Chocolate Checkerboard Cake

I am currently in the process of reorganising our bedroom.  Our flat is pretty small and it is an ongoing goal of mine to have a place for everything.  I became extra determined by this when we decided we were going to be getting cats as I wanted the flat to remain reasonably tidy during the week when I had less time to do housework.  Our kitchen and bathroom have both been organised so that things can be tucked out of (or in appropriate) sight.  For the longest time I had a lot of my lovely baking stuff sitting on my counter because my collection had grown rapidly and the shelf we had put up for it all kept coming out of the wall in one place (we still need to find a permanent solution for that).  Now most of the lighter, smaller stuff is up on display, and my two large Mason Cash bowls sit comfortably on top of the microwave.  In the bathroom, it's very narrow but we installed shoe cabinets on the walls to keep cleaning products and spare toiletries in.  Though whilst it is tidy, it looks messy.  There's unfinished paintwork, ugly coloured tiles, horrible artexed walls and a hole in our ceiling thanks to a leak in our upstairs neighbour's bathroom sink.  Hopefully we'll get the opportunity to do it up in the near future but it functions fine just now so I can live with it.

Back to the bedroom.  This has been the room that has been in disarray for the longest.  It is the room where things just get dumped because it's not meant to be seen by other people (though I always dread the guy from the electricity company showing up to read the meter and seeing dirty laundry and boxes everywhere).  I have been slowly acquiring extra storage.  It started with a bed, and then new chests of drawers because my one that the Hubby got me up and died (it still sits in our room though).  We've put up a lot of floating shelves, though we've only just gone through and sorted all the books (and now have 2 boxes of books to get rid of on top of the 3 we already had).  I bought lots of boxes to tuck things away in to sit on the shelves and on various surfaces.  But it still wasn't coming together.  Most recently I got a couple of picture shelves, which have some of our many framed pictures on and all my Disney Tsum Tsums.  The next step is my new storage unit.  It's built but I need to start sorting all my teaching stuff into file boxes to go in it.  

In short, it's getting there. Slowly. So slowly. I can't believe it's been nearly 4 years since we moved into this flat.  Time flies.  It will be so nice when I do finally get it all done.

 

Anyway, on to baking. The Hubby's wee cousin (once removed) turned 6 in March and a party was hosted at the in-laws' house.  There was to be a lovely lunch of soup and buffet snacks and then for dessert there would be cake and ice cream.  I was enlisted to make the birthday cake.  Ideally a chocolate one.  I decided to try something a bit different from my norm, and chose to do a surprise inside cake.  I picked up a book on it ages ago but so far had not made anything from it.  I went with the checkerboard because I had been informed that birthday boy liked Minecraft and I figured this way it would look like it was made of small blocks.  I ended up taking the theme a bit further by making the exterior look like a block of grass from the game, complete with green squares on top to give a pixelated effect.

The recipe in the book actually an orange and chocolate/coffee sponge.  I decided to change the orange to white chocolate.  I chose to flavour it with some white hot chocolate that has been sitting in my cupboard not being drunk because the Hubby found it too sweet and I don't like hot drinks.  It smells amazing, just so you know, and it made a wonderful addition to the cake.  As for the coffee, I left that out, since the birthday boy is 6, as well as the ground almonds (just to be safe).  It worked fine.

I was surprised at how simple this cake was to do.  Sure, it took a long time (even longer because I could only bake one layer at a time and there are 4) but the end result is well worth the effort.  I loved the response it got when people saw the inside (once I cut it correctly so they could see it).  It's definitely something I want to try again, perhaps with other flavours and colours. 

I swear I do my best work when making something for other people.  This has to be one of my most successful cakes in terms of taste and texture.  It is so light and fluffy, and the two parts blend beautifully together.  It was enjoyed by party guests and then by the lovely ladies of Markinch, who got the leftovers because it is quite a big cake (I could have gotten away with a 6inch square cake rather than 7).  I also made an Easter cupcake version for to take with me to Kettle on the last day of term.  I quartered the recipe, marbled the two mixtures, used the frosting to make nests and filled them with mini eggs.  Yum!

