Checkerboard Kit Kat Cake / Kit Kat Barrel Cake

                      My elder daughter Safa turned 9 last week. This is what I prepared for her…

Ingredients:

For Cake:

4 cups all purpose flour
4 large eggs
227 gms unsalted butter, softened
85 gms semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2-2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp salt

For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar/ confectioner’s sugar, sifted
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla essence
3-4 tbsp milk

Kit Kat’s
M&M’s / smarties /gems

Preparation:


For Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius. Grease or spray a set of three 9 inch checkerboard cake pans and line with parchment paper and keep it aside.
2. Add the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt it by placing over a saucepan of simmering water. Keep it aside.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1/3 cup milk and vanilla essence and keep it aside.
4. In another large bowl or in the bowl of electric mixer, add the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and beat to combine.
5. Add the butter and remaining 1 cup milk and beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Then increase the speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes.
6. Gradually add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat to incorporate the ingredients.
7. Divide the batter in two separate bowls and in one of the bowls have a little more than half the batter.
8. Stir the melted chocolate into the bowl of smaller amount of batter until it is thoroughly combined.

For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1. In a mixing bowl, add the butter and beat with a electric mixer till it is soft.
2. Add the half icing sugar and cocoa powder and beat well till fluffy.
3. Add in the vanilla essence and milk and beat well. Then add the remaining icing sugar and beat well till fluffy and creamy.

1. Place one layer of cake ( the one with yellow layer as outer ring) on a serving plate or cake stand and spread with a thin layer of frosting.
2. Then place the second cake ( the layer with chocolate as outer ring) on top of the first and spread with another thin layer of frosting.
3. Top with the last cake ( the same pattern like first cake, one with yellow outer layer) and cover top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting using a spatula.
4. Stick the kit kat’s around the cake and secure it by tying a ribbon/ bow around the cake.
5. Fill the top of the cake with M&M’s / smarties… Leave it in the refrigerator for about 2-3 hours, then cut it into slices and serve…