This decadent double chocolate cake can be made into a two layer round cake or cupcakes! My mom gave me this recipe years ago and it is a classic in my household. The kids and my hubby absolutely live for this cake.

Ingredients for cake

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Ingredients for chocolate buttercream 

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup milk or heavy cream room temperature (may need more or less, depending on your preference of buttercream thickness)
• dash of salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions for cake 

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients-Flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. With an electric mixer, mix in your eggs, one by one. Next, mix in your vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Once that is combined, add in your boiling water. Mix entire batter until combined. If you are making cupcakes with this recipe, you may take your cupcake tins and fill each one 2/3 full. Which is about 1/4 cup each. If you are baking a cake, take two 9-inch pans and spray them with a baking spray and then fill them evenly. Bake the cake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes up clean. If you are baking cupcakes, it may take around 20-25 minutes to come up clean. Let cool.

Instructions for chocolate buttercream 

In a mixing bowl, Use an electric mixer to beat the butter until smooth. Add in your confectioners sugar and beat together until smooth. Add in your cocoa and once again, beat until smooth. Note that I prefer to use a sifter to sift my cocoa before mixing. That is not absolutely necessary, but it’s a preference of mine. Add in your salt, vanilla extract, and milk and continue to mix until smooth. Depending on your icing preference, you may decide to add more milk to make it less thick, or if you want it to be very thick, you can add more confectioners sugar. You should also taste it to determine if you want to add more cocoa to make it more chocolatey. 

Once your cakes have cooled, invert them on to a cake plate flat side up. Apply your first layer of buttercream and then place your second layer on top and apply icing to that. Enjoy!