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.
Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with a Coconut Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
Double Layer Chocolate Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar*
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups hot water*
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Single Layer Chocolate cake
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cups sugar*
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder I used KA Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa
- 1 teaspoons baking soda*
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cups hot water*
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache
- 16 oz. milk chocolate finely chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
Coconut Cream Cheese Filling
- 16 ounces 2 packages cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup coconut oil melted
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray two 9x2 inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray with flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and whisk just until blended.
- 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.
- Prepare single layer as directed above using one 9x2 inch round cake pan.
- Chocolate Ganache
- Place chocolate in a glass bowl. Heat heavy cream over medium high heat just until it comes to a boil.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with the chocolate ganache. Decorate with chocolate curls, optional Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- *I made the following high altitude adjustments: Decreased the sugar by 2 tablespoons, used 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda and 2 ¼ cup hot water.
More cake recipes you might like:
Black Forest Cheesecake Cake, Barbara Bakes
Cars Birthday Cake, Barbara Bakes
Chocolate Coffee Layer Cake, Completely Delicious
happy birthday! {naked cake}, I am Baker
Mocha Fudge Cake, Chocolate, Chocolate and More
Kim
This filling is delicious! I made a different cake with this filling and it was perfect. Not too sweet and lots of coconut flavour.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Kim! So nice to hear you thought the coconut filling was perfect.
Erin
This is the most disgusting cake I have ever made! It was really disappointing. I followed all the directions and the cake was dry and the ganache turned to concrete. The only decent thing was the coconut filling, and that is being nice. I will not be making it again, nor will I try any of your other recipes. I’m sure your food is great, just not for me.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Erin – Sorry you had troubles with your cake. Sounds like you baked your cake too long and your let your ganache set up too long. What type of chocolate did you use in your ganache. Did you make changes to the cake recipe. I’ve made this cake numerous times, as have others, and it’s great.
Maggie
Made this recipe for the first time yesterday. Since I like to take desserts in to work and also give some to family, I prefer to make cupcakes. And rather than the ganache, I used a Swiss buttercream. Best cake recipe I have made. Used the ingredients for all 3 layers and got 38 cupcakes. Baked them for about 15-17 at 350. Will definitely make these again. Thank you, look forward to perusing your site for other delicious items!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for sharing the info on the cupcakes Maggie! Glad they were a hit.
Navya
Hi Barbara,
Last time i tried this chocolate cake recipe it came out bit hard and dry.I am going to try the same recipe again this time i ll keep a close look at the oven. How much should be the baking time for the single layer. Another silly question,should i add milk to this recipe? Will it help in making the cake moist?
Regards
Navya.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Navya – different ovens and different pans will require different cook times. I would definitely reduce the cook time significantly if the cake was hard and dry. I would not add milk to this recipe.
Navya
Hi ,
It came out perfect this time.The bake time is 24 minutes for my oven.
Regards,
Navya.
Barbara Schieving
That’s awesome – thanks for the follow up!
jacquie
Hi, sorry if this is a silly question….im looking at making a couple of these for my sons 18th. for the triple layer cake did you just triple the single layer cake recipe?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Jacquie – I made one double layer and one single layer. So if you were making two triple layer cakes, you could make 3 of the double layers.
Diana
I tried this recipe and loved it. I also use the chocolate cake recipe as my go-to whenever I want chocolate cake or cupcakes.
Barbara Schieving
Awesome! Thanks Diana 🙂
Jill
Hi Barbara,
Did you make the coconut cream cheese frosted version for your husband? I’m a bit burnt out on ganache, so I’m curious how much more frosting I would need to make for just one three-layer cake?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Jill – I think if you make 1 and 1/2 times the filling, you should have enough to fill it and frost. Here’s a small version I made https://www.barbarabakes.com/chocolate-cake-two-coconut-almond-cream-cheese-frosting/ Enjoy!
Jill
Excellent, thank you!
Fran
Do you have any tips for doing a 3 tier wedding cake for a newbie ?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Fran – here’s my layer cake tips https://www.barbarabakes.com/baking-tips-for-layer-cakes/. I don’t have any experience with tiered wedding cakes though. Good luck!
Rini
Hi, I’m Rini, I’m from Jakarta – Indonesia.
Do you use eggs in the batter? Because i don’t see you write those in the recipe.. thanks
Barbara Schieving
Hi Rini – the cake does not contain eggs. It’s similar to this old fashioned cake https://www.barbarabakes.com/old-fashioned-chocolate-cake-with-maraschino-cherry-filling/ and there’s an explanation about not using eggs in that post. Enjoy!
Rebecca
Hello, I’m from New Zealand and I’m wondering if the measurements in your baking is US standard? I’ve heard the cup size can be different. Would it be too much if an issue to convert thus recipe into grams? Thanks
Barbara Schieving
Hi Rebecca – yes, standard US measurements. Here’s a chart that you can use to convert this and other recipes http://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart.html Enjoy!
Peggy
Hi Barbara! I was wondering where did you get that red 1st birthday candle? My baby will be turning 1 and that candle is the best that I’ve seen so far. Thank you.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Peggy – my daughter bought it at Zurchers. Happy birthday to your little one. Such an adorable age.
Thea Schweizer
Hey Barbara!
I’m going to make this cake for my hostkids birthday. I’m wondering whether the adjustment for the high altitude is also for the Single Layer or only for the Double Layer? And does it matter where the single layer goes (bottom, middle, top)?
Greetings,
Thea
Barbara Schieving
Great question Thea – yes, the high altitude adjustment was just for the double layer. The single layer would be half – so for the single layer decrease the sugar by 1 tablespoon, used 3/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1 1/8 cup hot water. It doesn’t matter where the single layer goes. Enjoy!
Thea Schweizer
Thanks a lot, Barbara! 🙂 Do you actually put the filling and ganache on, while the cake layers are still frozen?
Barbara Schieving
Cake thaws really quickly, so generally the cake is mostly thawed by the time I get around to putting on the ganache. But having it frozen while you’re stacking the layers and adding the filling does make it easier to work with.
Janet
Hi! Is it correct that this recipe does not use any eggs? Thanks.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Janet – yes, it’s an old fashioned egg free cake. The acid in the vinegar when combined with the baking soda creates the leavening.
brittany
the recipe says to divide the batter into 2 9in cake pans but at the end it states this is a 3 layer cake?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Brittany – The recipe is 3 layers, but you bake two layers first and then a single layer. I give all the details in the post.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Brittany – The recipe is 3 layers, but you bake two layers first and then a single layer. I give all the details in the post.
Aleksandra
I am getting so hungry right now!
Joanne
This cake is beyond amazing!! My birthday is in February, and this is definitely going to make my birthday cake shortlist. Chocolate and coconut always sounds good to me!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Mum if only you could see my eyes! They totally lit up as soon as the first picture appeared! What a delicious sounding cake and it’s so beautifully decorated too! 😀
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
Loving the way the cream cheese filling stands out against the deep chocolate cake! So delicious 🙂