Checkerboard Cake

This is a fun to make and different cake, astonishing and impressive, this cake will really test your culinary skills as well as your patience and stillness ability when assembling it. The idea came from the Autralian womens weekly (again) but I change their sponge recipe. So, here it is:




First, you will need a deep 19cms cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. You will need two different sponges, on plain and one chocolate, then you have to cut them into thick strips and glue them using the glaze.


Ingredients:

For the white sponge:

90g softened butter
90g sugar
3 medium eggs
120g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract


For the glaze

3/4 cup apricot jam
2 teaspoons powdered gelatine or 3 gelatine leaves


For the chocolate ganache

6 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons double cream
3 tablespoon water
41/2 tablespoon glucose syrup
250g dark chocolate in chunks






Method:

For the plain sponge:

Mix the butter and the sugar, add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla, then the sifted flour and baking powder. Pour in the tin and bake at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes away clean. Stand cake 5 minutes before turning onto cooling rack.






For the chocolate sponge follow the same method but use 30 grams of cocoa powder, and 90g of plain flour.


Melt the ingredients for the ganache on a low heat, or the microwave, and cool to room temperature.Beat with wooden spoon until is thick and spreadable.






Once the cakes are done and cold, cut into equal strips. Heat the jam in the microwave and add the gelatine, (if you use the leaves soak it in cold water first). For assembling the cake, glaze every strip on all the sides (this will be the glue) and form a perfect square, alternating the colours. Spread the ganache all over the cake, store in the fridge for at least an hour, so it will be easier to cut it into slices, and enjoy this chocolate beauty....