HERSHEY, Pa. -- While George Washington might have been satisfied with a cherry pie for his birthday, that wasn't enough for the folks gathered at the Great American Chocolate Festival.
To commemorate the 93rd birthday of Hershey's Cocoa, they feasted on a 93-layer, 9-foot-tall chocolate cake designed and constructed by former White House chef Albert Kumin.
Kumin created the 35-pound cake layer by layer throughout the four-day chocolate festival. Tiers were separated by chocolate-sculpted replicas of Hershey Cocoa cans. The cake was decorated with chocolate-sculpted bows and roses.
Though it will not serve the 500 people delighted by Kumin's masterwork in Hershey, here is his recipe cut down in proportion to be a good bit more workable. By the way, the original used about 100 pounds of cocoa, 180 pounds of flour and 790 eggs. HERSHEY'S COCOA BIRTHDAY CAKE cup butter or margarine 1 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract tsp mint extract (optional) 2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour cup Hershey's Cocoa 1 tsp baking soda tsp salt 1 1/3 cups water Birthday Buttercream Frosting Frosting: 6 Tbsp butter or margarine Hershey's cocoa (see procedure for amount) 2 2/3 cups unsifted confectioners sugar 1/3 cup milk 1 tsp vanilla extract tsp mint extract (optional)
To prepare the cake, cream the butter or margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla and mint extract, if desired. Beat for 1 minute at medium speed.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, then add this alternately with water to creamed mixture. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool completely.
To make the frosting, cream the butter or margarine in a small mixer bowl. Add the cocoa (1/3 cup for light flavor, cup for medium, cup for dark) and confectioners sugar alternately with the milk.
Beat to a spreading consistency (an additional tablespoon of milk might be necessary). Blend in vanilla and mint extract, if desired. (Yields about 2 cups frosting). Spread frosting on top of one cake, top with the second cake and frost completely.
Source: Hershey's Cocoa.
