Checkerboard cake for Palaharam that turned 1 !

It seems ages since I have blogged or been on the blogger, blog hopping. I had been missing it so badly and so wished to get back to it, as soon as I can. And yes, Palaharam turned one(a month back) and I still can't digest the fact that my blog survived one whole year :). I know its a bit too late for celebration of my blog anniversary, but better late than never, right? It had been a wonderful journey all throughout. I just can't thank enough the supporters of Palaharam and all the wonderful bloggers out there who eventually turned out to be my friends, for all the support and encouragement that you have been pouring over. Its needless to say that without you guys, my blog would not have survived.

Has it ever happened to you that you had taken a leave from the daily routine and when you are back to normal, the so called laziness hits you delaying the process of return to the normal life. Well, I had been hit by it badly. Every once in a while when I got to FB, there would be a message from my blogger friends, some enquiring where I had disappeared or some rechecking on my health. While I was sick, each message made me feel I was getting better and after I got well, these messages made me give up my laziness to come back quickly :). I just feel so lucky to have gained so many amazing friends through blogosphere.

This cake is for Palaharam and all the supporters of Palaharam :).

Ingredients

For Vanilla sponge cake

Bowl 1:

1. 3 large eggs 
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1tsp of vanilla extract

Bowl 2 :

1. 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2. 1 tbsp of cornstarch

For Chocolate sponge cake

Bowl 3:

1. 3 large eggs 
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1tsp of vanilla extract

Bowl 4 :

1. 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2. 1 tbsp of cocoa powder
3. 1 tbsp of cornstarch

Method


Making of the sponge cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 F /180 C.
• Grease two round cake pans.
• Sift the ingredients in Bowl 2 and Bowl 4 separately and keep it aside. 
• Beat the ingredients in Bowl 1 on high for about 10-12 minutes. This step is really important as we are not using baking powder/baking soda in it. Beat the mixture till it gets airy and would triple in volume. This is going to help the cake to remain soft and spongy. Do the same for the ingredients in Bowl 3. 
• Now fold in the ingredients in Bowl 2 to Bowl 1 with a spatula very gently. The mixture may deflate a little while you mix but do not over-mix it. The mixture should be still airy so that the cake rises. Pour the mixture to one of the greased cake pans.
• Similarly fold in the ingredients in Bowl 4 to Bowl 3 and pour it in the greased baking pan.
• Bake the cakes in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or untill a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove them from the pans and let it cool completely before you assemble them into a checker board cake and decorate it with a frosting of your choice. I used Cream Cheese Frosting for this cake.

Assembly of the cake

• Once the cakes cool down, cut each cake into concentric circles as given in the picture, using cookie cutters or bowls of required diameter.

• Now interchange the middle rings of both the cakes. While doing so, make sure you spread some of the frosting in between the rings, so that they stick together.

• Keep one of the cake on the cake stand and spread some frosting on top of it. Now place the second cake on top of it. Spread the frosting all over the cake evenly and decorate it as you wish.

Tips

1. Beating the egg and the sugar mixture untill they get airy is the key to get a really spongy cake. So do make sure you beat it really well.
2. I restricted the number of layers to two. But you could make a 3 or 4 layer cake by doubling the ingredients.

Recipe courtesy : Ria's Collection