Ultimate Recipe Swap: Birthday Cake Round-Up

I am going to make an admission: I usually buy my son's birthday cake at the bakery. I am not a cake decorator. I can bake a delicious cake but I cannot turn it into a 3 dimensional masterpiece! This year Connor asked me to make his birthday cake. I explained to him my limitations and he said all he wanted was a checkerboard cake. That I can do! I am also going to make cupcakes for his party and we will decorate them with Cars candy and sprinkles.

I am adding a link to this post at the Ultimate Recipe Swap Birthday Cake Round-Up in the hopes of inspiring others that are cake challenged.

Connor's 6th Birthday

Checkerboard Cake

Making a checkerboard cake is simple and it is guaranteed that you will get lots of oohs and aahs when you cut the cake! You will need to purchase a special cake pan. These are available at Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, Michaels, Amazon.com and probably other stores and websites. My pan came with detailed instructions.

(Can you tell by the box that I've had this set for some time??)

First you need to make your cake batter. I usually use boxed cake mix that I have purchased on sale. You can also make it from scratch. Any flavor will work. Connor requested chocolate and vanilla for his birthday cake. Do not use cake mix with pudding in the mix. Your cake will be too soft and will fall apart. This is one of those tips I learned the hard way!

Next fill your cake pans according to the directions that come with the checkerboard cake set.

Bake the cakes according to box or recipe directions. Stack the 3 layers in the order above (left to right) spreading frosting in between each layer. Once all the layers are stacked spread frosting over the rest of the cake and then decorate.