Hershey's Black Magic Cake
with Chocolate Ganache
MAKES ONE 8″ CAKE (16 SERVINGS) | LEVEL: BEGINNER
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I’m all for a shortcut, if it doesn’t mean compromising on quality. That being said, it’s so easy to make a GREAT chocolate cake from scratch that there’s no reason to ever have to turn to boxed cake mix. Once you make cakes from scratch, you’ll notice how “processed” a cake mix cake tastes. Trust me on this.
I found this easy recipe years ago in a Hershey’s cookbook and decided it could be made better with the addition of some warm, chocolate ganache poured over the top. Heck, yeah! Why not? The bit of coffee in both the cake and the ganache adds an easy hit of richness. You’ll win them over with one bite. This is my go-to easy homemade birthday cake recipe, made even easier because there are no layers. Make this for any occasion. Get creative with your sprinkles.
Cake ingredients:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (1 Tablespoon white vinegar with enough whole milk added to equal 1 cup)
2 cups sugar
1 cup strong black coffee or 2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder + 1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Grease and flour a bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed with a mixer for 2 minutes. Batter will be thin. Pour into your prepared pan.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for about 10 minutes.
- Loosen cake from side of pan and carefully turn out onto a cake plate. Cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or espresso powder
- Fill a saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- While the water is warming, place a heat-proof metal bowl on the saucepan. The bowl shouldn’t be touching the water.
- To the bowl, add semisweet chocolate chips, heavy cream, and coffee granules. Stir continously as the chocolate melts until everything is melted and combined.
- Pour the warm ganache over the top of the cake, using a spoon to guide the “drips” into the grooves of the bundt cake. Don’t forget to add a few drips down the inside as well.
- While ganache is warm, sprinkle with any kind of sprinkles you like, chocolate pearls, chocolate curls, or fresh berries.
- You could also serve this cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (especially if you’re serving it warm).