Let them eat CAKE!

I had these magnificent pictures all along the way, and my computer deleted them...so I managed to take some "post" photos...


Okay, so I have always wanted to try and make a layered cake...and never really had the chance. So, yesterday, I made one for a little party we were attending at my friend's house. It was so fun, and for my very first layered cake, I would say it turned out pretty well. The cake was super moist, which is a must for me...I can't stand dry cake. I made it in honor of my husband's birthday, which is tomorrow, so I put cherries as my filling, but of course, you can put whatever your heart desires. I used the recipe off of the Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, but I used the Nestle Toll House Cocoa to make it. I had just made some extra dark brownies...and was in the mood for a more light chocolate. For frosting, I used the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Lover's Frosting. It turned out great!!

Cake
2 c sugar
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c Cocoa (I used Nestle Toll House)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c boiling water

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9 inch round baking pans. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be VERY thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes (I baked mine for 28 because my oven is an over achiever). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and then frost.

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar (divided)
2/3 cup baking cocoa (I used Nestle Toll House)
1/2 cup butter, softened
5-6 TBLS milk (divided)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat 1 cup powdered sugar, cocoa, butter, 2 TBLS milk, and vanilla in small bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in remaining sugar and milk until smooth.

After my two cakes had completely cooled, I cut the top off of one of them. I then spread the cherries around on the top. I placed the other cake on top of the one with cherries and trimmed the sides so that it would be even. If I could do it again, I would have trimmed the sides of the cake first, and then opened it back up and put the cherries in. The cherries made it difficult to cut. Then, the last step was to slather chocolate frosting on the tops and sides.