Chocolate. One word that says so much...let me say it again....Choc-0-late! This recipe is as old as Hershey's - which has been around since 1894. It's on the back of the Hershey Cocoa carton and it's been my "go to" chocolate cake recipe for years. I've tried so many chocolate cake recipes - always looking for "the one" but when I want a good one, I always use this recipe - with one variation. The Hershey's recipe calls for 1 cup of boiling water...I substitute that cup of water with 1/2 cup of boiling water and 1/2 cup of hot coffee because it gives the cake a really, rich chocolately taste. 
The girl and I went to the mall - she is the epitome of a "mall rat." She never tires...just goes from one store to the next, barely stopping to breathe. I pushed Baby Max around in his stroller - and he loved it - apparently he has the "mall rat" gene as he never made a peep! Being at the mall is great people watching - you see everything - and I do mean everything! Girls prancing around in high heels with their badonkadonks hanging out looking like hoochie-mama's on the make...and boys barely able to walk with their jeans and bling hanging so low that one mis-step and you'd be able to see what religion they were! Honestly, I had to resist the urge to pull up their pants and to laugh! It was fascinating. But here's the good news - I was able to exit the mall with my bank account still in tact. That's HUGE! The girl has a way of siphoning off every penny so I'm quite pleased that I made it home with enough money to make cake! 
Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcakes - Adapted From the Back of the Hershey's Cocoa Carton
(Peanut Butter Frosting to follow)
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups Hershey's Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup hot coffee
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water and hot coffee, batter will be thin. Pour into cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners, filling 2/3's full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes for full-size cupcakes, for mini-cupcakes reduce baking time to 15 to 18 minutes. Test with wooden pick inserted in the center, if it comes out clean they are done. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
Peanut Butter Frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk or cream
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth, add remaining ingredients and beat on low until well combined and then beat on high speed until spreading consistency. Add more milk or powdered sugar if needed. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.
"If thou wouldst live long, live well; For folly and wickedness shorten life." Benjamin Franklin
