Today we offer you a beautiful cake with a particular internal structure in the shape of a chessboard, inspired by one of the oldest and most fascinating games and with a very original decoration. It consists of a chocolate base and a delicate cream with the aroma of Oreo biscuits. It is not difficult to prepare, there are a couple of steps in which you just need to be calm and just have a little patience (especially for the chocolate border, which in times of high temperatures, making the chocolate solidify is not very simple, but of course you can always help yourself with the fridge). Fun and scenic, the checkered cake lends itself to being the cake of the big occasions: an event, a birthday or an anniversary, in any case success is assured and will surely intrigue your guests!
Production time: 3 hours + rest
Degree of difficulty (from 1 to 5): 3
Mold or 26 cm
Ingredients
For the basis
150 g of 00 flour
50 g of cocoa powder
200g of sugar
4 medium eggs
50ml of boiling water
50 ml of seed oil
vanilla flavour
1 pinch of salt
6 g of yeast
For the cream
250 g of mascarpone
50 g philadelphia (if you want to omit 300 g of mascarpone)
500 ml of fresh cream
100 ml of milk
10 g of gelatin in sheets
150ml of plain yoghurt
70 g of white chocolate
100g of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate
powdered cocoa powder to taste
70 g of dark chocolate
Procedures for making the cake
For the basis
Preparing the chess cake is long but not complicated. Start by lining the bottom of the cake pan (hinges diameter 26 cm) with baking paper, then butter the sides well and line them with baking paper. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and mix well.
Separate the yolks from the whites and place them in two separate plates. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and 1/3 of the sugar. Beat the egg yolks and then add the boiling water, then add the sugar until the mixture is clear and thick. Incorporate the egg whites, stirring from one side to the other and then gradually mix the powders. At the end add the oil pouring it to the sides of the plate. Pour the mixture into the pan and use a spoon to push the dough towards the sides to prevent it from swelling too much in the center. Bake in a hot oven at 175°C for 35/40 minutes. When the base is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Then remove the circle of the cake hinge and then the paper from the sides and from the bottom.
Cut the top of the cake (shell) leaving a base about 3 cm high. From the base you will have to make a disk of 1 cm and another of 2 cm. Then prepare the various circles to compose the cake. Cut a cardboard disk 24 cm in diameter. With a compass you make so many circles spaced 2 cm apart from each other. They will then serve. Or, if you don't have a compass, cut the cardboard 2 cm from time to time, but first make the various circles. Put the cardboard disk on top of the base 2 cm high and turning around the circle make a circle of dough 2 cm thick. Put this first circle of pasta in a dish we will call 2.
We remove 2 cm of width from the circle of cardboard and cut another disk of dough by 2 cm and put it on the plate 1. We cut the third disk always reducing the diameter of the circle by 2 cm and put it in the plate 2 . The fourth piece will go into the dish 1. The fifth in the plate 2 and the rod in the plate 1. Let's put aside and prepare the cream
For the cream
We put the gelatine in a small bowl and pour cold milk over it then let it soften for a few minutes. Put the white chocolate in pieces and a little cream in a bowl and melt well in a bain-marie or in the microwave oven.
Put the mascarpone cheese and yoghurt in a bowl. Add the vanilla aroma and soften with the whisk. Add half the sugar and beat again. Whip the cream in a very cold bowl and then add the remaining sugar to the cream and let it stand still. In the hot chocolate add the gelatine and let it dissolve well. Let it cool down. Spread the chocolate and gelatin with the colander on the mascarpone and mix well with the whisk. Mix the whipped cream with the gelatine and mascarpone mixture with a whisk. To prevent the cream from melting, move from the top down. The cream is ready.
assembly
Place the disc 1cm directly on the serving plate. Now take the circle with an openable ring and position it around the 1 cm base. Line the walls of the circle with baking paper or acetate sheets and use the part of the dough left unused (cap), to cover any gaps between the rim and the dough. On the base add a layer of cream, three tablespoons will be enough and then spread well with a spoon. Place the rings of plate 1 over the base, those without the central dot. Take a pastry bag and put the cream in it and then fill in the gaps left by the circles of black pasta.
Put the black pasta strips on the plate 2 over the cream strips and fill the gaps with the custard bag cream. Finish the cake with the remaining cream and shake well to have a smooth surface. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 6 hours or over 12 hours. After the rest time, remove the opening circle and the acetate strips from the sides of the cake. Meanwhile, temper the dark chocolate and spread it on a strip of acetate or parchment paper that is the same height as the cake, as soon as it becomes opaque, carefully lay it around the cake. Let it rest in the fridge and then remove the sheet.
Using strips of paper 2 cm wide decorate the cake with cocoa. Cover the cake with the strips then remove it by alternating vacuum to strip. Cover also in perpendicular and then leave a strip and remove the next one. Sprinkle with cocoa. Gently remove the paper strips. Put more clean strips covering the cocoa squares. Do the same thing in the perpendicular direction dusted with cocoa. Always remove the strips carefully.
The recipe was made by Manuela Montalbano.