Best. Cake. Ever.

Ok, I've had a lot of good chocolate cake. I've eaten it at restaurants, I've made it, and I've eaten it when friends have made it. But never have I had a chocolate cake that was this good and this easy. Usually if you want a really good homemade anything, it requires a little bit of extra effort. Not so with this cake. Seriously, this was almost as easy as opening a box mix and dumping everything in. It just required a tiny bit more measuring and it tasted WAY better. This is the moistest chocolate cake, or probably any cake, that I have ever made or eaten. And here's the kicker...there's no butter in the cake. None! There's only one stick in the frosting. I, for one, was shocked. The best part about making this cake too, was that there was no sifting, no separating ingredients into dry and wet and then alternating to combine and all of that stuff. We just dumped in the dry stuff, dumped in the wet stuff, mixed it all up, and baked. It really couldn't have been easier or faster. My only complaint is that it's addicting, and I'm getting married in 54 days, and I just don't need extra calories right now! I'm hoping my morning running will offset it a little bit =]

So here's the recipe:

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. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
   
2. 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. 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.
   
   VARIATIONS:
   ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
   
   THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
   
   BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
   
   CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
   
   
   "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
   
   Melt butter. 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.

Since it is a Hershey recipe, it calls for Hershey cocoa powder, but Taylor and I made two different cakes, one with Hershey and one without, and they taste the same. I also really like this recipe because it gives options for making the cake different ways. That gives you options, and it can also make it seem like you're making three different desserts, but they're all with the same recipe! I love it. No complaints here =]