Hershey's Chocolate and the Windy City

While Hershey’s chocolate is closely associated with Pennsylvania, it has some unexpected ties to Chicago.

Milton Hershey got his start with an apprenticeship to a confectioner in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1873. After the apprenticeship, he opened a candy shop in Chicago. Unfortunately, the business venture failed, as did  candy shops Hershey also opened in Philadelphia and New York City. In 1883, Hershey returned to Pennsylvania and founded the Lancaster Caramel Company. But it was while attending the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago when Hershey decided to go into the chocolate business. German-made chocolate processing machinery was on display at the fair. After seeing a demonstration of how it turned bitter raw chocolate into sweet milk chocolate, Hershey was sold. He purchased the machinery, had it shipped to Pennsylvania, and founded the Hershey Chocolate Company the following year. 

In 1900, Hershey began manufacturing the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar. At this time, only the wealthy could afford chocolate. Hershey sought to make his chocolate more affordable so it could be more widely enjoyed. In 1903, he began construction of a chocolate plant in his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania, which would become known as Hershey, Pennsylvania.The Hershey Company would become one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world, and the Hershey’s bar is one of the best-known American candy bars. 

One type of Hershey’s bar you probably wouldn’t want to try was made during WWII, when the US Army approached the Hershey Company about creating a chocolate bar for soldiers’ emergency rations. The bar was supposed to be able to withstand high temperatures, supply vital nutrients, and not be tasty enough that soldiers would want to eat it in non-emergency situations. After much experimenting, the Hershey company created the “Ration D” bar. This bar supplied carbohydrates, protein, fats, and minerals, didn’t melt in tropical heat, and didn’t taste very good, either. In fact, it was nearly impossible to bite into. Soldiers had to either nibble it, shave slices off it with a knife, or let it dissolve in water for an unappetizing drink. The Ration D bar was retired at the end of World War II, but another of Hershey’s specialty bars, the “Tropical Bar,” which could also withstand heat, would be given to soldiers until 1991; it was even given to astronauts on the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.  

In addition to its milk chocolate bar, some of Hershey’s best-known products for general consumption include kisses, chocolate syrup, and cocoa powder, which was used in this recipe. 

While doing research for this post, once I  typed “Hershey” into a Google search, this chocolate cake recipe was one of the first results that came up. It’s from the Hersheyland website (hersheyland.com). I decided to make the cupcake version of the recipe, but it can also be made as a one pan cake, a two pan cake, a three layer cake, or a bundt cake. This recipe is very chocolatey and very delicious. If you make one batch of cake and one batch of frosting, you will use up about half of an 8-ounce container of Hershey’s cocoa.

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 c. sugar

1¾ c. all-purpose flour

¾ c. Hershey’s cocoa

1½ tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 c. milk

½ c. vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. boiling water 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F. Line two muffin pans with paper bake cups. 

Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes by hand or with a mixer set on medium. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). 

Fill muffin cups ½ full with batter. Bake 22-25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost with Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting (see below).

Variations:

One-pan cake: Grease and flour a 13x9x2-in. baking pan. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35-40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

Two-pan cake: Grease and flour two 9-in. round baking pans. Pour batter into pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost

Three-layer cake: Grease and flour three 8-in. round baking pans. Pour batter into pans. Bake 30-35 min. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

Bundt cake: Grease and flour a 12-cup fluted tube pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake 50-55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

 

Ingredients:

½ c. butter or margarine

⅔ c. Hershey’s cocoa

3 c. powdered sugar

⅓ c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt butter in microwave. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add a small amount of additional milk if needed. Stir in vanilla. 

Sources:

Robert Lewis, “Hershey Company,” Britannica (March 21, 2024).

JoJo Galvan, “Foods of the 1893 World’s Fair,” Chicago History Museum (September 19, 2023).  

“The Sweet Treats Born at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair,” WTTW.

Stephanie Butler, “How Hershey’s Chocolate Helped Power Allied Troops During WWII,” History (March 28, 2023).

Defense Commissary Agency, “How Sweet It Is! U.S. Troops Have Savored the Taste of Chocolate in Their Rations Since WWII,”  Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (March 17, 2022).

Kovie Biakolo, “Raising the Bar: When the Military Came Looking for a Nutritious Wartime Snack, Hershey’s Delivered the Goods,” Smithsonian (November 2023). 

“The History of ‘The Great American Chocolate Bar,” Hershey’s. 

“The Hershey Company,” Wikipedia (March 24, 2024).