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Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake with Ganache Icing

The title says it all. It's a fudgy triple layer chocolate cake with ganache icing. It's a must-bake chocolate birthday cake for the chocolate lovers in your life.

Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
1 hr
Cooling time
3 hrs
Total Time
5 hrs
Servings: 12
Calories: 1019 kcal
Course: Cake
Cuisine: International

Ingredients

Triple cake layers
  • butter for greasing cake pans
  • 3 ounces (85 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled to touch
  • 2½ cups (312 grams) bleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups (144 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder plus extra for dusting cake pans
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 cups (600 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1½ cup coffee, cooled
  • 1½ cup buttermilk
  • ¾ cup neutral vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate ganache icing
  • 1½ pounds semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
  • 1½ cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened

Instructions

Triple cake layers
    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. Lightly butter three 9 inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the paper. Use unsweetened cocoa powder to "flour" the pans and set aside.
  3. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.
  4. In a bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl if using a hand mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed until pale yellow, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  5. Add the sugar and beat for a couple of minutes.
  6. Add the cooled chocolate and mix, then add coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
  7. Add the dry ingredients and combine on low speed for 1 minute or by hand until just combined. Your chocolate cake batter may not be perfectly smooth, but don't leave any pockets of the cocoa mixture.
  8. Divide the three chocolate cake layers equally into the prepared pans. Before putting them in the oven, knock them gingerly on the countertop once or twice to remove any air bubbles.
  9. Bake for about 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the edges are just starting to pull away from the side of the pan.
  10. Cool cake layers in the pan. You may need to run a spatula or knife around the edge of the cake pans to get the layers to release from the pan.
Chocolate ganache icing
  1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and cool.
  2. Combine the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a small pan and heat just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.
  3. When the chocolate and cream mixture have cooled to touch, put them into the bowl of your stand mixer or a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed. (If you mix everything before they're cool, the icing will be too thin to frost the cake.)
  4. Add butter and beat only until you get a smooth, spreadable consistency for your chocolate ganache. Don't whip the ganache icing or you will lose the fudgy consistency.

Notes

  • To freeze leftovers of this triple layer chocolate fudge cake, leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Cut the cake into family sized portions, double-wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and then place it in a plastic bag with as much air removed as possible. When you want to eat a piece, remove it from the refrigerator, unwrap it and put it on a plate, and let it come to room temperature before serving.
  • If your cocoa is clumpy and you don’t have a sifter, you can pass the dry ingredients through a sieve.
  • If you want to be precise in making the three cake layers even, each cake layer will have about 700 grams of chocolate batter.
  • Feel free to switch out the fillings and frostings. This three layer chocolate cake works really well with a salted caramel sauce or with peanut butter frosting and a chocolate peanut butter ganache.

Nutrition Information

Calories 1019kcal (51%) Carbohydrates 119g (40%) Protein 12g (24%) Fat 59g (91%) Saturated Fat 28g (140%) Polyunsaturated Fat 10g Monounsaturated Fat 16g Trans Fat 1g Cholesterol 104mg (35%) Sodium 406mg (17%) Potassium 649mg (19%) Fiber 9g (36%) Sugar 82g (164%) Vitamin A 753IU (15%) Vitamin C 1mg (1%) Calcium 160mg (16%) Iron 7mg (39%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 12Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 1019

% Daily Value*

Calories 1019kcal 51%
Carbohydrates 119g 40%
Protein 12g 24%
Fat 59g 91%
Saturated Fat 28g 140%
Polyunsaturated Fat 10g 59%
Monounsaturated Fat 16g 80%
Trans Fat 1g 50%
Cholesterol 104mg 35%
Sodium 406mg 17%
Potassium 649mg 14%
Fiber 9g 36%
Sugar 82g 164%
Vitamin A 753IU 15%
Vitamin C 1mg 1%
Calcium 160mg 16%
Iron 7mg 39%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.