Triple Chocolate Cake

This triple chocolate cake is made with three layers of fudgy, moist dark chocolate cake, a rich chocolate frosting, and chocolate ganache. It's an incredible and decadent dessert!

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 25

Total Time 1 55

Servings servings

Calories 1196kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Baking sheet
Mixing bowls
3 9” cake pans
Squeeze bottle for ganache (optional)
Ateco 846 piping tip optional, for swirls on top (Ateco 848 is also a great choice)

Ingredients

Cake Layers

1 ¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
¾ cup (75 g) dark cocoa powder (see note)
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt
⅔ cup (155 ml) neutral cooking oil I use avocado oil, vegetable, or canola would also work
½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
2 large eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk
½ cup (118 ml) very hot/boiling water or hot coffee

Frosting (see note)

12 oz (340 g) semisweet chocolate chopped into small pieces
2 cups (450 g) unsalted butter softened
4 cups (400 g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon table salt
2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk as needed

Ganache

8 oz (226 g) semisweet or dark chocolate chopped
1 cup (236 ml) heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Cake Layers

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C) and line the bottoms of three 9” (23cm) round pans with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides (or spray with baking spray). Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well to break up any clumps from the brown sugar.
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup light brown sugar, ¾ cup dark cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt
Add oil and melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.
⅔ cup neutral cooking oil, ½ cup unsalted butter
Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir well until you have a uniform batter.
2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Gradually stir in buttermilk until batter is completely combined.
1 cup buttermilk
Finally, slowly (carefully) pour hot water or coffee into the batter, stirring until uniform. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
½ cup very hot/boiling water or hot coffee
Divide batter evenly into prepared cake pans and transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) oven. Bake for 22-25 minutes or a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (if your oven is uneven you may need to rotate cakes during baking).
Allow cakes to cool for 15 minutes before running a knife around the edge to loosen from the pan and then carefully inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
While cakes cool, prepare frosting and then ganache.

Frosting (see note)

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl by heating in 20-second intervals and stirring in between until smooth and completely melted. Set aside and allow to cool until no longer warm to the touch.
12 oz semisweet chocolate
Place the butter in a separate, large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy and smooth.
2 cups unsalted butter
Once chocolate has cooled, give it a stir (make sure it hasn’t re-solidified) and then drizzle into the butter. Stir until well-combined with the butter.
With mixer on low-speed, gradually stir in sugar.
4 cups powdered sugar
Add vanilla extract and salt and stir well.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon table salt
If the frosting is too thick, add cream or milk, a tablespoon at a time, until a smooth and spreadable consistency is reached. Set aside while you prepare your ganache.
2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Ganache

Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.
8 oz semisweet or dark chocolate
Place cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until steaming. Remove from heat and pour evenly over chocolate. Cover with foil and let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Remove foil and whisk until smooth. Allow ganache to cool 15 minutes before proceeding (I like to pour mine into a small squeeze bottle to make application easier).

Assemble the cake

Note that if cakes are uneven you may wish to level them before assembling. Place frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large open tip.
Place one cake layer on serving tray. Do a large dam around the edge of the cake and a smaller ring in the center followed by a circle of frosting in the very center (like you are making a bullseye – photo included as a visual in the post). Squeeze ganache inside the two rings, using about ⅓ of the ganache. Top with second layer of cake and repeat. Top with last layer of cake and frost entire cake with frosting. I usually do a crumb coating and then refrigerate the cake for 15 minutes before doing the final layer of frosting. If ganache becomes too cold/firm, heat it in the microwave in 5 second intervals until proper consistency is reached.
Use remaining ganache to decorate the top of the cake (see my detailed tutorial on how to do a ganache drip if you’d like) and refrigerate for 15 minutes for ganache to begin to set before adding more frosting.
Once ganache has set, fit a piping bag with remaining frosting with a large open-star tip (I like Ateco 846 or 848) and do final decorative piping on top of cake.

Video

Notes

Making in different pans

Three 8” (20cm) pans: Cake will take several minutes longer to bake.

To make in two pans (instead of 3): Cakes will need to bake longer, about 30-35 minutes in 8” (20cm) round pans or slightly less time in 9” (23cm) pans.

Cocoa powder

Dark cocoa is recommended for best flavor, but you may substitute Dutch process or natural cocoa, instead.

Frosting

This recipe makes a lot of frosting so that you can sufficiently ice the cake and do the decorative border on top, as shown in photos. If you prefer less frosting, you can reduce this recipe in half. Some other good frostings for this cake include my chocolate buttercream, chocolate cream cheese frosting, or white chocolate buttercream.

Storing

Store at room temperature for up to 24 hours or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Cake tastes best at room temperature so I like to pull it out of the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition