Chocolatetown Special Cake
Chocolatetown special cake is a rich cocoa buttermilk layer cake with tender crumb and deep chocolate flavor, frosted with buttercream. A Hershey’s classic.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
40 minREADY
70 minThis chocolate cake is a Hershey’s original, and it’s earned its place in the canon. Cocoa powder bloomed in boiling water gives the cake a deep, dark chocolate flavor that’s richer than what you’d get from melted chocolate bars. The buttermilk keeps the crumb tender and slightly tangy, balancing all that cocoa intensity.
Blooming the cocoa in boiling water is the first step, and it’s the most important one. That hot water dissolves the cocoa particles fully and releases their flavor compounds, giving you a smooth paste that distributes evenly through the batter. Clumpy, dry cocoa dumped straight into the mix means uneven chocolate flavor and speckled crumb.
The alternating addition of flour and buttermilk keeps the batter emulsified and smooth. Dump it all in at once and the batter breaks, giving you a dense, heavy cake instead of that light, velvety texture this recipe is known for.
Kitchen Tips
- Let the cocoa-water mixture cool before adding it to the batter. Hot cocoa paste will melt the shortening unevenly and throw off the texture.
- Don’t overmix after adding the flour. Mix just until the streaks disappear. Overworking develops gluten and makes the cake tough.
- Test with a toothpick at 35 minutes. Every oven runs differently, and chocolate cakes can go from done to dry in just a few minutes.
- Cool completely before frosting. Warm cake melts buttercream into a greasy mess.
Variations
- Use butter instead of shortening for a richer flavor, though the crumb will be slightly denser.
- Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the cocoa-water mixture to intensify the chocolate flavor without tasting like coffee.
- Frost with chocolate ganache instead of buttercream for a more intense, fudgy finish.
Ingredients
or sourmilk, use, dried buttermilk or a, mixture of 1 tb plus 1 ts, white vinegar and enough, milk to equal 1 1/3 cup)
Directions
Stir the cocoa and boiling water together in a small bowl until smooth and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
In a larger mixer bowl, cream the shortening, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and beat until well blended.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, blending well.
Add, alternately with the buttermilk, to the creamed mixture.
Blend in the cocoa mixture, mixing well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden pick, inserted in the center, comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pans then remove the cakes and cool, until cold, on wire racks.
Frost with One Bowl Buttercream frosting and garnish as desired.
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