Recipe - adapted from Hidden Surprise Cakes 
Makes 1 x 7inch square cake


Chocolate Sponge:

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• 225g/8oz butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk

White Chocolate Sponge:

• 2 tbsp crème brulee white hot chocolate powder (mine is from Whittard Tea)
• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• 225g/8oz butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk

Frosting: 

• 175g/6oz plain chocolate
• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 100ml/3.5fl.oz double cream 
• 150g/5.5oz green ready-to-roll icing
• Green food gel
• Icing sugar in case your fondant gets too wet 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line the bases of 2 x 7inch square cakes tins.
2. Make the regular chocolate sponges first by sifting the flour and cocoa powder together into a large bowl and then adding the butter, sugar, eggs and milk.
3. Beat the mixture until it is smooth and creamy.
4. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and bake for about 30 minutes, or until it is risen and just firm to the touch.
5. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
6. Clean and reline the tins ready to make the next set of sponges.
7. Make the white chocolate cakes in the same way, using the white hot chocolate powder in place of the cocoa. Bake for 30 minutes, cool in tins for 10 and then turn out to finish cooling.
8. Make the frosting by melting the chocolate and butter together in a heat proof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water (make sure it's not touching the water).
9. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until mixture is smooth.
10. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before stirring in the cream.
11. Let stand for 20-30 minutes at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to chill for 40-50 minutes.  Stir it occasionally as it firms up.   

Assembly:

1. Place the cold cakes in the freezer and leave them to chill for about 30 minutes until quite firm.
2. Find or make two square templates - one that is 14cmx14cm and one that is 7cmx7cm (mine are cardboard).
3. If the tops of the cakes are slightly uneven, level them using a serrated knife.
4. In the centre of each cake, trace around your smaller template with a sharp knife and carefully remove the square of sponge.
5. Do the same with your larger template to cut a sqaure ring out of each cake.  Remove carefully.  You should have 4 centres, 4 middle rings and 4 outer rings.
6. Reassemble the cakes by carefully placing alternate cakes parts in the outer rings so that you end up with four cakes that resemble the ones in the image above.  

 

Decoration:

1. Spread a thin layer of the chocolate frosting over one of the sponge squares and top with a second, alternate sponge layer.
2. Repeat with the other layers so that you have four layers in total.  Be sure to alternate the sponges or you won't get the checkerboard effect.
3. Spread the remaining frosting in an even layer around the sides and top of the cake and smooth with a knife.
4. Roll out the green icing and cut squares from it using a small biscuit cutter.  You can add colouring to alter the shade of some of the icing to get the pixelated effect. 
5. Cover the top of your cake with the icing squares, pressing into the frosting to help them stick in place.
6. If you want to, use the square cutter to press squares into the sides of the cake as well to make it look like it is made of bricks.  

When you cut the cake, cut towards the middle rather than cutting into squares, otherwise the checkerboard effect won't be visible.

 

Red, White and Blue Mini Panettones

Hello all, I hope you have had a nice Christmas or a general happy holidays if that's not your thing.  Mine was quite lovely except for the fact that I have been ill since I came off from school!  I was bed-ridden for 3 days, where I did nothing but watch movies on Netflix and sleep.  The Hubby did a wonderful job taking care of me (bringing me food and drinks and sitting with me for a bit) and has ended up being sick himself for his troubles.  It doesn't quite seem to be the same thing: he's really stuffed up whereas I was hurting and suffering an annoying and painful cough.  I've still got the latter.  Curse my weak lungs and the sensitivity to the weather.  It's worse this year though as it is far too easy for me to get out of breath.  I was almost done in by a walk to the train station yesterday (which is 3 minutes away).  

But enough about that.  As I was saying, my Christmas has been lovely.  There were some lovely presents under my  beautiful (if I say so myself since I made all the decorations) Christmas tree and it was nice having dinner with the Dunion side of the Hubby's family, as well as skyping mine.  I even spent a chunk of the day making mince pies because the mother-in-law had requested them.  I made a batch for taking to Christmas dinner and then sent another batch along to Falkirk with the in-laws on Boxing Day when they visited the McGinlay side of the family.  The Hubby and I didn't go.  We took the day to recover.

