Hi! Yesterday I tried to make the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Cake. I followed the recipe to a T and baked it in two 9" inch round cake pans, but within twenty minutes of baking, the batter was running over and made a huge mess in my oven! Has anyone else had a similar problem? I am wondering if it has something to do with too much baking soda or my altitude? I'm in Utah. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not sure why the batter would have run. How much did you fill your pans? I have been using this recipe for 30 years and never had a problem. I used to make layer cakes with it (two 9 inch rounds) and they always came out good. In recent years I have been making it in a bundt pan. Looks lovely when it is unmolded. It's our only chocolate cake recipe because it is not too sweet. Try filling up the pans less next time or make three layers.

omg yes this has happen to be too.. I've followed the recipe exactly and then after about 20 mins i would go check and i would have the whole batter running down my pan and all over my oven !!!!! this happen twice to me
i would love an answer as well..

I've made this a few times, and just made it a few days ago. The batter is VERY thin and I find that it needs to be baked much longer than the suggested time of 30-35 mins. I think I actually baked mine for 55-60 mins before it was actually cooked through (I baked in a 9x13 pan). My suggestion would be to increase the cooking time!

I actually bake this cake a lot (I have a 16" round in the oven as we speak), but I always use three 9" rounds for a single recipe. I never have the spillage nor do I have to level the cakes much, if any at all. If I make it in a 9"x13" pan, I usually have enough left over to make one 6" round. FYI, a double recipe is EXACTLY enough for a 16" round that bakes right up to the top edge of the pan - just found that out! Hope that helps!!

I haven't had a problem with spillage either and I have made it numerous times just in the last few weeks.

Due to the thinness of the batter, I would assume that if you overfill the pan to where the batter would rise above the rim and it does so before the batter bakes enough, it would spill because it is still liquefied.

I use 2-inch deep pans and only fill to about halfway and after slight leveling, my cakes are usually around or just over 1 1/2 inches tall. I would think that if you want a 2-inch layer with this runny of a batter, you should use a 3-inch deep pan and fill just under halfway...just my opinion but I am such a novice so it might not be worth anything.

HTH

Are you sure your pans are 9 inch, and/or are you sure they're two inches deep. The difference between an eight inch and a nine inch is approximately 2 cups of batter. According to Wilton an 8 inch pan 2 inches deep takes 3.5 cups and a 9 inch pan 2 inches deep takes 5.5 cups. In an eight inch pan that 2 cups is going to make a huge difference.

I bake at 350 degrees F. usually for about 40 minutes. I use a metal skewer to test it at about 30 minutes.

Once, I used unbleached flour rather than bleached flour in this recipe and had my cupcakes overflowing and spilling all over. I make this recipe quite often and that is the only time that has happened---also the only time I used unbleached flour.