I can’t lie. This cake was hard work. Once you have the first bite you will see it’s well worth it though!

Look at those layers…. starting from the top; marble mud cake, dark chocolate mud cake and finally white chocolate mud cake.

Each layer is made in its own individual cake tin; however it’s only mixing up two cake recipes. For speed I did both mixtures at the same time, that way all three cakes could bake at once.

The cake mix can be split into three easy steps.

Step #1 – Mix up chocolate mud cake as per recipe. Take approximately two thirds of the mixture and pour into a cake tin. Set aside the remaining one third of the mixture.

Step #2 – Mix up white chocolate mud cake as per recipe. Take approximately two thirds of the mixture and pour into a cake tin. Set aside the remaining one third of the mixture.

Step #3 – This is the fun part. Making the marble cake. With your third tin add spoonfuls of the dark and white chocolate mix, then swirl. Yum… it kind of looks like scoops of ice cream.

Bake for 35-40 minutes in a moderate oven at 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit).

Once baked, allow your cakes to cool for atleast two hours before layering with buttercream filling.

This buttercream filling is amazing! I made mine extra white with Wilton White Icing Colour so it stands out when you cut the cake layers and loses that yellowy look.

Time to layer it up! To separate the white chocolate and marble cake layers I felt the best way to layer the cake would be with white chocolate mud cake on the bottom, followed by dark chocolate mud cake and topped with marble mud cake.

For the buttercream filling you want it to be thick so when the cake is cut you can distinctly see the separation between the layers. Go ahead and layer it on thick! Once layered, go around the edge of the cake to remove any excess buttercream as you don’t want the white colour to ooze through chocolate topping.

Tips for buttercream filling

#1 – Layer cake with the buttercream filling one day prior to icing as this will allow it to set well and make icing the cake easier. This will also prevent the white buttercream from mixing with the chocolate topping.

#2 – Try to keep buttercream layers even

#3 – Make it thick so the layers will stand out

#4 – As the cake is heavy, layer it on the plate or cake board that it will be served on as it will be very difficult to move once decorated

One of my favourite ways to decorate a cake is with rich dark chocolate buttercream… for the triple layer cake I couldn’t decide between dark chocolate butter cream icing or chocolate ganache… so I thought, why not do both?

Layer the dark chocolate butter cream on thick, start at the top of the cake and work your way down the sides of the cake.

This amazing chocolate buttercream icing is filled with dark chocolate so by the time it comes to smooth the icing you will notice it has begun to set which makes smoothing difficult.

My tip is to dip the metal spatula or knife into a cup of boiling water, quickly wipe and then smooth around the cake. The heated spatula will make a smooth finish like this… remember it doesn’t need to be perfect as we are about to drizzle chocolate ganache all over it.

Can chocolate and cream look any better than this? Start drizzling from the centre of the cake and just let the ganache dribble down the sides of the cake.

I dribbled the entire quantity of the ganache all over the cake as I wanted good coverage. If you would like your cake to have more of the buttercream icing showing through, just add less ganache as you are pouring. The cake does look a bit of a mess so before the ganache sets move any excess from the base with a spatula and then clean the plate.

I was thinking of making chocolate curls, but was running out of time. To make the white chocolate decoration it is really simple. Melt white chocolate, spread a thin layer on a tray with baking paper, place in the freezer until it sets, then just crack into large pieces and push into the top of the cake in any pattern you like.

And you are done! Now for a slice of cake and coffee… that will make for a lovely afternoon.

Happy baking!

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