Triple Chocolate Layer Cake

5 from 14 votes

Chocolate cake gets an exciting makeover with three distinct chocolate flavours hidden beneath luscious vanilla marshmallow buttercream. Simple but effective.

Please note: this recipe uses 3 x 6 inch circular cake tins. If you are using standard 8.5 inch tins please see my notes below.

Prep Time45 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Course: Baking, Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: World

Servings: Slices

Calories: 654kcal

Author: Jane Saunders

Ingredients

For the Cakes

180 g/ 6 ½oz softened butter
180 g/ 6 ½oz caster sugar
3 eggs
5 tbsp milk
180 g/ 6 ½oz plain (all purpose) flour (sifted)
2 tsp baking powder
50 g/ 2oz white chocolate - finely chopped
50 g/ 2oz milk chocolate - finely chopped
50 g/ 2oz dark chocolate - finely chopped
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tbsp Ovaltine (chocolate malt powder)
1 ½ tbsp cocoa powder

For the buttercream

125 g/ 4 ½oz softened butter
250 g/ 9oz icing (confectioner's) sugar
125 g/ 4 ½oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
150 g vanilla Marshmallow Fluff

Decoration - 1 Cadbury's flake (or 40g chopped/ grated milk chocolate)

Instructions

Bake the cakes

Preheat the oven 170°/ 325°F/ GM3
Grease and line 3 x 6-inch circular baking tins (note these are smaller than average tins - if you are using 8-inch tins see my notes on how to scale up the recipe)
Melt the 3 types of chocolate in separate bowls. Set aside
In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using electric beaters. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition
Add 3 tbsp of milk and beat again. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and mix well
Divide the cake batter equally into 3 small mixing bowls
For the White Chocolate & Vanilla Sponge: from the first mixing bowl take a tablespoon of the cake batter and stir it quickly into the melted white chocolate. Then gently fold this white chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract back into the bowl containing the rest of the cake batter. This double-action will stop the chocolate from seizing when it is mixed into the cake batter. Gently spoon the batter into one of the baking tins and spread it out with a blunt knife
For the Malted Milk Chocolate Sponge: stir an extra tablespoon of milk and the Ovaltine powder into the second bowl of cake batter. From this bowl, take a tablespoon of the cake batter and stir it quickly into the melted milk chocolate. Then fold this chocolate mixture back into the rest of the cake batter. Spoon the batter into another of the baking tins & spread it out
For the Dark Chocolate Sponge: stir an extra tablespoon of milk and the cocoa powder (sifted) into the remaining bowl of cake batter. Quickly mix a tablespoon of this cake batter into the melted dark chocolate, then fold this chocolate mixture back into the rest of the cake batter. Spread the batter into the last of the baking tins
Bake all three cakes for 20-25 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a skewer comes out clean
Let cool in the tins for 2 minutes, then remove from the tins, peal off the baking parchment from the bottom of each sponge cake and let cool completely on a wire rack

Make the Marshmallow buttercream

Put the icing sugar, butter & vanilla paste into a large bowl and beat until smooth
Beat in the cream cheese until smooth, then mix in the marshmallow fluff

Assemble the cake

Lay the white chocolate sponge cake onto a board and spread a heaped tablespoon of the icing on top, then place the malted milk chocolate cake carefully on top of the layer of icing
Top with another spoonful of icing, spread it out and add the dark chocolate layer of cake
Once the final layer of cake has been added, carefully spread a thin layer of icing all over the top and sides of the cake - a palette knife is good for this. I find that coating the cake in a thin layer all over helps to seal in the crumbs. Once you have done this, use the remaining icing to create a thicker layer that covers the cake entirely.
Carefully move your cake onto a serving plate and touch up the icing if necessary. Once you are satisfied, you can add a pattern if you want to. I used the back of a dessert spoon to lift the icing in places to give a rugged appearance
Decorate with crushed or chopped chocolate if desired

Notes

This recipe uses 3 x 6 inch circular cake tins. If you wish to use standard 8.5 inch tins, my suggestion is to simply double the recipe. In an ideal world, you would scale up the recipe to bake it using 5 eggs, but that leads to some fiddly measurements. Making double is far easier - just ensure you do not fill your sandwich tins more than ⅔ full with the batter and use the leftover batter to make a few cupcakes. You perhaps will not need to double the buttercream though - I'd suggest making 1.5 times that stated in the recipe.

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