Triple-Layer Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

For more basic recipes with simple ingredients ... so easy, even a dad can do them, visit There's a Dad in the Kitchen.

March is birthday month in my family. Two immediate family members, my wife and my son share March birthdays only two days apart. Jamie, a sister-in-law, also celebrates her birthday in March.

When the time came to select the date for the caesarian birth of my son, the doctor asked if we had any special dates on which we’d like the birth to occur. With a straight face, I indicated that I was hoping the baby could be born on my birthday.

“When is that?” the doctor asked.

“November 1st,” I replied.

She didn’t crack a smile and simply turned to my wife.

So, they could have shared birthdays, but we decided that Matt should have his own special day. Up until recently that meant his own special cake, too. In the last few years, we’ve become wiser, opted for less cake in our lives, and used a shared cake.

When the big day was imminent, I suggested a Jewish Apple Cake for the celebration. That was overruled in favor of a cake with real, honest-to-goodness frosting. As a result, I combined two previously posted Dad in the Kitchen recipes into one really great cake, (if I do say so myself). I decided to make a triple-layer chocolate cake using the Wacky Cake recipe I’ve made since junior high school, and frost it with Nancy Ruoff’s Peanut Butter Frosting. You’ll remember that Nancy is the cafeteria manager at Royersford Elementary School.

For the project, I bought new non-stick round cake pans. The cake batter had to be made in two batches as I only had two pans. When I made the third layer from the second batch of batter, I used the remaining cake batter to make cupcakes.

I discovered that even non-stick bake ware has to be seasoned, as the first two layers stuck slightly to the bottom of the new pans. I also learned that it takes a lot of frosting to coat a three-layer cake. A double batch of Nancy’s frosting was also required. Just enough was left over to keep everyone happy.

Here are the links to the Wacky Cake and Peanut Butter Frosting posts. The Wacky Cake post was my very first post, blogged a year ago this month. I recommend the frosting, not the icing, as two recipes are given.

Wacky Cake

Frosting Face-Off, or the Clash of the Icings

If you’d prefer just the print versions of the recipes, here they are:

Wacky Cake – recipe only

Peanut Butter Frosting – recipe only

Enjoy!