Cherry Blossom Checkerboard Cake
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Makes a tall 10cm/4 inch diameter cake
Preparation time:
Cooking time:
- 225g/8ozs. butter, softened
- 225g/8ozs. caster or superfine sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 225g/8ozs. self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Rose pink food colouring
- Cherry flavouring (Lorann oils)
For buttercream
- 225g/8ozs. butter, softened
- 110g/3.5ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 65ml/2.29ozs. room temperature water
- Rose pink food colouring
- Cherry flavouring (Lorann oils)
Step 1 - Grease and line 2 x 10cm/4inch round tins making sure that the parchment on the side goes up an inch above the rim. Preheat oven to 150C/300F.
Step 2 - Cream the butter and sugar on medium high speed for 3 minutes until pale. Add eggs one a time, beating well between additions. Gently fold in the flour.
Step 3 - Take two bowls and divide the batter between them (I weigh them to get them more precise, it helps if you use identical bowls so you can tare your scale). Mix vanilla in one and pink colour and cherry flavour in another. Do not overmix. Spoon the vanilla into one tin and the cherry into another. Bake for 1 hour. This batter is thick so if you insert a skewer it will not give you an indication that it is set or not (I learned this the hard way) so the best way to check if it is done is to press down in the centre to check that it is firm. It may need an extra 10 minutes.
Step 4 - Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a rack. Wrap and place in the fridge (this will help reduce the amount of crumbs). You can decorate them the next day (it's better to do this).
Step 5 - Make the buttercream by beating the butter for 3 minutes on a low setting (3 out of 8). Add the sugar and water in two lots and beat for about 7-10 minutes until it is smooth and you can't feel the sugar crystals between fingers. Add in the colour and flavour-be sparing with the pink unless of course you want a hot pink colour.
Step 6 - Slice off the tops of the cold cakes. Then slice each cake into three horizontally (the cakes should be quite high and high enough to slice into three). Take two round cookie cutters, one 6cm and 3cm and cut out holes in the centre of the cake. You should have 18 pieces (6 cakes cut into 3 discs).
Step 7 - Take a little buttercream and one of the large pink circles and spread inside and then insert the vanilla colour and then a pink centre using the buttercream to sandwich them together. Repeat alternating each layer. At the end you should have six cakes with alternating ring colours. Three have vanilla as the largest ring and three have pink cherry as the largest ring.
Step 8 - Spread some buttercream on a cake base or the serving plate. Place one of the cakes and spread on top with some buttercream. Place another cake on top making sure that the outside colour is different from the layer below. Take some buttercream and make a thin crumb coat of frosting on the outside. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 9 - Add a final buttercream coat. Then decorate with fresh cherry blossoms.