Triple Layer Chocolate Cake!
This cake is super, super, super moist.
Oh, and tender, amazingly tender!!!
It’s like a chocolate cake dream come true!
Three layers of the most delicious chocolate cake generously topped with a fabulous chocolate frosting!
Like I said before……a chocolate dream come true!
This cake is quick and easy to prepare. It comes out great every time!
Skip the box cake and give this baby a try! You won’t be disappointed!
It’s so much tastier than the box cake and the texture is fabulous!
It’s a wonderful recipe for beginning bakers to make because it’s easy and produces consistent results.
All the ingredients are easy to find and economical to buy.
It’s also a great cake for advanced bakers because it’s so delicious!
Just look at that slice of cake. You can see how incredibly moist, it is the picture above.
The layers don’t look even but they are. It’s just the angle I got.
The recipe for both the cake and frosting come from Hershey’s Kitchens.
Honestly, they’re, in my humble opinion, dang near perfect just as they’re written.
The only changes I make to the original cake recipe for the triple layer cake is to add a little espresso powder to the boiling water.
If you don’t have any espresso powder on hand, you can use instant coffee.
Sometimes I use the instant coffee instead of the espresso because I want to use decaf.
I know that the sugar and the chocolate are stimulants on their own, so if I’m making this for kids, I always use decaf.
They don’t need any extra stimulants!
The other change I make is to double the frosting.
I like LOT’S of frosting!
Check out the picture above, it really doesn’t seem like an excessive amount to me, does it to you?
Honestly, I can’t imagine the three layers with a single recipe of frosting.
I think the ratio of frosting to the cake would be off and the result would just be disappointing!
Who wants that after they’ve just baked this masterpiece????
The recipe I’ve written below has been double from the original.
Triple Layer Chocolate Cake
Recipe Notes:
This cake can be made as a 3 layer cake as I’ve shown. I used 3 – 8 inch cake pans.
It can also be made as a:
2 layer cake with 2 – 9-inch cake pans baked for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.
1 layer cake baked in a 9X13 inch baking dish for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Bundt cake using a 12 cup Bundt pan baking for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Here’s my favorite Recipe for Chocolate Ganache Glaze. I think it’s perfect 🙂
Cupcakes use a 2 1/2 inch diameter muffin pan lined with paper baking liner and bake for 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes about 28-30 cupcakes.
The original recipe called for the cake pans to be greased and floured.
It seems that whenever I make this cake, it’s for a special occasion, like a birthday party, fathers day, Easter, etc, so I can’t afford for there to be any mishaps.
I’ve never made it per the directions and just greased and floured the pans.
I always line the bottoms with parchment then spray heavily with nonstick cooking spray.
I’ve always had a perfect release from the pans that way.
I use Wilton baking pans
They’re easy to find and I find that they work well.
I love that Wilton makes so many sizes as well.
I mention this because they also have relatively high, straight sides. They’re 2 inches high.
This recipe produces a fairly thin batter that rises pretty high in the pan.
If your baking pans don’t have the higher sides the batter can rise over the sides and make a mess.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cake topped with Chocolate Ganache – Perfect combination of rich, chocolatey moist cake!
- Quadruple Chocolate Poke Cake -Tremendously moist, yummy chocolate decadence topped with a tad more chocolate!
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake – Our Super Moist, Deeply Chocolate, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Is Truly So Delish, You May Swoon! It May Be One Of The Best Overall Cake Recipes I Make!!
Serves 12
Source: Hershey’s Kitchens
Triple Layer Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Cups Cocoa Powder
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoons Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Teaspoon Instant Espresso Powder
- 1 Cup Boiling Water
Frosting:
- 1 Cup 2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
- 1 1/3 Cup Cocoa Powder
- 6 Cups Powdered Sugar Sifted
- 2/3 Cup Whole Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of 3- 8 inch, high sided, round cake pans with parchment paper and spray well with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat on medium speed, for about 2 minutes.
- Add espresso powder to boiling water and stir to dissolve.
- Add boiling water to the cake batter and stir until well combined. Batter will be thin-this is how it's supposed to look!
- Pour batter evenly into prepared baking pans. Bake in preheated oven 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool in pans set on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
Make the Frosting:
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter completely. Stir in cocoa.
- Add powdered sugar and milk, alternately, using an electric hand-held mixer and beating until smooth and a spreadable consistency is reached. Stir in vanilla. If needed, add a little extra milk.
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Best chocolate cake recipe!!! I have probably used it 15 times. You don’t need espresso if you do not have it, I never add it and it’s still so good!! I usually do a 13×9 and the batter is always perfect. Today I am doing it in 3 square 8×8 to try the 3 layers and they are SUPER thin…..maybe it was me, idk but next time I will double up
Thanks so much Sam. I’m so happy to hear how much you like the recipe. And thanks for the 5 stars <3
Can this be made without the espresso and boiling water step? I have everything on hand except the espresso powder.
Hi Chelsea. If you don’t have espresso powder you can use instant coffee. If you don’t have either just add the boiling water alone 🙂
I like this guide. Thank you!
Hi MaryAn. You’re so welcome 😉