Chocolate-on-Chocolate Three-Layer Cake
- Makes16 to 20 servings
- Cook Time2 hours
- Active time plus cooling1 hour active, plus cooling
- 5
This grand, triple-layer, old-fashioned chocolate cake comes from “Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook” by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day, proprietors of Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia. Cheryl Day learned the recipe from her grandmother but put her own stamp on it with a few tweaks, including the addition of coffee, which adds complexity and intensifies the roasty, bittersweet notes of the chocolate. The cake is made with unsweetened chocolate and the frosting calls for semisweet; for the best flavor, search out good-quality chocolate for both. You will need three 9-by-2-inch round cake pans. Some ovens cannot comfortably fit three pans on the same rack; if this is the case with yours, the recipe includes instructions for baking on two different racks. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator well covered or under a cake dome for a few days, but bring to room temperature before serving.
Don’t leave the unsweetened chocolate for the cake in large pieces. Finely chopping it helps ensure that it fully melts with the heat of the coffee. When making the frosting, be sure the melted chocolate is cool to the touch before beating it into the butter. Finally, don’t trim the cake layers while they’re still warm. The cake will cut more cleanly and with less “crumbing” when cooled to room temperature.
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