Now with the Dunion side of the family, one of the siblings hosts Christmas Dinner.  This year it was the Hubby's Aunt Linda.  We all go for our tea and then we all exchange presents with each other.  We didn't go last year since we were down in England visiting my family.  I try and make my presents for extended family.  The year before last it was orange shortbread.  This year, I made panettone since the Dunion side has Italian roots.

I'll say right off the bat, this is not a proper, traditional panettone.  You can probably see that from the photos since they are quite tall and skinny panettone and baked in tin cans.  True panettone would also require a sourdough starter, which I do not have the patience to cultivate or maintain, and several days for proving.  Admittedly, I did have that latter bit but it was slightly scuppered by the being ill thing.  Hence they are not as beautifully fluffy as a real panettone should be.  Finally, I'm not using the most traditional of ingredients.  No mixed fruit or Fiori di Sicilia.  This has cranberries, blueberries, white chocolate and candied peel.  Hence the red, white and blue in the title.  That being said, these are still very yummy and went down well as gifts.

I wanted the panettone to be as fresh as possible so I made them on Christmas Eve.  I just about managed to stay upright whilst doing it.  It gave me a fair bit of trouble.  The dough is ridiculously sticky for a start.  However, I may have added slightly more egg that I was meant to because a bag of sugar fell out the cupboard and upended my jug of beaten egg onto the floor.  There was still some left and I just mixed up 3 new eggs.  The recipe said it is meant to be sticky, but I'm also supposed to be able to knead it into a ball, which was a bit of a hassle and very messy.   It also did not want to rise so I was constantly worried that I had killed the yeast.  I ended up leaving it whilst we went for Christmas Eve tea and board games with the Hubby's parents, sister and sister's boyfriend.  I was praying they had risen by the time I got back so I could cook them before bed.  Otherwise I was going to have to start over again.  I stole eggs from my mother-in-law's kitchen just in case.   Thankfully though, I came home and they had risen.  I'd put them in the oven since I figured it would be a bit warmer in there and that seemed to do the trick.  Baking took forever as I was wanting that golden brown finish on the top and it was pretty late by the time I finally got to go to bed but the blasted things were done.  I would just need to spruce them up and package them the next morning, as well as grab a few photos (what a shame most of them blurred because I forgot to correct the ISO...).

Recipe - adapted from Good Food: Delicious Gifts

Makes 5 


There is a lot of waiting around and a lot of rising to be done with these.  At the least add in 2.5 hours for rising time but may take longer if it is cold.  Mine did.  Along with the prep and cooking time, you're looking at at least 4 hours from start to finish.

Panettone:

•  500g/1lb 2oz plain flour
• 14g/0.5oz easy blend, dried yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 100g/3.5oz golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200ml/7fl.oz milk
• 200g/7oz butter
• 75g/3oz dried cranberries
• 75g/3oz dried blueberries
• 100g/3.5oz white chocolate chips
• 100g/3.5oz mixed candied peel

To finish:

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, yeast and salt together briefly before adding the sugar and mixing again.
2. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it is hand hot.
3. Beat the eggs with vanilla extract and add to the dry ingredients along with the warmed milk.  Mix to make a soft, sticky dough.
4. Work the dough for a few minutes in the mixer then remove the hook and allow to rest until it has doubled in size (about 1 hour but maybe more if it is cold).
5. Put the hook back in, add the butter to the dough in small pieces and mix to incorporate.  Leave to rise for another hour.
6. Add the cranberries, blueberries, white chocolate chips and mixed peel to the dough and mix in until just incorporated.
7. Grease the bottom of 5 clean 400g soup tins and add a circle of baking parchment.  Cut a strip of baking parchment that is just over double the height of the tin.  Fold in half and place inside the tin to form a collar.  Make sure the parchment sticks out over the top of the tin.
8. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead quickly into a ball (the dough is very sticky so this is quite tricky and messy, I recommend using a dough cutter to help).  Divide the ball into 5 pieces and put one in each of the tins.  Leave to rise for about 30 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
10. Beat the egg and brush over the tops of the panettones and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
11. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the panettones are a deep golden colour.  
12. Cool in the tins on a wire rack.  You should then be able to remove the parchment collar and decorate your tins with a bit of wrapping paper to present as a gift.