triple layer chocolate explosion cake with whipped chocolate buttercream

If my sister’s picky-ass boyfriend lauds one of my culinary escapades, you know it’s a pretty damn swell recipe.

When it comes to ice cream, I’ll opt for a vanilla-base flavor more often than a chocolate one. No surprise that my No Churn Vanilla Fudge and Salted Caramel Brownie Ice Creams are both nestled in a creamy white nest. Now – chocolate cake steals my heart.

I hadn’t been so bold as to create a chocolate cake before this one. I’m not sure why, but the deep rich tone intimidated me. Perhaps using cocoa powder takes a bit of courage since it acts like flour but also doesn’t act like flour and such requires some accommodation.

Proud to say, then, that this Triple Chocolate Explosion Layer Cake is as fudgy, tender, and decadent as I intended. If you’re a chocoholic, this has to become one of your new favorites.

This cake nearly saw its death the other week. I created it for a family gathering when my sis and her boyfriend visited from Pennsylvania. While J and I loaded his truck with our cooler of beer and other goodies, I set the stand under which my prize sat on the ledge of his truck bed. I kept one hand over the lid but this heavy cocoa rebel decided to slide down the wall and topple against the perimeter of the glass lid. Thankfully, I had both hands free and was able to lift it relatively safely into my arms, but casualty wasn’t fully avoided. The buttercream smashed off one side and I dirtied my fingers pushing the cake back into the center of its plate. I wailed a bit. Felt like a dumbass for trusting my finesse with placing a cake plate on a narrow strip of metal.

The whole car ride I held onto the plate with one hand and the lid with the other, creating a crevice just large enough for my plate-holding fingers to slide beneath. Not quite fun but we made it to mom’s without further incident. I immediately scolded the cake and threw it in the fridge to recover from the heat of the car.

Before we parted for the night, we all indulged in a piece. It was a hit.

Lesson learned. Don’t trust the stability of anything.

Trust, however, that this chocolate cake belongs at any soiree you might organize. Or, if no soiree, in your own happy little belly.

I based this cake on oil and Greek yogurt rather than butter and combined white sugar and brown sugar. Brown sugar adds a complexity and caramel undertone white sugar lacks. To start, whisk these components together as you would cream butter and sugar in other cakes, except the whipped texture will not come to fruition. Instead, you want a smooth and thick base.

Whip two eggs in, one at a time, until each is fully blended in. Finish with a final whisk of buttermilk and vanilla. If you need buttermilk in a pinch, my go-to trick (because I never have buttermilk around) is 1/2 tsp white vinegar per 1 cup of any milk. I use oat most of the time for the creaminess.

The cool thing about this cake is the need for only one bowl. I highly recommend, however, that you sift the dry ingredients through a fine-mesh sieve for easier blending. Pass some all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt through the sieve into the wet ingredients. Beat the batter until just combined. Overmixing results in a dense blob of a cake.

The final touch? A cup of hot coffee. Coffee enlivens the chocolate flavor and the extra moisture lingers in the crumb so the baked layers moisten beautifully. Pour it in and mix until a silky but pourable batter forms. Not as thick as a butter cake batter, but not so thin that you wonder if you’re handling brown river water instead of the skeleton of a delicious dessert.

Grease three 6-inch cake pans. Divide the batter amongst, then bake about 35-40 minutes doesn’t do the jiggy-wigglies. Let cool a bit in the pan, then flip onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Important that the cake is no longer warm at all, else the buttercream will melt on contact. No bueno.

Thanks to a generous portion of heavy whipping cream, the frosting earns a thick yet airy texture. I was not shy about licking the bowl after I finished decorating the cake. Throw some powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter, heavy cream, and a touch of vanilla together and beat with a hand or stand mixer. I’m drooling at the memory.

Assemble the cake as so: one layer, frost, second layer, frost, third layer, frost all the cake! Turn it into a song if you wish. The batch of buttercream blessed me with leftovers. Small batch cupcakes in the future? Actually, spoiler alert, next week’s good may just come in cupcake form. Harhar.

I know many a chocolate cake recipe floats about the Interwebiverse, but you ought to give this one a try. Maybe it’ll be your utmost favorite. I’d be honored if you bake it up for your 4th of July, or for someone’s birthday, for any occasion random or not. For me, this cake contains memories of cannonballs in the pool, airdrying while munching too many tortilla chips, gathering around a hot charcoal grill with a ping pong setup on one picnic table.

Food is a means of coming together, and departing with satisfaction from not only the meal itself but the company with which it was shared. Perhaps this cake will be the physical manifestation of a happy time.

Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!

Have a birthday coming up? Try out the Marble Funfetti Cake with Bourbon Vanilla Buttercream + Birthday Cake Ice Cream!