Rich, soft chocolate cake layers with a chocolate mousse filling and finished with a chocolate buttercream frosting. If you’re a chocolate lover, this Triple Chocolate Cake is straight out of your dreams!
Birthday Cakes for Friends
I love make cakes for my friends and family. It’s seriously one of my top joys in life. There are a few friends who go above and beyond with their praise of my desserts, so I especially love making cakes for them.
My friend Danielle is one of those friends who just knows how to give a compliment. Going back through my texts right now, I’m seeing things from her like, “I can’t even believe a real person made this cake, this is amazing,” and “that cake was last night was insane, like next level – I basically died.”
Danielle is an amazing friend, and makes me feel like a rockstar baker, so when it’s her birthday, I have to bring my cake A-game.
These are a few of my favorite cakes that I’ve made for family and friends
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake
Almond Lemon Cake
Homemade Funfetti Cake
Churro Cake
Pumpkin Churro Cake
All The Chocolate
Danielle’s birthday is at the end of August, so I recently had the opportunity to make her a birthday cake. I asked her what type she would like, and she said, “all the chocolate.” I too, love all the chocolate. So this Triple Chocolate Cake idea came to me immediately.
Soft, Chocolate Cake Layers
First, I started with one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. It uses cornstarch and flour, which yields a soft, moist cake. It also uses a bit of coffee. Do not be scared of the coffee! The coffee makes the chocolate taste richer, but does not give the cake a coffee flavor.
Chocolate Mousse Filling
I am a sucker for a good mousse. I modified the peanut butter mousse recipe from my Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Cake to make a purely chocolate mousse. It’s good enough to just eat with a spoon!
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Finally, I finished with a chocolate buttercream frosting. Danielle was having a birthday get-together outside, so I wanted the cake to hold up to late summer heat and humidity. I find if I make a traditional buttercream, it doesn’t hold up very well in heat. So, for this particular frosting I used equal parts butter and shortening as the base.
When preparing frosting, I typically use unsalted butter and add salt myself so that I can control the taste, and get just the right amount.
Triple Chocolate Cake
I finished the outside of the cake with grated Hershey bars for decor, texture, and just more chocolate.
This cake was nothing less than a chocolate lover’s dream! The next day Danielle texted, “Thank you so much for that cake it was totally unreal.” It’s a bit time consuming to make, but completely worth it. So, next time you need a cake for a chocolate lover, make this the one!
Triple Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup coffee
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 cup buttermilk
Chocolate Mousse Filling
- 2 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cup whipping cream divided
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Buttercream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup all vegetable shortening
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp whipping cream
Assembly
- 1, 1.55 ounce (regular size Hershey’s milk chocolate bar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3, 8″ pans with parchment paper. Flour & butter sides of pans.
- Whisk together first six ingredients in mixing bowl. Then add following 7 ingredients and beat on medium speed until all ingredients well combined, about 2 minutes. The batter is thin.
- Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until toothpick comes out of center of cake with just a few crumbs, about 25 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from pans. Let cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate Mousse Filling
- In large bowl or stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat eggs for about 4 minutes, or until light colored and thickened. Then, beat in sugar.
- Heat ½ cup of heavy cream in a medium sized sauce pot over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Then, slowly pour a little over half of the cream into the egg yolk mixture, stirring continuously. Pour the mixture back into the remaining heavy cream in the pot, still stirring continuously. Turn heat under pot to low, and stir continuously until mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. After mixture has thickened, remove from heat and whisk in chocolate chips until smooth.
- Place the egg mixture in a bowl in the refrigerator for at least two hours. After mixture has chilled, beat remaining 1/2 cup of whipping cream with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold whipped cream into chocolate/egg mixture until well combined.
Chocolate Buttercream
- Use electric mixer to beat together butter and shortening until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, stir together salt, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Beat into butter mixture, about ½ cup at a time. Then mix in vanilla and whipping cream. Beat for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until smooth and fluffy.
Assembly
- Level cooled cake layers. Pipe buttercream around outside edge of two layers. Divide mousse between the two layers. Stack filled layers on top of each other and place third layer leveled side down on top.
- Apply a thin layer of buttercream to outside of entire cake. Place cake in refrigerator for 10-20 minutes. After this, finish frosting and decorating as desired. Grate Hershey’s bar to sprinkle over top of cake and/or press into sides of cake.
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Triple Chocolate Cake, you might also enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Flourless Chocolate Torte
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Milk and Cookies Cake
