Rich and Decadent Tuxedo Cake with White Chocolate Mousse
With layers of moist dark chocolate cake, white chocolate mousse, and the most delicious chocolate buttercream, this Tuxedo Cake is a rich and decadent dessert that will have you dreaming of cake long after it’s devoured.
My friend, Lisa, recently returned home from a trip to Amsterdam, where she visited the most incredible bakery. How do I know it’s incredible? I know because Lisa brought me home cookies from Van Stapele Koekmakerij, the bakery. (Talk about an amazing friend!).
This bakery is well-known for their cookie (singular)… this cookie is ALL they do.
Their famous cookie is a soft, bittersweet chocolate cookie with milk chocolate chips and a white chocolate center. It’s incredible! The moment I took a bite, I knew I needed to recreate the cookies and make a cake inspired by it.
I haven’t gotten to the cookies, but I made the cake the very next day.
Tuxedo Cake
My new cake, inspired by these decadent cookies, is my Tuxedo Cake.
What is a tuxedo cake?
There are a few variations of tuxedo cake: you’ll see some recipes with a white chocolate ganache between chocolate cake layers, some recipes use white chocolate and regular chocolate ganache, and some use mousse fillings.
For my cake, I knew immediately that I wanted to use a white chocolate mousse in between my dark chocolate cake layers with a chocolate buttercream. I could literally taste the cake in my mind as I thought about the textures and flavors together.
How to Make a Tuxedo Cake
To make a tuxedo cake from scratch, we’re going to start with my dark chocolate cake layers.
What makes the best chocolate cake?
Moisture: this cake is incredibly moist thanks to a combination of buttermilk, hot water (or you can use coffee), oil, and eggs.
Richness: we’re using a high fat, dark chocolate cocoa powder. It’s important to note that this recipe uses dark chocolate for a reason. Because we’re adding all the other ingredients to the cocoa powder, if we used a basic cocoa powder, the chocolate flavor would get diluted. Additionally, if the cocoa powder is low in fat (like most grocery store brands), you run the risk of drying out the cake. My go-to cocoa powder is Extra Brute Cacao Barry, or anything similar to richness and fat as this.
NOTE: the cake batter is thin. Don’t let that stress you out. It bakes beautifully.
In addition to the chocolate cake layers, you’re going to make a super simple white chocolate mousse and chocolate buttercream.
Easy White Chocolate Mousse
This white chocolate mousse recipe is incredibly easy. It only has three ingredients in it. Three! You’ll see some mousse recipes cook egg yolks over the stove and require a tempering process, but we’re going to simply make a ganache and fold in heavy whipping cream. So easy!
The Best Chocolate Buttercream
I’m making a lot of big claims today, I know. But friends, I stand by them! This is the most delicious chocolate cake and this is THE BEST chocolate buttercream. You’ll be using 10 ounces of dark chocolate, some heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar (sifted, of course), vanilla and salt. I have some tips below for making the best buttercream frosting, plus, you’ll want to click the Instagram icon below to see how I make it.
Dark Chocolate vs. Milk Chocolate
It’s important to note that this recipe uses dark chocolate for a reason. If you use milk chocolate chips or regular cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate, you’re going to lose a lot of the chocolate flavor. It will be too sweet. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love all things sweet, but it’s important to have balance. The dark chocolate in the layers and the buttercream help provide a balance to the sweetness because dark cocoa is bittersweet. However, the cake and buttercream frosting don’t taste bittersweet because we’ve added other ingredients to them (i.e. sugar!).
So trust me on this one. Use dark chocolate!
How to Make the Best Buttercream Frosting
To get this silky smooth buttercream, make sure you follow my tips: HOW TO MAKE THE BEST BUTTERCREAM
- Sift your powdered sugar
- Use slightly cold butter
- Use heavy whipping cream
- Beat for 5 minutes
- Stir by hand
You’ll want to check out the post linked above for more details on each step to make sure you get the best buttercream frosting. And remember, these steps can be used for any buttercream recipe on my blog.
IMPORTANT For chocolate buttercream specifically, remember to heat the cream and chocolate together first. You’ll then stir the mixture until it becomes a smooth ganache. Once the ganache has cooled slightly, you’ll add the mixture to the butter and continue making the buttercream according to instructions.
Tuxedo Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups (88.5 g) dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5.6 g) salt
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup (236.6 g) hot water
- 1/2 cup (109 g) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 1/3 cup (77 g) heavy whipping cream
- 10 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
- 5 cups (625 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
- 1 tablespoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra ½ batch.
For the White Chocolate Mousse
- 7 ounces good quality white chocolate chips
- 1 cup (240 g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
- In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Divide the batter between the three pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumsb on it.
- Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and the cream for about one minute. Stir until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the ganache. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then mix on medium-high speed for about a minute, until the mixture is smooth.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, followed by the vanilla and salt.
- Buttercream can be store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week.
- When you’re ready to frost the cake, bring the frosting back to room temperature and mix by hand with a wooden spoon to push out all of the air pockets.
FOR THE WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
- In a microwave safe bowl, or in a saucepan over medium heat, heat ¼ cup heavy whipping cream to the start of a simmer. Do not boil.
- In a medium size bowl, pour the warm heavy whipping cream over the white chocolate chips and stir to melt the white chocolate chips. The mixture should be smooth like a ganache. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a stainless steel bowl, whip the remaining heavy whipping cream and vanilla until medium-stiff peaks form.
- Once the white chocolate has cooled to room temperature, gently fold in the heavy whipping cream.
- Mousse can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
ASSEMBLY
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, in the center of a cake board or cake stand.
- Evenly spread 1 cup of the white chocolate mousse over the cake layer.
- Place second cake layer, on top of the mousse, and spread another cup of the mousse over the cake. Place the final cake layer, top side down, on the mousse filling.
- Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Freeze the cake for 10 to 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
- Once the crumb coat is set, finish frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream.
Question. It is a 3 layer cake, correct? Instructions state 2 pans but photos show 3 layer. Thank you!
I was coming to ask the same question.
Updated!
I would adjust baking time too, 3 pans should not need 30-35 minutes. I’m going to follow her other chocolate cake recipe and start out with 18 mins.
Yes. That’s updated!
Hi! This cake looks fantastic! Quick clarifying question – the instructions for the cake say to do 2 layers, but the assembly instructions and pictures are for a 3 layer cake. Can you please clarify which is correct? Thank you!
Three layers. Sorry about that. Should have been updates already.
I don’t have all of the stuff yet to make a tiered cake….can this recipe be done as a sheet cake? Maybe two layers of sheet cake, the white chocolate mouse in the middle, chocolate buttercream on top? It looks amazing and I would love to make it.
Yes you could totally do that. Or even one layer of cake with the mousse and then buttercream on top if you want to keep it super simple.
What brand of dark chocolate chips do you recommend? Same for the white chocolate?
I love guittard and callebaut for any chocolate I’m using.
Do you need to store this cake with the mousse filling in the fridge?
Yes but overnight at the longest. Leftovers should in the freezer so it doesn’t dry out.
Quick question – I am dying to make this cake, but I am allergic to eggs. Do you know if I can replace all 3 eggs with the vinegar/baking soda method or is that not recommended for multiple eggs?
I have vegan friends who use ground flaxseed meal as an egg replacer, so I’ve used that successfully when I bake for them. The instructions are on the back of the package, but it’s 1Tablespoon flaxseed and 3 Tablespoons of water for one egg. Let it sit for 5 min and add to your recipe. Make sure you buy ground flaxseed MEAL (I’ve used Bob’s red mill). One of the times I bought just ground flaxseed and it didn’t work. Good luck!
Very delicious, well balanced cake! Will be making this one again! The white mousse in the middle is perfect.
Can this be converted to cupcakes instead? I need 4 dozen
One recipe will make about 2 dozen cupcakes.
Thank you!
Hi. I made this cake and it was delicious. However, the mouse was runny. So much so that I had to pipe some of the butter cream on top of each layer of cake to prevent flooding of the moose. What could have gone wrong?
You may not have whipped the cream enough or the white chocolate was too hot when you added the cream.
This cake was fantastic and easy to make! Everyone at the party thought it was so delicious and thought surely I bought it from a local bakery. It was so fun to say I made it!! Thanks for the great recipe!
What is sprinkled on the top of the cake?
White chocolate shavings.
What do you have sprinkled on the top of the cake
White chocolate shavings
Any advice for transporting a cake? This recipe is delicious but unfortunately ended up in a pile after falling over on the car ride.
Sorry to hear that! Yes, it’s best to transport the cakes when they are chilled a bit. They’ll hold up much better. You can also use a dowel in the center of the cake to hold it steady as well.
Does this cake hold up well to freeze the whole thing assembled? I would need to make it about a week before actually eating it.
Hello, is this one of the cakes that can be made, assembled and frozen whole before slicing?
Yes!
can i use the mousse recipe with milk chocolate instead? will i have to adjust the other ingredients at all?
Yeah and no, you don’t need to change the other ingredients.
Hi! The recipe doesn’t say anything about eggs but the instructions say to add eggs. I’m guessing it’s three based on other cakes and comments but the recipe may need to be updated. Thanks for all the yummy recipes. 😀
Never mind I just missed it. 🤦🏼♀️