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A cake decorated with a snowy top with trees and gifts along with houses pressed to the side.
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Spruced Up Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

This chocolate fudge cake with whipped ganache and a dark chocolate drizzle is the perfectly festive and over-the-top centerpiece for your dessert table
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 10 servings
Calories 1362kcal
Author John Kanell

Equipment

  • Mixer
  • 8 inch cake pans

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1¼ cups hot water
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Truvia Sweet Complete Granulated All-Purpose Sweetener
  • 1 cup Truvia Sweet Complete Brown Sweetener
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Chocolate Buttercream:

  • 1½ cups cream
  • 1 cup butter
  • 30 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup Truvia Sweet Complete Confectioners Sweetener
  • Black food coloring

For the Green Frosting:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups Truvia Sweet Complete Confectioners Sweetener
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Green food coloring

For the Houses:

  • Marzipan, fondant, or white chocolate modeling clay
  • Food coloring

For the Trees:

  • 3 sugar or waffle cones

For the Presents:

  • Fondant
  • Red edible glitter

Instructions

For the Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour 3 eight-inch cake pans.
  • Sift together the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.
  • Add the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
  • Whisk to combine then mix on low for about a minute.
  • Distribute batter evenly to the three pans and bake for about 35 minutes at 350F (176C) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Allow time to cool for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks to cool fully.

For the Chocolate Buttercream:

  • In a small bowl, microwave the cream for 40 secs on half power until hot. Pour over bitter-sweet chocolate. Stir to combine then set aside to cool to room temperature.
  • Whip the butter for about 2 minutes using a paddle attachment (in a stand mixer).
  • Scrape the bowl down and beat in the Sweet Complete Confectioners slowly.
  • Mix until you have a nice, even consistency.
  • Beat in the melted and cooled chocolate ganache.
  • Reserve ¾ cup chocolate buttercream and dye black.

For the Green Frosting:

  • Whip the butter for about 2 minutes using a paddle attachment (in a stand-up mixer).
  • Scrape the bowl down and beat in the Sweet Complete Confectioners slowly.
  • Add in the salt, vanilla, and green food coloring.
  • Mix until you have a nice, even consistency.

For The Houses:

  • Place marzipan, fondant, or white modeling clay onto a rolling mat, sprinkle with Sweet Complete Confectioners and roll out with a rolling pin.
  • Use a knife or cookie cutter to cut out your house shapes. Take away extra scraps to re-roll for more houses.
  • Place them on a wire rack and let dry out.
  • Once dry, paint on windows, doors, and chimneys with a paintbrush and food coloring.

For the Trees:

  • Lightly wet your cones with water to prevent from them cracking.
  • With a serrated knife cut cones to desired tree sizes.
  • Pipe the green buttercream using a 4B star tip onto the surface of the cones to make star-shaped dollops. Start at the bottom and working to the top.

For The Presents:

  • Cut out and shape fondant into small cubes.
  • Lightly dampen with water and toss in red edible glitter.

For the Assembly:

  • Pipe chocolate buttercream between each layer.
  • Pipe the chocolate buttercream on the outside of the cake. Smooth with a bench scraper and offset spatula.
  • Chill so the buttercream firms up, about 20 minutes.
  • Pipe on the remaining chocolate buttercream that has been dyed black. Smooth with a bench scraper and offset spatula.
  • Place houses around the perimeter of the cake, leaving space in between some for piping trees.
  • Pipe small trees in between houses using a 32 star tip.
  • Place white confetti sprinkles around the outside of the cake to look like stars.
  • Add cone trees to the top of the cake.
  • Generously dust the cake in Sweet Complete Confectioners to look like snow.
  • Add presents to the top of your cake.

Notes

  • The water must be hot for the triple chocolate fudge cake. Hot water reacts to the cocoa powder and enhances the chocolate flavors.
  • Always make sure ingredients like baking soda and baking powder are fresh. Expired leavening agents will not yield the same results. 
  • Always use real vanilla extract and not artificial vanilla for the best flavor.
  • I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour. However, if you don’t have a scale, be sure to fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method is the best way to measure flour without overpacking the measuring cup.
  • You can use cake strips to help your layers come out evenly. Cake strips work by keeping the outside edge of the pan cooler to ensure that the entire cake rises at the same rate, preventing a dome from forming in the middle. If you don’t want to purchase a set, check out my post on getting flat cake layers to learn how to DIY the strips.
  • The eggs should be at room temperature to ensure they incorporate evenly into your batter without accidentally over-mixing. If you forgot to bring out your eggs, you could quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a large bowl and covering them with warm tap water for 5 minutes.
  • I recommend tapping the cake pans on your counter to pop any air bubbles.

Nutrition

Calories: 1362kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 103g | Saturated Fat: 62g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 212mg | Sodium: 805mg | Potassium: 808mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 1862IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 399mg | Iron: 4mg