Checkerboard Cake

I haven't been neglecting my blog lately, I just didn't cook that much, since my little one is away at summer camp and I'm putting in long hours in the office. Speaking of that, we have a colleague that recently decided to complete his studies, therefore quit his job and returned to school. As is the tradition in our office, we were going to have a small party for him, and my colleagues asked if I could make the cake. I said yes, and this is the result (the quality of the photos is not that great, they were taken in the office)

I used 9-inch pans.

For the cake layers (3 layers) we need:

- 3 oz (85 gr) baking chocolate

- 4 cups (500 gr) sifted cake flour

- 2 cups (400 gr) sugar

- 2 tsp (10 gr) baking powder

- 1 tsp (5 gr) salt

- 1 cup (225 gr) unsalted butter, softened

- 1 1/3 cups (320 ml) milk, at room temperature

- 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla

- 4 eggs

Melt the chocolate at bain-marie, then set aside to cool.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then mix on low speed for about one minute until blended.

Add the butter and 1 cup of milk. Beat at medium high speed for 1 1/2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often.

In another bowl, combine vanilla, the remaining 1/3 cup milk and the eggs, and beat lightly. 

Add to batter in three parts, beating at medium high speed for 25 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each part.

Divide the batter in half. Stir the melted chocolate into half of the batter and mix well.

Grease and flour the sides and bottoms of pans, and line each with wax or parchment paper circles. Grease the circles. In two of the pans, pour dark batter in the centre and outer rings, and lighter batter in the middle. For the third pan, pour lighter batter in the centre and outer rings, and dark batter in the middle. Make sure  you fill the pans only half way up.

Place the pans in the centre of the pre-heated at 350F oven and bake for 30 minutes, turning the pans around after 15 minutes. Test for doneness. The cake will come away slightly from the sides when done. Allow the cakes to cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes, then invert on wire racks to finish cooling.

After the cake is cool, stack layers so that outside colors alternate, and use a thin layer of frosting between layers. I also added a leftover layer of the Red Velvet cake I had make the previous week (layer that I kept in the freezer then allowed to defrost on the counter).

For icing and filling of the cake, I made a chocolate cream, and topped the cake with a caramel glaze. Please feel free to use any type of frosting that you wish! A quick recipe would be this:

- 3 oz (85 gr) baking chocolate

- 6 tbsp (90 ml) milk

- 3 cups (380 gr) sifted confectioners' sugar

- 6 tbsp (90 gr) butter

- 1 tbsp )15 ml) vanilla

- dash of salt

Melt the chocolate on low heat. Heat the milk to boiling and immediately remove from heat. Add confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate, mix well and cool to lukewarm.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the salt, vanilla and the cooled chocolate mixture. Beat vigorously until smooth and creamy, then spread at once.

Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve.