AUNT TINA'S CHECKERBOARD CAKE - The Kitchy Kitchen

I’ve teased my Aunt Tina that her buttermilk cake recipe is the foundation of her cake repertoire, and I’m not wrong. The buttermilk cake is a perfect vanilla cake – moist, not too sweet, and so versatile – so it’s no surprise it has served as the bedrock for most of my aunt’s vintage inspired cakes. In this recipe, it gets a chocolate twist, and a bit of fun geometry, to create a unique and delicious dessert. Just like when you can’t decide between vanilla and chocolate soft serve, and opt for a twist, the checkerboard cake gives you the best of both worlds. As with most things, this cake is best with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Note: I was a dummy and only filled 2 of the layers…so, ignore the two layered-ness. This works best as three.

INGREDIENTS (BUTTERMILK CAKE):

For three 8” pans

1 cup of sifted cake flour, plus two tablespoons

2/3 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup of room temperature butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

INGREDIENTS (CHOCOLATE BUTTERMILK CAKE):

1 cup of sifted cake flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup of room temperature butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 ounce melted chocolate

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Add vanilla.

Add a third of the dry ingredients, followed by a third of the buttermilk, beating well. Repeat until the dry ingredients and buttermilk are all in the batter. Mix everything 1 more minute.

Pour batter into the 3 pans (I used a vintage checkerboard cake tin like this one) and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool the cakes completely.

Note: If not using a checkerboard cake pan, you’ll have to split the cakes across 4 cake pans and make cardboard stencils.

For the stencils, cut one 6 inch circle and one 4 inch circle. Set aside.

Bake the cakes for 15 – 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool, and transfer to a cooling rack.

To build the cake using stencils, use the stencils as a guide and a sharp knife (I found a paring knife worked best) to cut around the circles. The first layer should be vanilla wide layer, then chocolate 6 inch layer, then a vanilla 4 inch center. Coat with a 1/4 inch layer of chocolate frosting. The second layer should be chocolate wide layer, then vanilla 6 inch layer, then chocolate 4 inch center. Repeat with frosting. Finish with the same sequence as the bottom layer. You’ll have extra layers. Coat the entire cake with a thick layer (like an inch) of frosting.

If using a checkerboard cake pan, build like a typical cake, but with thinner layers of frosting between the cake (about a 1/4 inch thick) and a very thick layer of frosting on the outside (about an inch thick).