AHi there I usually use my vanilla recipe and substitute some flour for cocoa but to be honest its always a little dry so I tried this one:

http://www.food.com/recipe/6-layer-dreamy-chocolate-mousse-cake-paula-deen-376839

And it was just too moist, I can't imagine it would hold a good shape under fondant and as cupcakes was not 'solid' enough to hold and eat without making a mess!

So I tried the Hershey's recipe from the side of the cocoa tin. I'm not used to batter being so runny as I usually use butter and no oil. So i made the batter and put it in 2 8inch pans. I cooked it at 160 as I have a fan oven and that's what I usually bake at, althought the can said to do at 180. Anyway, the can says 30-35 mins and 50 mins later a skewer was still not coming out clean but I gave up as the top of the cake was burning.

What did I do wrong? The oven temp perhaps?

Thanks!

need a little information, please

so you used the hpcc recipe and substituted flour for the cocoa? do i have that right?

then the top burned but it was still runny??

so if i got that right--you just need a good vanilla cake recipe???

so here's one in the meantime

sylvia weinstock's yellow cake recipe

AHello

Thanks for reply. I actually need a good choc cake recipe that's both good for cupcakes and for larger cake covered in fondant. It was the hpcc recipe that went wrong (by instructions, no substitutions) although, I cooked at a slightly lower temp (160celsius) as that's the temp that I normally bake at. But the top and sides were burning while the centre wasn't cooked properly.

My vanilla sponge is great, but am yet to perfect a from scratch chock cake. I've read great thIngs about the hpcc but it didn't go right for me!!

or i think maybe you are actually looking for a chocolate recipe??

wow--hpcc is a great formula--don't know why yours didn't turn out

can you turn off the fan in there?? should bake fine.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/red-devils-food-cake/867adb8c-54a3-4f56-88f4-c6e464426412

this is made with baking chocolate instead of cocoa

and for a good recipe with cocoa...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Fudge-Cake-109712

toba garrett's  brilliant!

i made these again last night--cupcakes

ridiculously delicious--

http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-classic-recipe-with-twist.html

and mine were done in about 16 mins--i have a radiant heat with a gentle fan

This is a really good recipe.  Don't forget the  water that's listed in the method of the recipe.  Its been omitted from the list of ingredients.

http://www.marthastewart.com/346395/one-bowl-chocolate-cake

AGreat, thanks everyone.

Pmarks0 - I have just tried this recipe and so far so good. I can't believe how much cocoa it requires!! My cakes (vanilla)are usually 2 layers, so I filled 2 8inch round tins and made cupcakes with the remaining batter. But my layers are not that deep now baked and my cake won't be as tall as I normally make them. Should the whole amount of batter be used to make the cake, as in 2 larger 8inxh round layers or will they not bake well? Perhaps 3 layers? In your experience of this recipe, What tins have you used?

Many thanks!

It's been a while since I've made it, but I have used 8" pans.  I think I generally fill my pans 2/3 full.  I don't recall if I had batter left over.  It may be a bit of trial and error to see how well the layers rise to give you the height you want.
 

I don't know anything about a fan oven, but I think you should retry it following the temp and time instructions on the package. I've made the Hershey recipe 2x as a cake and 2x as cupcakes and they were delicious both times. I have a typical kitchen oven, nothing industrial or fancy and have not had any problems. It's really a yummy recipe (was a huge hit at my nephew's winter percussion bake sale this past weekend!) so I hope you find success with it.