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Slice of triple chocolate cake.

The BEST Triple Chocolate Cake

Rich and delish
This triple chocolate cake is made with three layers of a moist chocolate cake, frosted with decadent chocolate buttercream, topped with chocolate ganache drip, and chocolate whipped cream.
5 from 47 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
chill time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 16 slices
Calories 672 kcal

Equipment

  • Cake strips to make perfect baked cakes with even tops.
  • 8-inch cake pans to bake the cakes in.
  • Mixing bowls best glass mixing bowls.
  • Whisk set our favorite copper whisk set.

Ingredients
 
 

For the cake:

  • 3 cups Flour
  • ½ cup Cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Baking soda
  • 2 cups Granulated sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • ¾ cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup Buttermilk
  • 1 cup Coffee hot
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

For the chocolate frosting:

  • 450 g Butter
  • 2 ⅔ cups Powder sugar
  • cup Cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 130 g Semisweet chocolate melted and cooled

For the chocolate whipped cream:

  • 1 cup Heavy cream
  • ¼ cup Cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • cup Powder sugar

For the chocolate ganache:

  • 100 g Dark chocolate or semisweet
  • 100 g Heavy cream

Instructions
 

For the cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 180 (350f) and prep three 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
  • Into a big mixing bowl, add the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, sugar, cocoa powder, and buttermilk. Mix well until combined. Add the kosher salt and the hot coffee, and mix well until the batter is smooth.
  • Add the hot coffee and mix well.
  • Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined!
  • Divide the mixture into three 8-inch baking pans, we suggest using cake strips for even baking. (weight the batter for better results) and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool completely before frosting so the frosting won't melt off the cake.

For the frosting:

  • Make the chocolate frosting: into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
  • Add half of the powder sugar and the cocoa powder and carefully mix until combined.
  • Add the other half of the powder sugar and mix until smooth.
  • Melt dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate and let it cool completely to room temperature.
  • Add the melted chocolate to the mixture and mix until well combined and smooth.

Make the chocolate ganache:

  • Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
  • Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.

Make the chocolate whipped cream:

  • In a cold big mixing bowl add the heavy whipping cream, sift the cocoa powder, and add the sugar and vanilla.
  • Whip with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until stiff peaks form. Make sure that you don't overmix the whipped cream so it won't turn into butter.

Assembly

  • Pipe a small dollop of the frosting on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
  • Top the first cake layer with ⅓ of the buttercream and spread an even layer using a spatula. Repeat with the second cake layer, and top it with the third cake layer.
  • Frost the cake with a very thin layer of buttercream, and place the cake in the freezer to set for 15 minutes. (this is the crumb coat)
  • Remove the cake from the freezer and frost it with the remaining frosting and place it in the freezer for another 10 minutes to set.
  • Pour the chocolate ganache over the cake and use a spatula to carefully push the ganache around the edges of the cake until a drip design forms.
  • Make dollops of the chocolate whipped cream around the edges of the cake. We used a 1M piping tip.

Notes

  • Don’t skip the coffee in the cake, you can’t taste the coffee, it simply enhances the chocolate flavor.
  • Use cake strips! Cake strips give you even and perfectly baked cake layers. Click here for the amazon link.
  • Cool the melted chocolate before adding it to the chocolate frosting! This step is a must, if the melted chocolate will be hot, it will melt the butter and the chocolate frosting will be ruined.
  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
  • Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
  • Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making the buttercream, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the frosting.
  • Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be more firm and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.

Nutrition

Calories: 672kcalCarbohydrates: 79gProtein: 7gFat: 49gSaturated Fat: 25gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 413mgPotassium: 299mgFiber: 5gSugar: 31gVitamin A: 1089IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 4mg
Keyword triple chocolate cake, triple layer chocolate cake
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