A luscious triple layer chocolate cake with a coconut cream cheese filling covered with rich chocolate ganache and crowned with chocolate curls.

My daughter and I made this fabulous cake for my grandson’s first birthday. It’s a pretty fancy cake for a one year old, but for my other grandson’s first birthday we made some gorgeous Chocolate Cheesecake Cakes, so my daughter didn’t want her second son to look back and say why didn’t I get a fancy cake. 

She invited over 40 friends and family to the party, so we made two 3 layer cakes with coconut cream cheese filling.

I baked the cake layers several days before the party and put them in the freezer. The layers are easier to work with if they’re frozen.

The day before the party, my daughter came over and we made the coconut cream cheese filling and assembled the cakes.

This cake isn’t hard to make, but it is time consuming, so if possible, I recommend making it over two days.

Three round cake pans won’t fit in my oven on the same rack. So I had to bake the layers in batches.

If you have three cake pans, check and see if they’ll all fit in your oven on the same rack. I don’t like to cook on different racks because cakes bake so differently depending on where they are in the oven, but if you have good luck doing that, you could make all three layers at the same time.

We actually made three cakes, one with ganache, one with a whipped ganache pictured in the back and a smash cake for the birthday boy.

I decorated the sides of the cakes by throwing some of the crushed chocolate curls on the sides of the cake while the ganache was still wet. If you let the ganache set before you add the chocolate, it won’t stick to the cake.

The cake was a hit at the party. In fact, my husband loved the filling so much he wants me to make a cake filled and iced with the coconut cream cheese frosting. Since my husband’s birthday is this month, I’ll be making that version soon.

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Yield: 24 servings

Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with a Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

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Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar*
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups hot water*
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cups sugar*
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used KA Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa)
• 1 teaspoons baking soda*
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cups hot water*
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 16 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray two 9x2 inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray with flour.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and whisk just until blended.
4. Divide batter between pans. Bake 25 -35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in the pans on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack. Leave cakes upside down (this flattens domed cakes) to cool completely.
5. Prepare single layer as directed above using one 9x2 inch round cake pan.

Chocolate Ganache

1. Place chocolate in a glass bowl. Heat heavy cream over medium high heat just until it comes to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool until ganache is thickened and has a spreadable consistency. (I cooled mine in the fridge for about an hour stirring every 10 minutes.)

Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

1. Beat together cream cheese, coconut oil, sour cream, and vanilla until blended, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Stir in cooled toasted coconut.

Assembling cake

1. When the cake layers are cool and ganache has thickened, evenly spread half of the filling on bottom layer, carefully stack the second layer on top of filling. Spread the remaining half of the filling on the second cake layer, then stack the third layer on top of the filling.
2. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the chocolate ganache. Decorate with chocolate curls, optional Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. *I made the following high altitude adjustments: Decreased the sugar by 2 tablespoons, used 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda and 2 1/4 cup hot water.

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