Decadent Tuxedo Sheet Cake

Apparently it can go both ways – so whichever you call it, the recipe is still here for you to enjoy.

Four Layers of Fun

The first time I had a cake like this was actually at Olive Garden (a chain Italian restaurant where I cannot get enough of their Zuppa Toscana Soup, salad, and breadsticks with raspberry lemonade for lunch). It’s a four-in-one dessert and each layer is just as decadent and rich as the last.

First – Chocolate Cake Layer

Second – Chocolate Cheesecake Layer

Third – White Chocolate Mousse Layer

Fourth – Chocolate Ganache Layer

It sounds like a lot, but I promise that the layers aren’t individually hard to make and don’t require a lot of downtime. Just use that freezer wisely, friend, and you’ll have this tuxedo cake on your plate in no time!

Chocolate Cake Layer

We start with my chocolate cake layer which is just my rich chocolate cake spread into a 9×13 cake dish instead of split into cake layers. You’ll need a few simple ingredients, and to bake at 325 for 25-27 minutes. I use my doctored cake mix here, and you’ll love how easy it comes together – and also how it doesn’t require a stand mixer. Yep – just a whisk and large bowl for this one! Easy peasy.

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need for the chocolate cake layer:

Buttermilk – room temperature

Sour Cream – room temperature

Whole Eggs – room temperature

Vegetable Oil – you can use melted butter instead if you’d like

Vanilla

Cocoa powder

Dark Chocolate Fudge or Chocolate Cake Mix – I used Duncan Hines for the best texture/flavor.

The directions are below with the recipe

A decadent chocolate sheet cake layered with chocolate cheesecake mousse, white chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache and chocolate curls!

Servings 12

9x13 sheet cake pan

- Chocolate Cake Layer

- Chocolate Cheesecake Layer

- White Chocolate Mousse Layer

- For the chocolate cake layer

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prep a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray, cake goop, or a swipe of shortening with a dust of flour to prevent sticking. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the cake ingredients except for the cake mix. Sift in the cake mix and gently stir to combine. Spread into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25-27 minutes. Let cool completely before adding on the next layer.

- For the chocolate cheesecake layer

In a medium bowl, heat the chocolate and softened cream cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir until it's smooth and silky (you may have to add an additional 15 seconds at a time if needed to help melt it). Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, stir together the gelatin and cold water. Let it bloom/thicken for 2 minutes, then stir in the very hot water until it becomes more clear and thin. Let cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip up the heavy cream on low speed and slowly increase the speed to high over a span of a few minutes. It will thicken to stiff peaks. Add in the sugar and whip for another 30 seconds. Slowly add in the gelatin in a small stream and whip up again.

Add in a small amount of the cream cheese chocolate mixture and whip up again on medium speed. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, then gently fold in the rest of the chocolate cream cheese mixture. It will be slightly loose, so don't worry.

Spread it onto the cooled chocolate cake layer and place in the freezer while you make the next layer.

- For the white chocolate mousse layer

Heat the white chocolate in a small glass dish for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat, stir again, until it's smooth and silky. Let cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip up the heavy cream until it reaches stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Add to a separate bowl and set aside.

In the same mixing bowl (now empty) whip up the cream cheese and powdered sugar until it's slight and fluffy. Add in the vanilla & salt and whip up again.

Add in the white chocolate little by little until it's combined. Then slowly fold in (with a spatula by hand) the whipped cream mixture. Don't overwork the mousse - let it keep as much air pockets as possible.

Spread the white chocolate mousse onto the chocolate cream cheese layer. Freeze until the ganache is ready.

- For the chocolate ganache

Place the chocolate melts in two separate bowls (dark/milk chocolate in one and white chocolate in the other). Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for 30 seconds, then pour over the melts (2-3 Tablespoons into the dark/milk chocolate and 1 Tablespoon into the white chocolate bowl). Let sit to melt and then stir until it's smooth and silky. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds if needed.

Let cool slightly, then add in the white chocolate into a squeeze bottle or piping tip with the end snipped off.

Working quickly so the ganache doesn't set up too fast: Spread on the dark/chocolate over the chilled white chocolate mousse layer, then immediately pipe/squeeze the white chocolate ganache in lines onto the flat chocolate layer. Immediately use a toothpick to smear straight lines from one end to the other to create the decorative patter.

Add on the chocolate shavings around the outside rim of the cake. Slice the cake with a hot sharp knife for clean slices. Serve chilled.