it's positively beautiful. It's glossy, fluffy, understated splendor. With just a flick of my offset spatula, I can make little pulls and peaks in the frosting that make me look as if I know how to decorate a cake (which I most assuredly do not!). This is probably the prettiest cake that I make.

Seven-Minute Frosting

2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in the top of a double boiler. Beat one minute or until thoroughly mixed. Then place this over boiling water (making sure the bottom of the pan does not touch the boiling water) and beat constantly at high speed of an electric mixer for seven minutes (frosting will stand in stiff peaks--you may need to beat it longer to reach this point).
Occasionally stir the frosting from the bottom and sides of the pan to ensure that the frosting is well combined.

Remove the pan from the boiling water and pour at once into a large bowl. Add the vanilla and beat one minute, until thick enough to spread.

You should have enough to generously cover tops and sides of two 8- or 9-inch layers, sides and tops, or a 10-inch tube cake.

This frosting is best enjoyed the day it is made. It starts to droop and crystallize on the second day.

I do not have a double boiler. I use a Pyrex bow with a rim of that sits nicely outside the rim of one of my pots. I do need oven mitts to remove the bowl, but that's a small inconvenience for the cost of a single-use pot, considering I have limited storage space.

Next year when Ole Sweetie-Pi is 62, we'll be having "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake and 7-minute frosting. It's a delicious tradition.