Little Bites of Chocolate Heaven

As promised, I would give some recipes for my favorite desserts. This recipe comes from Hershey's. I was looking for a GREAT chocolate cake for my good friend's birthday. This recipe sure did not disappoint. I have used the recipe several times, but most recently as mini cupcakes. I made these mini cupcakes for a football party that the hubby and I had at our house to watch the Clemson/UNC game. The game did not turn out for my favor, but these little bites sure did!

The Chocolate Cake Recipe is:

"Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake"

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups AP flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa ( I use the Special Dark cocoa)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

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

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a 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 30-35 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.

Variations:
One-Pan Cake: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

3-Layer Cake: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

Cupcakes: Line muffin cups with bake cups. Heat oven to 350. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

Mini Cupcakes: Same as above. My baking time was about 8 minutes.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter
2/3 Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp 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.

This recipe is SOOO good, but very rich and very dark chocolately! My step-dad, who does not even like sweets, could not get enough of these "Little bites of Chocolate Heaven". So next time you need to whip something up in a hurry, give these a shot for all your chocolate lovers, and spectics too!

The First....

So, this is my first post. I decided to start a blog about my baking successes and mishaps. I actually haven't been doing too much baking these days. I have been trying to maintain a more healthy diet and trying to shed a few unwanted and un-needed pounds.

But about my baking, I love to bake...about anything. It ranges from cookies to cakes to brownies. I recently received a new pie dish for my birthday and intend on taking on pies now too!! The baking thing just seems to come to me naturally. My mom owned a bakery for several years when I was a child, and I was always in kitchen right along side of her. My mom makes THE BEST amaretto pound cakes you will ever come in contact with. Her cakes are always perfectly smooth and beautifully decorated without all the yucky fondant on top. I, on the other hand, can't seem to frost a cake without it cracking down the middle! =(  One thing I have found that I am good at and really enjoy is making cupcakes! I know cupcakes are all the rage these days with little "cupcakeries" popping up everywhere. The thing is, I really love this idea, and would really love to do something like that one day!

When I get back into baking a little more, I will add some recipes and pictures of the delectables I have been working on, but for now, this is it.

These are cupcakes that I made for friend's daughter's birthday. She requested blue and green cupcakes.

I made this cake for my friend, Jessica's bithday. Her favorite color is purple and she is chocolate addict like me! I was very happy with the way this cake turned out, and I worked very hard on it!