My Checker Board Birthday Cake

So I celebrated my birthday on February 1st, and as usual I made my own birthday cake. This year I wanted to try my hand at a checker board cake. I chose chocolate and yellow cake with my creamy chocolate frosting. I have pictures to guide you through each step.

There are three ways, that I am aware of, to create a checker board cake. One is by baking two types of cake and cutting and layering to get the checker effect. The other is placing the two different cake batters (alternating) in the same cake pan and baking to create the same effect. And the other is purchasing a checker board pan set. It comes with a pan and a ring that is broken into several rings. You would put the batter, alternating colors, into the ring divider then remove the ring and bake.

I chose to do the first.

First pick the two cake types you like, be sure they are not to close in color.
Chocolate/white, red/white, or tint white cake pink/blue for a baby shower or yellow/light green for Easter or dark green/white for St Patricks day. Be creative and have fun!

I like to bake my cakes the day before and once they have cooled completely I wrap loosely in Saran wrap and allow it to sit out over night. This allows the cake to set up and is easier to work with.

                                                                                              
One of my favorite tools is a cake leveler. You can purchase this from a craft store in their cake decorating isle. It's quick and insure even layers. It has a bent bar with a wire strung between the ends. On each end are little notches allowing you to adjust the wire to the height you desire. Adjust the wire so that you cut away just enough of the top of the cake to make it level.
Using a sawing motion (back and forth) level the top of your cake using your leveler or a knife if you prefer


When using a leveler, place your hand on top of the cake as you get closer to the edge place you hand on the side of the cake opposite you. Allow the wire to press against your fingers as you work the leveler through the outer crust of  the cake. The wire will not cut you, but this will insure you don't break the edge of the cake.

 I usually save the tops of the cake for my husband and boys to snack on. This allows me to finish the cake with less interruptions : )

Next, adjust the cake leveler and *torte your cake into two even layers. Repeat this process with the chocolate cake. You will have four layers, two yellow and two chocolate.

(*torte: slicing cake into thinner layers)

Now for the rings.

I used a saucer and two metal cookie cutters, use whatever you have handy. You can see the difference in size from the picture below.

I started by placing my saucer centered on a single cake layer and I carefully, I cut around the saucer using a paring knife. I removed the sauce and using the larger cookie cutter I centered it inside the first cut and pressed down to cut the center out, then again with the smaller cutter I lined it up in the center of the second cut and cut the very center of the cake. Repeat with the chocolate cake. 

Now the fun part!

Carefully remove the cake rings from the center of each cake and replace them, alternating in color. Putting frosting in between to secure them together. I filled a pastry bag with frosting and piped a line inside of each ring then smoothed it out with my cake blade.

When finished your cake layer should look like this...............

Apply a layer of butter-cream over the completed cake layer then start the process again.

If your cake ring breaks as you are stacking them, don't worry just glue pieces together with butter-cream.

Be sure to alternate each layer:

If the bottom layer has a chocolate outer ring then the layer on top should have a yellow outer ring, the third will have a chocolate outer ring and the final layer on top should have a yellow outer ring. See the example below.

When you have filled and stacked the layers, cover cake with butter-cream and decorate as desired.

Slice, serve and wait for the ooh and ahhs. Then enjoy a slice yourself with a big glass of milk.

I hope you will try to make a checker board cake yourself, if anything people will be amazed at what you did and will ask "How did you do that?" 

All About Chocolate

Harvesting the Cacao Pods

Chocolate is produced from the seeds of the cacao tree. The seeds have a very bitter/sour taste,to develop the flavor the seeds must be fermented. Fermentation: The pods are harvested, they are split open and seeds removed. The pulp and seeds are put in a pile and covered with banana leaves. Fermentation begins when the yeasts and bacteria, converts the sugar in the pulp to alcohol and to lactic and acetic acid. Fermentation can take from three to seven days then the beans are dried in the sun. Sun drying is gentler and will not harden the bean or dry the interior. The shells are removed and cacao nibs are ground and liquefied, producing chocolate liquor. It's then further processed to make cocoa solids (The nonfat component of chocolate:cocoa powder) and cocoa butter (The fatty component of chocolate). 

Different Kinds of Chocolate

Unsweetened chocolate primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Sweet chocolate is simply chocolate and sugar. Milk chocolate contains sugar and milk (either milk powder or condensed milk). White chocolate, which is not considered chocolate, does not contain cocoa solids. It is a combination of cocoa butter, sugar, and milk. When cocoa solids and cocoa butter are separated, what is produced is natural cocoa powder. Natural cocoa is reddish in color and has a bitter taste. Dutch processed cocoa powder has a more brown color and has been treated with alkali which neutralizes the acidity, giving it a milder flavor. Recipes calling for cocoa powder are referring to natural cocoa powder. Because Dutch cocoa (Dutch processed cocoa) is neutral it does not react with baking soda. Recipes using Dutch cocoa will call for baking powder, unless the recipe calls for other acidic ingredients like buttermilk or molasses.

Chocolate in Baking

What's the best chocolate to use in baking?

Well, it depends on the chocolate you use. Two things need to be considered, flavor and what you are baking.  When baking a dessert where there are multiple flavors (ie. Cake) a less expensive brand is sufficient. If using a more expensive brand of chocolate, it would be best to use a recipe that has less ingredients so as not veil the depth of  flavor (ie. Truffle Torte). If you are going to spend the money on fine chocolate you better taste it in your baked goods, right?
Cacao