Triple Chocolate Cake with Orange Ganache
This ultra-moist and tender milk chocolate sponge is layered with a crunchy Oreo filling and creamy orange dark-chocolate ganache. Then, it's finished off with a delicious American-style white chocolate buttercream.
Servings 16 people
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Layers
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup cocoa powder, plus more for prep
- 1 cup boiling hot coffee
- 2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- ¾ cup oil
- 1 cup sour cream, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp butter for prep
Orange Dark Chocolate Ganache
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chopped dark chocolate
- ½ tsp blood orange extract (or to taste) (can also use regular orange extract)
- ¼ tsp salt
Oreo Crunch Layer
- 6 tbsp butter
- 2 cups finely crushed Oreo cookies
White Chocolate American Buttercream Frosting
- 1½ cups butter, room temp (3 sticks)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup chopped white chocolate
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp heavy cream
- ¼ tsp salt
White Chocolate Ganache Drip
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup chopped white chocolate
Instructions
Chocolate Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter your cake pans. Then, coat them with cocoa powder, tapping out the excess over the sink or garbage can. Add the cocoa powder to the boiling coffee, mix, and let it sit to cool.
- In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or another large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs for 3-5 minutes until it reaches the ribbon stage.
- Then, with the mixer running, slowly stream in the oil, combining the mixture well. Next, add the sour cream and vanilla, combining gently with a spatula. Finally, add the flour mixture and the cooled (room temp) cocoa/coffee mixture in two alternating additions. Again, mix gently with a spatula until everything is just combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into the three prepared baking pans, and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Check the cake with a toothpick for doneness - a finished cake will result in a clean toothpick.
- Let the cakes cool in their pans for 5-10 minutes, then carefully flip them onto a cooling rack to finish. Once the layers have fully cooled, wrap them in plastic wrap and keep them in the freezer until time to stack your cake.
Orange Dark Chocolate Ganache
- In a heat-proof bowl or mug, scald the heavy cream in the microwave until it just starts to bubble.
- Pour the cream over the chopped dark chocolate and let it stand for one minute. Then, slowly stir the chocolate, starting from the center, until the cream fully melts the chocolate and combines. This stirring process can take a few minutes, but don't give up.
- Finally, add your orange extract and salt. Taste, then add more depending upon your preferences.
Oreo Crunch Layer
- In a heat-proof bowl, melt the butter. While that heats, chop the Oreos into very fine pieces.
- Add the Oreo crumbs to the butter and combine.
- Press the cookie mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered cake pan and bake for 7-8 minutes. Let cool to room temperature until you're ready to layer your cakes.
White Chocolate American Buttercream Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat your softened butter until it's fluffy. Then, cup by cup, add the powdered sugar, mixing fully and scraping the bowl in between each addition.
- In a microwave-proof bowl, melt the white chocolate until no clumps remain, using caution not to burn the chocolate. Let it cool to room temperature. You can speed this up in the freezer or refrigerator if need be.
- Beat the melted and cooled white chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt into the buttercream. Then, if necessary, thin it out with a few tablespoons of heavy cream, mixing again. Let sit covered at room temperature until you're ready to stack the cakes (or in the refrigerator overnight.)
White Chocolate Ganache Drip
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the heavy cream until it's scalding (just starting to bubble.)
- Pour the hot cream over the chopped white chocolate, and let it sit for a minute, untouched. Then, slowly stir the chocolate, starting from the center, until it all melts and combines.
- Let the ganache cool to just a bit warmer than room temperature - it should feel slightly warm to your touch, but have a relatively thick viscosity.
Stacking and Decorating Your Cake
- Use your cake leveler to slice off the uneven tops of the cake layers.
- Pipe a ring of buttercream around the outside of the first layer, to create a dam. Then, fill the inside with the chocolate orange ganache. On top of that, carefully place one of your Oreo discs. Then, carefully smooth a small amount of buttercream on top. Then, add a second layer of cake, and repeat the process. For a visual explanation of stacking and layering a cake, watch the video via the link in the notes section below.
- Using an offset spatula or piping bag, coat the outside of the cake in a thick layer of buttercream. Then, hold the cake scraper at a tight angle to the cake and smooth the sides. This first layer doesn't have to be perfect (and it likely won't be.) You just want to lock in all of the layers and crumbs. When it is smoothed to your liking, place the cake in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to harden.
- Once the crumb coat has hardened to the touch, recoat the cake in a similar manner with another smooth layer of buttercream. This time, pay careful attention to smooth it out neatly. Use an offset spatula to sweep any remaining buttercream off of the top edges and onto the center of the top of the cake to create a clean, sharp edge. Chill the cake again, for 10-15 minutes.
- Use a palette knife or piping bag to add any type of decoration you prefer to the chilled cake. See the notes below for a link to my more thorough palette knife decorating tutorial. Then, before adding your ganache drip, make sure to chill the cake once more. A cold cake and slightly warm ganache create the perfect drip. Use a piping bag with a round tip to slowly pipe along the top edge of the cake, applying more pressure where you want a drip to form. Start on the back of the cake for some practice. If the drips are too thin and run down the cake, let your ganache cool more. If the drips barely move, heat the ganache slightly to help loosen it up. You can watch how I add a ganache drip via the link in the notes below. Once the ganache is dried, you can very gently add some luster dust to the drips with a food-safe paintbrush. I didn't use any liquid or alcohol to make the dust viscous, because of the fragility of the drips, I just added the dust directly as is to the chocolate.