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 cookies. It is not difficult to prepare, there are a couple of steps in which you just need to have a little calm and just a little patience (especially for the chocolate edge, which in periods with high temperatures, making the chocolate solidify is not very simple, but of course you can always help yourself with the refrigerator). Fun and scenographic, the checkered cake lends itself to being the dessert for special occasions: an event, a birthday or an anniversary, in any case, success is guaranteed and will certainly intrigue your guests!
Time of realization: 3 hours + rest
Degree of difficulty (1 to 5): 3
Die 26 cm closer
Ingredients
For the base
150 g of 00 flour
50 g of cocoa powder
200 g of sugar
4 medium eggs
50 ml of boiling water
50 ml of seed oil
vanilla flavor
1 pinch of salt
6 g of yeast
For the cream
250 g of mascarpone
50 g philadelphia (if you want to omit, make 300 g of mascarpone)
500 ml of fresh cream
100 ml of milk
10 g of gelatine sheets
150 ml of plain yogurt
70 g of white chocolate
100 g of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate
unsweetened cocoa powder to taste
70 g of dark chocolate
Procedure for making the Chessboard Cake
For the base
Preparing the checkered cake is long but not complicated. Start by lining the bottom of the pan (diameter 26 cm hinged) with baking paper then grease 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 on two separate plates. Beat the egg whites until stiff 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 you get a light and thick mixture. Incorporate the egg whites, mixing from the top down and then gradually the mixed powders. At the end add the oil pouring it on the sides of the plate. Pour the mixture into the pan and using a spoon push the dough towards the sides to prevent it from swelling too much in the center. Bake in a preheated 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 hinge circle from the pan and then the paper from the sides and bottom.
Cut the top of the cake (cap) leaving a base of about 3 cm in height. From the base you will need to make a 1 cm disc and another 2 cm. Then prepare the various circles to compose the cake. Cut a 24 cm diameter cardboard disc. With a compass, make many circles, all 2 cm apart. They will be needed later. Or, if you don't have a compass, cut the cardboard by 2 cm each time, but first make the various circles. Place the cardboard disc on top of the 2 cm high base and turning around the circle make a 2 cm thick circle of dough. Put this first circle of pasta in a dish that we will call 2.
Remove 2 cm of width from the cardboard circle and cut another 2 cm disc of dough and put it in plate 1. Cut the third disc, always reducing the diameter of the circle by 2 cm and put it in the plate 2. The fourth piece will go into the plate 1. The fifth in plate 2 and the rod in plate 1. Put aside and prepare the cream
For the cream
Put the gelatin in a small bowl and pour some cold milk over it then let it soften for a few minutes. Put the white chocolate into pieces and a little cream in a bowl and melt well in a double boiler or in the microwave.
Put the mascarpone, cheese and yogurt in a bowl. Add the vanilla flavor and soften with a 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 cook until stiff peaks. In the hot chocolate add the gelatin and let it melt well. Let it cool down. Pass the chocolate and gelatin with a sieve over the mascarpone and mix well with whips. Mix the whipped cream with the jelly and mascarpone mixture with a whisk. To prevent the cream from falling apart, make movements from top to bottom. The cream is ready.
Assembly
Place the 1 cm disc directly on the serving dish. Now take the snap ring circle and place it around the 1 cm base. Line the walls of the circle with baking paper or with acetate sheets and use the part of the dough that was not used (cap), to cover any gaps between the circle 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 from plate 1 on top of 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 dough.
Over the strips of cream put the black strips of pasta from plate 2 and fill the gaps with the cream from the pastry bag. 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 resting time, remove the opening circle and the acetate strips from the sides of the cake. In the meantime, temper the dark chocolate and spread it on a strip of acetate or parchment paper that has the same height as the cake, as soon as it becomes opaque place it carefully around the cake. Let it rest in the fridge and then peel off the sheet.
Using 2 cm wide strips of paper, decorate the cake with cocoa. Cover the cake with the strips then remove them, alternating between empty and strips. Also cover perpendicular and then leave a strip and remove the next one. Sprinkle with cocoa. Gently remove the paper strips. Put other clean strips covering the cocoa squares. Do the same thing in a perpendicular direction sprinkled with cocoa. Always remove the strips carefully.
The recipe was made by Manuela Montalbano.
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