RECIPE | Checkerboard cake
1:34 pm
Hello there, It's been a while! I'm currently in the middle of finishing my second year at uni, working and trying to move house so I'm super busy, sorry. But there is always time to bake a cake right? Right!
For my birthday I got "The Great British Bake Off; How To Turn Everyday Bakes Into Showstoppers" for my birthday so I thought I'd share my version of one of the recipes.
You will need:
350g of unsalted butter
350g of caster sugar
2tsp of vanilla extract
6 large eggs (at room temperature, beaten)
350g of self -raising flour
Pinch of salt
4tsp of milk
2 piping bags
Two different food colourings
Method:
Pop your oven on to about 180 (a wee bit less if you've got a fan oven). Put your butter into a bowl and beat until it's creamy (you can do this by hand but it's definitely easier with an electric mixer). Gradually beat in the sugar and the vanilla. Beat it until it is fluffy!
Gradually add in your already beaten eggs. The book says add these a tablespoon at a time, but I beat my eggs into a jug so I just poured in a bit at a time. It also says to add in some flour with your last two portions of egg to prevent curdling, I didn't do this and it worked out fine, so do as you please!
Sift your flour and slot into the bowl and fold in. If you're wanting to add any more flavour to your cake, do this now.
Now you need to transfer half of the mixture you just made into another bowl, and add 2tsp's of milk per bowl. Now you want to pop a different colour in each of the bowls and mix it through thoroughly. Once the colour has been worked all the way through spoon the mixtures into the piping bags.
Grease your cake tin or tins. Now, you want to pipe a ring of one of the mixtures around the outside of the cake tin, then pipe the other mixture inside that ring, and so on until you have filled the cake tin. (When you come to do your second cake, your second colour of mixture will become the first ring you pipe)
Pop this in the oven for 20-25 mins, but keep an eye on it. You're looking for well risen and springy. If you're unsure if it is done, pop a skewer into the cake and if it comes out clean then it is done, if it is sticky then it needs a bit more time.
Once the cake is done, pop it on a wire rack to cool. You want to repeat this process as many times as the mixture you made will allow you (Mine made 3 layers). Please remember whichever colour you put on the outside the first time, make that your second ring on your second cake, this is crucial to the checker-board effect.
I then whipped up some buttercream and added a wee bit of white chocolate. I use this http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/basicbuttericing_73263 recipe without the milk or food colouring. This is to pop between the layers of the cake (this helps to stick it together and just adds some more taste!) But you could use jam, or Nutella or pretty much anything you want!
Once your cake is cool pop your bottom layer on a cake board, plate or cake stand (unless you are magical and can work out how to move cakes after they have been iced, in which case, you do not need to be reading this post!). Slather your bottom layer with your filling of choice then put your next layer on top (making sure your rings are not matching!) and repeat!
To cover my cake, i just covered it in some royal icing I'd coloured purple (because I ran out both of butter to make buttercream and fondant icing). But really you can do anything you want!
And Valla! A cake!
I hope you can understand this ramble! If you like to bake, it really is a fun cake to make.
I made a chocolate/vanilla version too for Liams' birthday.
(excuse the iphone quality)
If anyone tries this recipe, please instagram/tweet me a picture!
I'm @Jaydeetc on both.
Have a lovely weekend!
4 comments
I'll definitely have to try this, it looks great!
ReplyDeleteI've tried rainbow cakes before, but it went disastrously wrong, fingers crossed I can manage this one (:
Also, I've nominated you for an award (:
http://missisgoode.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-to-z-challenge-v.html
This looks delicious! I love your photos!
ReplyDeletexx,
mashasmumbles.blogspot.com
There IS always time for baking a cake, especially one as cute as this! I love it, it looks like an epic battenburg but without marzipan which I hate. I must make this! Thank you for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteEm x
Amazing! Always wanted to learn how to do this! Thank your
ReplyDeleteHoneyashleigh.com xx
I read and reply to every single comment, I would really love it if you left one!