We made this recipe the last few weeks, and we had requests for this specific recipe from two of the three families who had it when they were at our home during that time. What’s really nice about this recipe is that it’s really, really easy. And that means that your child can make it by himself, and have the fun of serving it and impressing your family and friends!
Ds12 made this the first week, and then I had ds9 prepare this, who has very little kitchen experience. When kids first begin learning to cook, you have to remember not to give them just the preparatory work (eg peeling, measuring), but to let them put together enough of it that they have pride in the final product. It’s the gratification and pride that makes them want to be involved in cooking in the future. In this case, they can put together the entire thing themselves with very little help.
So here’s the recipe!
The Best and Easiest Chocolate Cake
- 1 3/4 c. flour
- 2 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. cocoa
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- 1 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1 t. salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. milk (you can substitute water, coconut milk, or any non-dairy milk)
- ** 1 T. vinegar (if you’re using Dutch cocoa – see explanation below)
- 1/2 c. oil
- 1 1/2 t. vanilla
- 1 c. boiling water
Mix all the dry ingredients. Then add in the eggs, milk, and remaining liquid ingredients in the order listed. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes.
***Here’s some interesting information about cocoa that I learned about from the woman who used to be the Girl Scout troop leader years ago for dd17. This is especially relevant for those who are using US recipes but aren’t living in the US. In the US, the standard cocoa used is natural and therefore acidic -Hershey’s cocoa is typical of the standard cocoa in the US. In other parts of the world, Dutch cocoa is the standard, and this means it is alkalinized. What this means is that though people in different countries are calling cocoa by the same name, the natural and Dutch cocoa actually work somewhat differently. Since I’m now using Dutch cocoa for baking but this was a US recipe, adding 1 T. vinegar compensates for the missing acidity.
Avivah
I think this is exactly the same recipe that I use for my favorite and easiest chocolate cake 🙂 I found that I like dark chocolate, so I cut the flour to 1.5 cups and upped the cocoa content to 1 cup. Also, spelt flour does very well in this recipe. I use 1/2 cup techina and 1/2 cup water in place of the milk when I want it to be pareve. What makes the cake even yummier is when I melt 1/2 bar of good quality chocolate with another 1/2 cup of techina, add mint extract, and drizzle it on top. The mint adds a lot!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crazy-cake/ This is the recipe I loved to use, because it has no dairy or eggs…
Thanks for sharing this link, Ronit. It’s nice to have an eggless option – when I was first married, I had an eggless chocolate cake that was my staple!
Glad to share! 😀 It is very very very yummy and was my husband’s favorite cake in the world.
Very interesting about the cocoa. Does the cake stand alone well or do you do something else with it – frost, glaze, powdered sugar, etc. ?
I’m a minimalist when it comes to baking – I think there’s enough sweetener in cake without adding more to the top of it! If I were going to do something to make this look a little nicer, I would sprinkle powdered sugar on it.
I’m pretty sure this is the Hershey’s Best Chocolate Cake. Also, we pretty much can only get Dutch process cocoa in Canada and I haven’t tried adding the vinegar – the cake has still turned out every single time. 🙂
You’re right, Elisheva! I had this written in my recipe notebook, and when someone online shared the Hershey’s recipe, I got out my notebook to copy it down. But I found it was identical to what I had already been making!
Good to know that it turns out well with Dutch cocoa as well – I’ll have to try it without vinegar next time.