Make an easy cool lookin' cake!

Basically there are three round pans and one 'ring' piece. Mix up a batch of yellow cake batter and one of chocolate cake batter (in separate bowls, of course). Grease and flour three round cake pans. Put the ring-thing in one of the cake pans.

Okay, here's where it gets tricky. I totally recommend that this process be done with two people. The ring-thing I had was made of aluminum and didn't stay flat on the bottom of the cake pan without some pressure applied. If it doesn't sit flat on the bottom, some of the yellow batter will run underneath into the chocolate section, and vice versa, totally messing up the whole checkerboard look. Try to keep it as flat as you can while you put alternating yellow and chocolate batter in the rings. Remove from the first pan by lifting straight up. I would recommed rinsing the batter off of the ring-thing between pan fillings. Repeat with the other two pans. NOTE: When you're done, you should have two pans the same (chocolate, yellow, chocolate or vice versa) and one pan that's the opposite. Bake all three according to package directions, and cool appropriately.

By the way, I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence, but I know I would want to be reminded of this particular piece of information: be sure to remove the ring-thing from the final cake pan before putting it in the oven. It was not intended to be baked with the cake. Ahem.

As with many round cake pans, sometimes the middle of the cake will rise above the edges* when it's done. After taking the cake out of the pan, I use a serrated bread knife and cut off the hump. (Of course, I don't throw it away - what are you thinking? It's cake! LOL) That way when you stack all three layers they will lay straight. Some people turn the bottom layer upside down without cutting off the hump. Too-may-toe, too-mah-toe.

When assembling the cake, put the odd layer between the other two. Some folks use chocolate icing between layers, but I don't... probably cos I'm lazy, and certainly not because I'm saving calories. It's good either way. But do use frosting all over the outside. That way, if someone didn't already know it was a checkerboard cake, they will be surprised and amazed when the first slices are cut!

There... that's it. Please try it sometime and let me know how it goes! Did I forget anything, or do you have tips or tricks to make this cake even better? Post in my guestbook and share the wealth! Enjoy!

I took a cooking class once (really!) and learned a trick to keep the middle of a round cake from rising higher than the edges when it's baking. This happens because the edges of the pan get hotter quicker than the thick middle so it will bake first while the middle takes a little longer to cook.

The trick is to rip up an old towel into strips of about 2 inches wide and about 16 to 18 inches long - well, long enough to go around a round cake pan. Wet the towel strip and squeeze out most of the water. Fold it in half lengthwise. Wrap it around the cake pan and secure it so it doesn't come off. I used a safety pin, but it was a pain to try to get it snug enough. but it worked for this purpose. Keep the damp towel strips around the pan in the oven while the cake is baking. Basically this keeps the outside edge from getting too hot and cooking too soon so that the entire cake cooks at about the same time and temperature, thus ensuring a relatively flat topped cake. Well, in theory anyway. Good luck with that!

I believe there are new insulated baking pans now that do essentially the same thing without all the hassle of damp towel strips. I'm giving away my age now, right? LOL

In my search for pictures of a finished checkerboard cake, I came across the Wilton website and found this beautiful photo.

And I was very glad to read the last sentence of the instructions on how to make this cake: DO NOT PUT DIVIDING RING IN OVEN. (Yes, it was in all caps!)

Dollar Days has a checkerboard cake pan, too - check it out!