Triple-Triple Chocolate Cake

This is an epic chocolate cake. There is no other way to describe it. Hidden inside it are three super moist layers of rich dark chocolate cake, and three types of chocolate ganache. And don't forget the macarons on top with the same three ganache(s?). For those who aren't experienced chocolate gluttons, this cake will knock you over and leave you gasping for air. It's intense. But so darn good. It's just...a little ugly. But hey, if something looks ugly, just cover it with some ribbons or bows right??

My icing skills are to blame. As well as my lack of organisation. Layered cakes are my arch-nemesis. It just so happens that I was making this cake for Regex Man's birthday, and the first layered chocolate cake I ever made was his Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel birthday cake which was a disaster from start to finish. That cake broke in two, fell on my face, was lopsided and the icing made it look like a giant poo. I was scared to try again. But just like last year; a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache was requested by the birthday boy and by golly that was what he was going to get! I may have gotten a little carried away. I was originally planning to have four layers, and an extra layer of mint chocolate ganache. But sanity prevailed and three layers was more than enough. But feel free to add/substitute different flavoured ganache into the cake, strawberry or mint chocolate would be awesome!

So, things were going smoothly. I baked the cakes (the same gorgeous chocolate cake recipe I used for A's fish tank cake, it's perfect-not too sweet), I was layering the cake. Then I realised I had forgotten the white chocolate ganache. Don't ask me how I managed that. There was panic, mad scraping of ganache off the cakes, rushed fixing up of the cake, and the dark chocolate ganache started to set before I could smooth it out. :( Same mistake as last time. So the outside of the cake was not great looking. I had those crazy neon blue macarons leftover from my blueberry cheesecake macaron recipe, and so I used the extra ganache to fill those. Macarons just add a little bit of wow to an otherwise boring looking cake.

The cake tastes amazing and I love the look of the different layers of ganache. It's not as sweet as you might think but it's definitely rich. After one slice I don't think I can eat anymore chocolate for the rest of the week! But I definitely need to work on my cake decorating skills.

Triple-Layered Triple Chocolate Cake
(adapted from Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe)
Butter, for greasing the pans
275g (1 3/4 US cups) plain flour, plus more for pans
500g (2 US cups) sugar
75g (3/4 US cups) good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
240ml buttermilk, shaken
120ml vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter 2-3 19cm round cake tins (I used two and filled one with 2/3rds of the mixture). Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. (I don't have a paddle attachment but my regular hand mixer worked fine) In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.

With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared tins and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. (If you used two tins like me, wait until completely cool before slicing up cake into layers)

For the chocolate ganache:
300g dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa Lindt)
150g milk chocolate
150g white chocolate
600ml pouring cream

Break up chocolate into small pieces and place in separate bowls. Slowly bring cream to just to the boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and cool for a couple minutes. Pour 300ml of cream over the dark chocolate, 150ml over the milk and 150ml over the white. Leave it to melt for a minute, then stir each of them to combine. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Using an electric mixer, beat each ganache separately until it is shiny, fluffy and just holds its shape (take care not to overmix or mixture will split, white chocolate especially). When ready to assemble, spread white chocolate ganache over bottom layer, cover with second layer of cake, then spread over milk chocolate ganache, top with final layer and cover entire cake with dark chocolate ganache. Make sure to work quickly or ganache will set. Serve at room temperature, run a knife under hot water before slicing up.

Optional: Use any leftover chocolate ganache to fill macaron shells and decorate on top of cake. See here for the recipe I used for the macaron shells.