Looks really complicated but believe me, if I can do this, so can you! This checkerboard cake made with a chocolate cake, a vanilla cake and a strawberry flavored cake is a sure shot way of making an impression on everyone! Today, I am sharing my simplest recipes for making these three layers and then how to assemble the beautiful cake!
Let me start off by telling you a story. A long long time ago, there was a shy curly haired girl who lived with her husband in a beautiful city away from her family. She was a brave girl but was utterly critical about everything she did. One fine day, she decided to take the leap and do something which frankly, seemed way out of her reach. But the results, not only surprised her but blew her mind! Not just hers, but everyone else’s around her too. She realised that by taking that leap of faith, she did the best thing she could do for herself. Her belief in herself got stronger and stronger. She learnt to have faith in her capabilities and never doubt her worth ever again! And so, she lived happily ever after.
This curly haired girl was me and the aforementioned ‘leap of faith’ was this Checkerboard Cake that I made about 2 years back. This was my present to my husband when we celebrated his first birthday since our wedding. This cake made me learn things about myself that for some reason, I didn’t believe earlier.
It may not seem like much to some, but for me, this was beyond anything I could ever imagine myself doing. And I’ll be honest, there were moments while I was assembling the cake when I felt I have bitten off more than I could chew. But it all turned out well.
All of our friends, with whom we were able to share this cake, loved it too. At the time, I didn’t really realise the heights of what I had been able to accomplish. But sooner than later, the magnitude of it struck me! And I haven’t looked back since!
Anyhow, that’s enough for some background. And clearly and obviously, it has been long time coming that I shared how I made this cake. If anyone follows me on my Instagram would probably be able to see this picture on there, which was posted a long long time back!
So, for this cake, I made three cakes. One was a chocolate cake, the other two used the same recipe but one had vanilla extract while the other had strawberry extract.
This Checkerboard cake is all about the assembly, which believe me, is not difficult at all. You can do it! I promise you. I did it.
The recipes for the cakes are already on my blog:
Simple Vanilla cake – Just swap the flavoring with your favorites!
For the frosting, I used my Chocolate Buttercream frosting but doubled everything in quantity.
Since this cake does take more than usual to bake and assemble, you may want to bake the cake layers a day in advance and store them in the fridge, neatly covered in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap. This way it gets even easier to maneuver and handle the cake layers while assembling.
Let us see how you would assemble the cake after you have all the cakes layers and the frosting ready to go!
Ingredients
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- It is always preferable to chill the cake layers for a few hours before assembling. This enables the cake layers to hold their shape and texture while assembling.
- Arrange all three layers on a flat work surface.
- With the help of the two cutters, carefully slice the cake layers into a 6 inch and a 3 inch ring/ circles.
- Now carefully, rearrange the rings of cake. Such that the colors alternate.
- Lets begin assembling the cake.
- Keep one (mixed) layer on the cake stand and spread the frosting. Smooth it out and place the second (mixed) cake layer on top. Repeat for all three layers.
- Frost the cake with the frosting. Decorate as per your choice!
Take my word for it. Do not be overwhelmed. My motto is always to be not too harsh on myself.
I say ‘take that leap of faith’ and do something today that you never could imagine doing!
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this Checkerboard cake, please feel free to comment down below or you can email me at [email protected]
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Till next time,
XO, Sakshi!
