CHECKERBOARD CAKE½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar, divided
1/3 cup water
3 cups cake flour (or measure one cup of all-purpose flour, minus 2 tablespoons for each cup of cake flour)
1¼ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
2 egg whites
1 large egg
1½ cups plain yogurt
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour three 9-inch round baking pans. Whisk cocoa, ½ cup sugar and water; set aside. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat remaining sugar and butter until fluffy; add egg whites and egg. Beat in yogurt and flour mixture. Divide batter in half. Fold cocoa mixture into half of the batter. Spoon chocolate batter into a heavy plastic bag; cut hole at bottom corner. Pipe some chocolate batter in a ring around edges of two of the prepared pans. Fill another plastic bag with white batter. Pipe batter next to chocolate; finish with chocolate in the center; like so:
Pipe white batter around edge of remaining pan. Alternate piping the chocolate batter with the white until reaching center of pan; like so:
Bake about 25 minutes (I think I baked mine too long). Transfer pans to wire racks and cool slightly. Turn cakes onto racks; cool completely. *Here's where I change it. I did what I do every time I bake a cake. I let the cakes stand in their pans and cool slightly on the rack, then when I turn it out I turn it out onto some prepared plastic wrap and wrap up the cakes. Then, they go directly in the freezer to freeze. This makes for nicely moistened cakes, and very few crumbs when frosting.* Place a chocolate-edge layer on a serving plate; spread with vanilla frosting. Top with the white-edged cake layer. Spread with vanilla frosting; top with third cake layer. Spread top and sides of cake with vanilla frosting.
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