Sticky Triple Chocolate Cake

When I was asked to make a cake for a friend’s parents’ ruby wedding I was both honoured and terrified. Honoured because they actually wanted me (me!) to make a cake for such a special day. Terrified because it would have to be a very special cake for such a special day.

I sat down and looked through my cookbooks for inspiration, and after a lot of reading eventually decided to make a triple cake with a dark, a milk, and a white chocolate cake layer. It would be a tall cake, and wide enough that the bride’s original cake decoration would fit onto it. Once I had decided on the cake I started getting quite excited about the project, and couldn’t wait for the day of baking to come along. Finally the day arrived, and I baked cake after cake in my tiny little kitchen, before sitting down to decorate it.

The cake was handed over to my friend the evening before the party, and it was with great trepidation that I awaited comments. Thankfully the cake was a success, and the feedback I got was: 

“Just thought I'd let you know that the cake was a big hit and looked and tasted fantastic. Mum was thrilled.”

I’m giving the recipes here separately so you can chose if you want to make one, two or all three. The recipe for the glazing is for all three cakes, so if making only one or two cakes, you’ll need to reduce the amount. 

Serves 20 people

The dark chocolate cake

500g dark chocolate

6 eggs

30ml strong coffee

150g flour (I used Dove’s farm plain bread flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xantham gum

250ml whipping cream

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC. Grease a 25cm round baking tin.

Melt the chocolate over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. When most of the chocolate has melted, take it off the heat and stir until it is smooth and fully melted.

Whisk the eggs until they are light and fluffy, and add the coffee. Mix the dry ingredients into a bowl, sift them into the eggs, and whish until well mixed. Whisk the cream in a separate bowl and fold into the eggs. Finally add the melted chocolate to the mixture and stir well.

Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the cake is done and a skewer comes out clean when doing the skewer test.

The milk chocolate cake

200g butter

200g milk chocolate

150g caster sugar

4 eggs

150g flour (I used Dove’s farm plain bread flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon xantham gum

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC. Grease a 25cm round baking tin.

Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. When most of the chocolate has melted, take it off the heat and stir until it is smooth and fully melted.

Whisk the sugar and eggs until they are light yellow and fluffy. Mix the flour, baking powder and xantham gum and sift into the eggs. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix well.

Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the cake is done and a skewer comes out clean when doing the skewer test.

The white chocolate cake

200g white chocolate

100 g butter

4 eggs

150g caster sugar

50g flour (I used Dove’s farm plain bread flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon vanilla sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC. Grease a 25cm round baking tin.

Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. When most of the chocolate has melted, take it off the heat and stir until it is smooth and fully melted.

Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and the other half of the sugar. Mix the flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar, and sift this into the egg yolks. Mix well, and add the melted chocolate to the egg yolk mixture. Fold the egg whites into the mixture, and carefully stir well.

Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake is done and a skewer comes out clean when doing the skewer test.

The glazing

500g dark chocolate

300g milk chocolate

8 tablespoons double cream

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon coffee

Melt all the ingredients over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Stir carefully, and when it is all melted, take it off the heat.

Frosting

2 egg whites

450g caster sugar

200ml water

Place the egg whites in a heat resistant glass bowl over a pan of boiling water, and whisk until stiff. Heat the water and sugar and boil for 1 ½ minutes until melted and stringy. Pour this slowly into the eggs while whisking. Keep whisking until the mixture is a glossy white colour. This frosting has to be used at once before it sets, and you have to spread it on the cake very quickly, or it will set before you get an even layer.

Icing

A packet of white ready to roll icing

Red ready to roll icing for the decoration (or any other colour that you may prefer)

Assembly of the cake

Slice the dark and the milk chocolate cakes in two horizontally. Place one of the dark cake layers on a serving plate, and spread a layer of glazing on top. Add the other layer of dark cake, and repeat. Then do the same with the two layers of milk chocolate cake and then finally place the white chocolate cake on top. The top layer should not have glazing on it.

Roll the icing to a thin sheet that is big enough to cover the cake. Put this to one side ready to use after you have frosted the cake.

Add the frosting to the assembled cake, both on top and the sides. You have to work quickly to spread it all evenly before the frosting sets.  

Carefully place the icing on the cake, smooth the edges and cut off any leftover bits along the bottom of the sides.

Make shapes out of the coloured icing and place on the cake.