Triple Chocolate Layer Cake

This Triple Chocolate Cake is rich, dark and chocolatey, and, of course, moist and delicious. Filled with white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. This is a chocolate lovers dream cake! Perfect for your next birthday cake or special dinner treat!

Lately at work when it's someone's birthday I insist on baking something, a cake, cookies, bars...etc. Any excuse to bake really. So when some of my co-workers knew I was going to be away they made sure to let me know they would be missing out on their birthday treat. Well, I couldn't let that happen! So I decided to make a cake before I left.

This cake was delicious, over the top and everything I LOVE. I made my favorite chocolate cake and filled it with white chocolate whipped cream, milk chocolate whipped cream and dark chocolate whipped cream then topped it with a chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries. When I brought it in everyone thought I was nuts. Hello who doesn't love chocolate?

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• Ingredients
• How do you make a Triple Chocolate Layer Cake?
• Tips for Success and FAQ
• More chocolate recipes
• Recipe Card
• Recipe Ratings & Comments

Ingredients

There are three components to this cake the cake, filling, and ganache.

• Granulated Sugar/ Caster Sugar. The sugar plays two roles in the cake, the sweetness, and the structure! 
• All-Purpose/ Plain Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly, I prefer to weigh it with a digital scale. Too much or too little flour can drastically affect the structure of the cake. 
• Dutch Process Cocoa Powder.  I much prefer the taste of Dutch-process cocoa to natural cocoa powder. Dutch-process provides a much smoother, richer chocolate flavor. But most of the acidity has been stripped so for recipes that call for chemical leavening agents like this one, you should not just swap out natural cocoa.
• Baking Soda. For baking soda to activate you need acid and sour cream plays that role in this recipe.
• Salt. Salt not only balances out the sweetness but also helps other ingredient's flavors shine bright!
• Baking Powder. This chemical leavening agent is already active but you don't want too much of it because it could cause the cake to rise and fall drastically while baking or also create a metallic taste.
• Large Eggs. at room temperature
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Vanilla enhances the vanilla flavor.
• Vegetable Oil. Oil provides an insane amount of moisture to the cake. I use avocado oil but vegetable oil or canola oil work great to.
• Sour Cream. Sour cream also provides intense moisture and since sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products it also helps create a rich texture.
• Whole Milk or Buttermilk. I have used both whole milk and buttermilk and had great successes.
• Hot Coffee. The coffee does not make the cake taste like coffee in fact it just enhances the chocolate flavor.

Each cake layer will be cut in half to create 4 equal cake layers and inside the three middle layers you will find a faux mousse filling. You just take whipped cream and melted chocolate and fold them together. Since this is a triple chocolate cake we will need dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate.

The whipped cream and confectioners sugar get whipped together to create stiff peaks then you will divide it into three and fold in melted, but cooled, chocolate.

I use callebaut chocolate callets, callebaut white chocolate callets and callebaut milk chooclate callets. I use these chocolate callets for chocolate chips in cookies and other bakes. They are not filled with the emulsifiers that chocolate chips are. But you can use chocolate chips for this recipe if you want it just won't be quite as nice.

Then to top the cake you'll make a chocolate ganache; heavy whipping cream and chocolate. Fresh berries are the best topping!

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

How do you make a Triple Chocolate Layer Cake?

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease two 9-inch round pans. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer or large bowl with a whisk combine the eggs, vanilla, oil, sour cream, and milk mix until fully combined.

Place a fine mesh sieve over the wet ingredients and sift in the flour, cocoa, powder, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Sifting in the dry ingredients ensures there are no lumps!

Mix until just combined then add in the hot coffee and mix until evenly combined. The cake batter will be very thin.

Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean/ only moist crumbs, no wet batter. Set cakes on a wire rack to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling prepare the three whipped creams.

Once cakes are cool melt chocolate- dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate in individual bowls.  

There are two ways to melt the chocolate, whichever you do, just don't rush melting the chocolate as chocolate burns easily:

• You can melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 15 second increments, stirring between, stop microwaving before the chocolate is fully melted. Keep stirring and the residual heat will help the remanning chocolate.
• Alternatively you can create a make shift double broiler/ Bain Marie to melt the chocolate. Place a small pot with a little bit of water over low heat and add a heatproof bowl that can sit on top of the pot without touching the water. Add the chocolate to the bowl and let the steam of the hot water melt the chocolate slowly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or large bowl with handheld electric mixer mix together the first 3 cups of heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.

Divide into three equal parts. Fold in milk chocolate into one part, dark chocolate into second whipped cream and the white chocolate into the last bit of whipped cream. 

To make ganache in a small saucepan heat heavy cream for 3-5 minutes. In a medium-sized bowl pour in chocolate callets or chips and pour heavy cream on top of chocolate. Let sit for 3 minutes then stir until completely combined. The hot cream will melt the chocolate. Once combined set aside.

Cut the two cakes in half and on a serving platter/cake plate place the first layer of chocolate cake, spread with white chocolate whipped cream, place next cake layer followed by milk chocolate whipped cream then a chocolate cake layer then the dark chocolate whipped cream then a chocolate cake layer. I use an offset spatula to help create an even layer. Bend down to eye level with the cake to make sure it is even.

Then spread chocolate ganache on top and let drizzle down the sides. I like to add a few bites of ganache with a spoon at the edges of the cake to place some drips it did not naturally fall. Place fresh berries on top while ganache is still wet, so the berries stick into place. Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Tips for Success and FAQ

More chocolate recipes

• Chocolate Cherry Lava Cake
• Sour Cream Chocolate Sheet Cake
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Scones
• My friend Lauren makes delicious Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

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★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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The recipe was originally published on August 29, 2013 as of October 8, 2023 the recipe has been updated.