By now, it is a well-known fact that I believe ice cream cakes should be enjoyed all year long, and not just during summer. And if it's a chocolate ice cream cake, even better.
I have had this chessboard cake idea for a while, and it is finally seeing the light of day. Sixty-four alternating pieces of chocolate and brown sugar and vanilla cakes, and vanilla and chocolate espresso ice cream fillings. A marvellous, show-stopping cake fit for any celebration.
My tips for success.
Take your time with both the cake layers and the fillings. This is one of those cakes that does require presence and effort, especially with the assembly. It relies on exact dimensions of each of the strips, so take your time with those. Lining them up is not difficult, and although you have to work quickly, it is an absolutely fun part of the assembly.
Even if you are not super precise with the height of the filling or layers themselves, as long as all the layers are the same height and the fillings are the same height, it will work. However, if you feel the cake is getting a bit too tall for your comfort, you can absolutely use thin cake dowels to support it.
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake layers
100 grams plain flour
100 grams granulated sugar
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
30 millilitres vegetable oil
125 millilitres water
For the vanilla cake layers
100 grams plain flour
100 grams dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
30 millilitres vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
125 millilitres water
For the fillings
700 millilitres soy milk, cold
80 grams cornflour
20 grams plain flour
120 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
300 grams vegan block butter, room temperature; separated
30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant vegan cappuccino powder, or to taste
For the frosting
150 grams dark chocolate (70%)
200 millilitres vegan double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Preparation
On day one, make the fillings, as they need to be frozen solid before assembling. Pour the cold soy milk into a heavy-bottomed pot, add in the flour and the cornflour, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk very well, place the pot over medium-high heat, and let it slowly heat up. As soon as it starts to steam, start whisking.
Let it come to a gentle boil and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2-3 minutes, until it thickens. Remove from the heat and immediately add 50 grams of vegan block butter. Whisk until melted and incorporated or emulsify using an immersion blender. Cover the top with cling film or a piece of baking parchment, and let it cool down to room temperature.
Once the filling is at room temperature and ready, place the remaining softened vegan butter into a large bowl, and whip it with an electric mixer on high for about 5 minutes, making it light and fluffy. Separately whip the custard until it becomes smooth, and without stopping the beaters, add a tablespoon of the custard at a time to the whipped butter, blending them together until smooth and creamy.
Weigh and divide the filling into two parts. Add sifted unsweetened cocoa powder and instant espresso powder to one half and whip very well. Set two cake frames or suitable moulds to 12x24 cm and line them with either a thin strip of acetate or fitted baking parchment. Spread the fillings into the prepared frames, making it around 1.5 cm tall, reserving any excess filling into a separate bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a piece of baking parchment, and place in the freezer overnight. Cover any remaining filling with plastic and place it into the refrigerator.
The next day, make the cake layers. Let the oven preheat to 180°C and line two small square cake pans (12x12 cm) with baking parchment, bottom and sides.
For the chocolate layers, sift together the plain flour, cocoa powder, instant espresso, and baking soda. Add in the sugar and mix very well. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the water, oil, vanilla, and the vinegar, and whisk until just combined. Pour the batter into one of the the prepared pans.
For the vanilla layers, sift together the plain flour and baking soda, and add them to a medium bowl. Add in the sugar, and whisk it well. Finally, pour in the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla, and whisk everything together until just combined. Pour into the other prepared pan.
Bake the cakes immediately in a nicely preheated oven, at 180°C, for about 30-35 minutes. Check them with a toothpick, making sure they stay soft and fudgy, and not dry. Let them cool in the pans completely, then wrap them in plastic wrap or baking parchment, and place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes, up to an hour.
When everything is ready, proceed to assemble the cake.
Take the cake layers out of the freezer and level them to be exactly 3 cm tall, and then split them in half, getting two sheets that are 12x12x1.5 cm. The dimensions are important for stacking. Slice each sheet into 8 equal rectangles, each 1.5x12x1.5 cm.
Take the frozen fillings out of the freezer and cut each block in half, again working with two sheets of each filling, each of them being 12x12x1.5 cm. Slice each of them into 8 equal rectangles, just like the cake layers.
Working very quickly, start assembling the cake. Place one strip of chocolate cake, and one strip of vanilla cake next to it. Continue until you have 8 strips lined up. Take one strip of vanilla filling and place it on the chocolate cake strip. Alternating the fillings, continue lining up strips of fillings until you have 8 of them. Repeat this three more times, so you end up with four layers of cake in alternating colours, and four layers of filling, also in alternating colours, as shown on the photo. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and place it into the freezer for about an hour.
To make the frosting, melt together the chocolate, vanilla, and vegan double cream, and let it cool down slightly. To that, add any filling that was leftover from the previous day, and blend them well.
Once again working quickly, frost the entire cake, and return it to the freezer in a sealed container so it stays fresh. Serve the cake as desired, preferably in thin slices, with strong espresso. Yields 12 rich servings.
