How to Make a Checkered Cake

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: August 10, 2020

Checkered cakes are perfect for a special occasion, or someone who can't decide on one flavor of cake! While checkered cakes look complicated, there are actually several simple ways to bake them. It's true that you can buy specialized checkered cake tins, but you can still make them even without specialized equipment. Either pipe the rows of batter to create checks or bake the different layers and assemble them to create checks.

Ingredients

Cooking spray for preparing pans
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
3 large eggs
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
Chocolate frosting

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making a Checkered Cake by Piping Rows

1
Preheat the oven and prepare your pans. Turn on the oven to 350 °F (177 °C). Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Set them aside while you make the cake batter.^{[1]
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2
Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.^{[2]
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3
Stir together the liquids. In a small bowl, stir together the 3/4 cup of milk (save the tablespoon for later) and the vanilla extract. Set this aside.^{[3]
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4
Beat the sugar and butter. Put the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer (or you can use a hand mixer). Beat them slowly till they're combined. Then turn up the speed to high and beat the mixture until it's light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.^{[4]
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5
Add the eggs. Turn the speed down and add one egg to your butter-sugar mixture. Mix it well until the egg is completely combined. Continue to do this with the rest of the eggs, adding them one at a time.^{[5]
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6
Stir in the flour and milk mixtures. Add half of the dry flour mixture to your mixing bowl. Stir it together on low speed. Pour in the milk mixture and slowly stir until it's combined. Then add the rest of the flour mixture and stir until it's combined.^{[6]
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- Occasionally scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. This will make sure there are no pockets of flour or unmixed batter.^{[7]
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7
Create separate batters. Pour half of the cake batter into a medium mixing bowl. Pour the melted chocolates and remaining 1 tablespoon of milk into the batter that's left in your mixing bowl and stir well.^{[8]
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8
Pipe the batter into the baking pans. Take 2 large decorating bags with a half-inch opening or freezer bags with snipped corners. Fill one of your bags with the vanilla batter and the other bag with your chocolate batter. Pipe a 1 1/2 inch band around the bottom of one cake pan using chocolate batter. Then pipe a 1 1/2 inch band of vanilla batter next to the chocolate. Alternate chocolate and vanilla circles until you reach the center of the pan. Do this for 2 of the prepared pans.^{[9]
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- For the third cake pan, be sure to start with your vanilla batter on the outermost ring. This will ensure a checkered pattern when you assemble all three layers.
9
Bake the cakes. Place 2 of the cake pans on a middle rack in the oven and the third cake pan on the lower rack. The lower cake should be in between the two cakes above it. Don't place it directly below one of the cakes, or they'll bake unevenly. Bake for 20 minutes.^{[10]
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10
Test the cakes and let them cool. Insert a cake tester or toothpick into the centers of the cakes. The tester should come out mostly clean. Place the cakes on a wire rack and let them cool for 10 minutes. Then, remove them from the pans and let them cool completely on wire racks.^{[11]
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11
Assemble the cake. Take one of your layers that has matching layer (it should have chocolate on the outermost ring) and place it on your cake stand. Spread 1/2 cup of your frosting over the top. Place the mismatching layer (with vanilla on the outermost ring) on top and spread another 1/2 cup of frosting evenly over top. Top with the other layer that matches your bottom cake (chocolate on the outermost ring).^{[12]
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- Use the rest of your frosting to completely cover the sides and top of the cake. When you slice into the cake, you should see three alternating checkered layers.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making a Checkered Cake by Baking and Assembling

1
Preheat the oven and prepare your pans. Turn on the oven to 320 degrees F. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Set them aside while you make the cake batter.^{[13]
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2
Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.^{[14]
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3
Stir together the liquids. In a small bowl, stir together the 3/4 cup of milk (save the tablespoon for later) and the vanilla extract. Set this aside.^{[15]
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4
Beat the sugar and butter. Put the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer (or you can use a hand mixer). Beat them slowly till they're combined. Then turn up the speed to high and beat the mixture until it's light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.^{[16]
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5
Add the eggs. Turn the speed down and add one egg to your butter-sugar mixture. Mix it well until the egg is completely combined. Continue to do this with the rest of the eggs, adding them one at a time.^{[17]
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6
Stir in the flour and milk mixtures. Add half of the dry flour mixture to your mixing bowl. Stir it together on low speed. Pour in the milk mixture and slowly stir until it's combined. Then add the rest of the flour mixture and stir until it's combined.^{[18]
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- Occasionally scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. This will make sure there are no pockets of flour or unmixed batter.
7
Create separate batters. Pour two-thirds of the cake batter into a medium mixing bowl. Pour the melted chocolates and remaining 1 tablespoon of milk into the batter that's left in your mixing bowl and stir well.^{[19]
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8
Spread the batters in the pans. Pour the chocolate batter into one of your prepared cake pans and smooth the top with a knife. Divide your vanilla cake batter between your two remaining cake pans. Smooth the tops with a knife.
9
Bake the cakes. Place 2 of the cake pans on a middle rack in the oven and the third cake pan on the lower rack. The lower cake should be in between the two cakes above it. Don't place it directly below one of the cakes, or they'll bake unevenly. Bake for 20 minutes.^{[20]
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10
Test the cakes and let them cool. Insert a cake tester or toothpick into the centers of the cakes. The tester should come out mostly clean. Place the cakes on a wire rack and let them cool for 10 minutes. Then, remove them from the pans and let them cool completely on wire racks.^{[21]
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11
Create a circular template. Cut out a circle that's 6 inches across. Then cut a hole in the center of the circle 3 inches across.
12
Cut out the rings of cake. Place your circular template directly on the center of one of your cake layers. Secure it by poking toothpicks through the template and into the cake. Use a knife and carefully cut around the template. You should end up with one outer ring, one middle ring, and one center ring. Repeat this for the other two layers of cake.
- Use caution when cutting the rings of cake with the knife.
13
Assemble your bottom layer. You should have 9 rings of cake with 3 of them being chocolate flavored. Start by placing a large outer ring of vanilla cake on your cake stand. Smear some frosting on the inside of the ring and set the middle ring of chocolate cake into the frosted ring. Smear the inside of the chocolate middle ring with frosting and place a center ring of vanilla cake. Spread 1/2 cup of frosting over the top of the layer.
14
Assemble the middle layer. Place a large outer ring of chocolate cake on top of your bottom layer. Smear some frosting on the inside of the ring and set the middle ring of vanilla cake into the frosted ring. Smear the inside of the vanilla middle ring with frosting and place a center ring of chocolate cake. Spread 1/2 cup of frosting over the top of the layer.
15
Assemble the top layer. Place the remaining large outer ring of vanilla cake on top of your middle layer. Smear some frosting on the inside of the ring and set the middle ring of chocolate cake into the frosted ring. Smear the inside of the chocolate middle ring with frosting and place a center ring of vanilla cake.
- Use the rest of your frosting to completely cover the sides and top of the cake. When you slice into the cake, you should see three alternating checkered layers.