July 13, 2007

CHECKERBOARD CAKE



As promised,here is the recipe for the checkerboard cake:

Ingredients:3 oz/85 gms baking chocolate

4 cups/508 gms cake flour

2 cups/400 gms sugar

1 tsp salt

1 &1/3 cup/316 ml milk

1 cup/225 gms butter

1 tbsp Vanilla extract

4 eggs

2 tbsp baking powder


Method:Melt chocolate over hot water and keep aside to cool.

Combine together flour,sugar,baking powder,and salt.Stir with a fork or a whisk until well mixed.

Add the butter and 1 cup milk.Beat until well mixed.You can do this either by hand or a hand mixer.

In a separate bowl,whisk together the eggs,vanilla and the remaining 1/3 cup of milk.Add to the flour-butter mix in 3 parts.Beat well after each addition until the mixture looks homogenous.Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Divide the batter into half and add the melted chocolate to one half,Mix thoroughly.


Grease and flour three 9 inch round pans.Line the bases if you like.

Now,Place the divider in one pan, and pour the chocolate mixture in the outermost and innermost rings.Pour some white mixture into the middle ring.Remove the divider carefully and place it in another pan.Repeat the above step.

Take out the divider carefully and wash it.Dry it well and place it in the third pan.In this one,pour the white batter in the outermost and inner most rings and the chocolate mixture in the middle one.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 mins.Let cool in pans for five minutes and then take out onto wire rack to cool the cakes completely.



Assembling the cake:

Use a thin layer of chocolate buttercream to join the layers together,with the white-chocolate-white cake in the middle and the chocolate-white-chocolate cakes forming the upper and lower layers.

Ice with the buttercream and decorate as wished.





The Chocolate butter icing
:

85 gms Baking chocolate

6 tbsp/90 ml Milk

3 cups/380 gms sifted icing/confectioners sugar

6 tbsp/90 gms Butter

1 tbsp Vanilla extract

Method:Melt the chocolate on low heat.

Heat milk to boiling and immediately remove from heat.Add confectioners sugar and beat thoroughly.

Add melted chocolate and mix well .Cool to lukewarm.

Beat butter in another bowl until creamy.Add a pinch of salt,vanilla and the cooled chocolate mixture.Beat vigorously until smooth and creamy.Spread immediately.


I use The Perfect Buttercream recipe from Baking911 and it is literally,perfect except that I use only a small quantity of shortening and a major portion of butter.Sometimes I use all butter.


My Notes:I always use margarine for my cakes, and this one is no exception.you can use it too,if you are concerned about your intake of too much saturated fat.

26 comments:

Sharmi said...

thanks for the elaborate explanation. the cake looks so lovely. have to buy that pan.

Bharathy said...

Love that slice...wonderful!!!fine and clear illustrations...:)

Anonymous said...

That is how you make this kinda cake. You have explained it so well.

Mishmash ! said...

It's always a pleasure to see such posts! A party pleaser especially for kids' parties :)

Shn

Manasi said...

Looks lovely and u have explained it very well!

USHA said...

Checker board is just awesome...first i use to wonder how they use to create onethis type of cake..later in Walmart,found the checker board ,,got it...thanks for explaining detaily.

ushaprashanth said...

Hi!
wondered how you got that checked look in the cake! but got cleared immediately!perfectly explained!

J said...

Thanks for explaining. I think Annita also has a checkered cake recipe on her blog.

Suma Gandlur said...

That's a beautiful cake with neat explanation.

FH said...

Aha!! That's how you get the checker board! Good info ViniK.Thank you so much for the yummy cake recipe.

Suganya said...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Vini. I can sleep well now :). BTW, that divider, what is it called? Is it avl in Michael's?

Viji said...

Looks yummy Vini. could see the softness from the photo. Very nice. Viji

Vini K said...

Sharmi,you are welcome,dear.

Bharathi,Gini,:Thank you:)

Shn,oh yes,a definite crowd pleaser,this one:)

Manasi,nice to see you here.Thank you dear:)

Usha,Usha prashanth,You are welcome:)

Jyothsna,you ar welcome:)I will definitely go and check her blog:)

Suma,thank you.

Asha,you are welcome dear:)for you,nothing is impossibile so get down to it ,my dear most enthusiatic mum of the world! :)

Suganya,actually this one comes as a set with three pans and the divider.You could make this without the divider by cutting out rings from white as well as chocolate cakes and them placing them in alternate colours to get this effect but you would have to brush the cut sides(in the rings)with some melted jam to make the layers stick together.However your cake may not stay that way once you cut it and will fall to pieces.You can find this set in amazon as well as walmart,I believe.Please do get one.and the divider is called a divider:),you cannot buy it seperately.

Viji,Thank you so much.:)

Coffee said...

OH!!!! So you made is this way! Very neat indeed and very nice description Vini! :)

Rachna said...

aha, thats how its dont.... nice explanation, and its as complicated to do as it looks....thank u vini...

Roopa said...

wow Vini, thanks for the detail explanation. thats good i didn't know we need a special pan for it. this should make it easy than the cutting right.thanks dear :)

Anonymous said...

Hi,
u bake wonderful cakes.needs lot of patience.it's worth the cakes look amazing.

Linda said...

Wow Vini, your cakes are both absolutely gorgeous!! Hats off to you for patience bake that checkerboard cake and decorate it so beautifully. Sounds like everyone had a lovely celebration :)

Oh and the white choc berries look great too! :)

Sia said...

thank vini for step by step instructions. girl, i am gonna come to ur home one day for baking classes. u should seriously consider giving baking classes:)

Bong Mom said...

You are making such beautiful cakes Vini. Totally a professional. Are you doing classes too ?

Anonymous said...

Wow..so beautiful cakes...You are really very talented dear....Looks so professional. A very happy belated birthday to your hubby and kid..

Vini K said...

Coffee,thanks dear

Dumela,don't let the procedure put you off.This one is worth all that effort.Do try it once!:)

Roopa, yes this one is easier than the cutting procedure.the cake stays in one piece

Ramya,welcome here!Thanks dear:)

Linda,thank you so much dear!:)

Sia,thanks dear!You are welcome anytime.I have already taught some of my friends here the basic cake.As for the classes,I am absolutely on cloud 9 :)

Sandeepa,thanks dear.Nope,no classes..I did it on my own with help from internet ,ofcourse:)

Shilpa,thanks dear!glad to see you here!:)

TBC said...

Your cake looks so good!... and u have explainedit so nicely!

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Beautiful writeup about how to make this cake. Am looking forward to trying it. You mentioned you use margarine instead of butter - but I thought margarine wasnt considered good anymore because of the transfats...?

Coffee and Vanilla said...

I was always wondering how to make cakes like this, now I know :)

If you have a while please take a look at the most Inspiring Food Photography competition at my page, nominate 3 of your favourites from any pages on the net...

Greetings from London, Margot

workhard said...

That was really good, liked the way the checkered came out.

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