Introduction: How-to Checkerboard Cake Decorating

By
About: Hi, I'm Lizzy Bennet! Not the one from Longbourn, but a Fitzwilliam Darcy fan nonetheless. I am a teacher and a vinedresser by profession, and enjoy reading and cooking in my spare time.

I have been decorating cakes for mine and my siblings' birthdays for the past 5 years. Last year, my Grandpa gave me these checkerboard cake pans, and I have enjoyed using them. It seems a little tedious while you're at it, but the cake turns out really cool!

Supplies

Ingredients:

(Cake:)

  • 2 Cake Mixes (2 different colors - I used pink and yellow)
  • Ingredients listed on the cake mix (butter or vegetable oil, water, and eggs)

(Frosting:)

  • Butter
  • Shortening
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Vanilla
  • Milk
  • Food coloring

(Other:)

  • Ice cream cone
  • Sprinkles
  • White Chocolate Chips (optional)

Tools:

  • Measuring cups
  • Spatulas
  • Mixing bowls
  • Checkerboard cake pans
  • Cooling racks
  • Mixer
  • Cake board
  • Icing spreader

Step 1: Make the Cake

Mix up each cake according to the directions on the box.

Step 2: Grease and Flour Pans, and Fill With Batter

Grease and flour all three cake pans. Insert the divider into one of the prepared pans (hold down center, and press gently on each of the legs until they click). Fill as shown (yellow, pink, yellow). Carefully remove, wash, and dry insert. Now place the insert in the next pan and fill again, but the opposite of cake 1 (pink, yellow, pink). -See pictures. Remove, wash, and dry insert, and place in the last pan. Fill this pan the same as the first.

Step 3: Bake, Cool and Freeze the Cake

Bake the cakes according to the directions on the box (I baked mine for about 30 minutes). Then place cakes on cooling racks. When cool, remove cakes onto plates, and freeze for a few hours before decorating.

Step 4: Make and Color Frosting

Cube 2 sticks of butter, and place in the mixer with 1 cup of shortening. Mix until smooth. Add about 2-4 cups of powdered sugar, and mix on low until smooth. If too thick, add a splash of milk. For extra flavor, you could add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix again. Now put about a half cup of icing into a little bowl, add a drop or two of pink food coloring, and mix it in evenly.

Step 5: Preparing to Decorate the Cake

Take your cakes out of the freezer now, and place them one on top of the next (in order) in the middle of your cake board.

Step 6: Decorating the Cake

Use the icing spreader to ice the cake white (the easiest way to accomplish this is to put a lot of icing on top of the cake and pull it down the sides). Now make a little mountain of pink on top of the cake, and stick the cone on upside down. Then spread pink in front of it and down the side (you could make some of it look more 'melty' by adding a little milk). You can now add sprinkles and white chocolate if you wish.

Step 7: Cutting the Cake