The Cake Slice- Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

I am lucky to have great friends. I have multiple best friends and I feel really blessed.
One of these friends is Jaime. She lives here in Georgia and we have been friends since our oldest children were just babies.
That is actually how we became friends. We both had babies that were a couple months old and we were both stay-at-home moms, so we started walking everyday with our little ones. We just really connected and have been good buddies ever since.
Over the years we have stayed in touch, even though for some of those years we lived miles apart, and we were both really excited that I was going to move back across the country. We now live about 40 minutes from each other and each have 3 children that are the exact same ages. Our kids love each other, so it is really fun to get together.
Anyway, the reason I am telling you all this, is because Jaime wanted me to make her a birthday cake. Her b-day was back in April, so I missed it, but I knew when the right cake came around, I would make it for her and call it her birthday cake.
Jaime also really, really loves her chocolate.

When I saw this months selection for The Cake Slice- Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake, I immediately knew this was Jaime's cake.
The cake uses mayonnaise as the secret to its moistness and if ya'll know me, you know I do not in any way, shape, or form like mayo. I have never bought real mayo. I occasionally, sparingly use fat-free mayo (which was not allowed in this recipe), but the key words there are occasionally and sparingly.
So, when I was out buying the ingredients for the cake, I actually bought a very small jar of authentic mayo.

The cake is spiced with a little bit of cinnamon and also uses some hot coffee for flavor. I left the coffee out and just used hot water, because I figured the hot liquid is what it really needed, not so much the mocha flavor- I don't do mocha.

The moist chocolate cake layers are filled with white chocolate mousse and then a rich, satiny sour cream chocolate frosting is spread on top.

I assembled the cake, let it sit in the fridge for awhile, and then we set out on our trek to Jaime's house.

I will be honest. I was really scared. I was scared that the cake wouldn't make it through the 40 minute drive on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't too hot outside, really, but I was petrified none the less.

Good thing I had let the cake sit in the fridge for awhile, because 5 minutes before we got to Jaime's house, the top layers slid just a tad and the white chocolate mousse broke through the frosting.
We made it to her house with the cake in one piece and she LOVED it! Chocolate lovers- you will love this cake.

I thought it was ok- but it was a bit of chocolate overload for me. The frosting wasn't very sweet at all, and a few people weren't too excited about that fact, but still it was gobbled down with the help of some vanilla ice cream.
I left the cake at her house and she was able to enjoy the leftovers. If you want to see other variations of this 3 layer beauty check out The Cake Slice Bakers!

Happy Birthday Jaime-5 months later!
This is the last cake that we will be baking from Sky High: Irresistible Layer Cakes, the book we have used for the last year for The Cake Slice. Next month we will start baking out of Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

(Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 ¼ tsp baking soda

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup milk

1 ¼ cups hot, strongly brewed coffee (I just used hot water)

2 eggs

1 cup mayonnaise (not low fat or fat free)

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups sugar

White chocolate mousse (below)

Sour cream chocolate icing (below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the base of each pan with parchment.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the hot coffee and milk over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the mocha liquid cool slightly.

In a mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mocha liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth and well blended. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before un-molding onto a wire rack and carefully peeling off the paper. Leave to cool completely.

White Chocolate Mousse

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg white

1 tbsp sugar

Melt the white chocolate with ¼ cup cream in a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and let the white chocolate cream cool to room temperature.

When it has cooled, beat the remaining ¾ cup cream until soft peaks form. In a clean bowl whip the egg white with the sugar until fairly stiff peaks form.

Fold the beaten egg white into the white chocolate cream, then fold in the whipped cream until blended. Be sure not to over mix.

Sour Cream Chocolate Icing

12 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, chopped

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

2 tbsp light corn syrup

¼ cup half-and-half at room temperature

½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

Melt the chocolate with the butter and corn syrup in a double boiler over barly simmering water. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth.

Whisk in the half-and-half and sour cream. Use while still soft.

To Assemble

Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half the white chocolate mousse, leaving a ¼ inch margin around the edge. Repeat with the second layer and the remaining mousse. Set the third layer on top and pour half the sour cream chocolate icing over the filled cake. Spread all over the sides and top. Don’t worry if some of the cake shows through. This first frosting is to seal in the crumbs, and is known as a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

After this time cover the cake with the rest of the icing, smoothing it down the sides. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to swirl the frosting around the cake.

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