Chocolate Covered Checkerboard Cake

Chef: Momo Akanegakubo
In the anime: Episode 46
Cuisine and type: Western, Sponge Cake

Chocolate Covered Checkerboard Cake is a dish made by Momo Akanegakubo in her shokugeki against Chocolate RS during the Survivors' purge.

A chocolate cake covered in ganache and stylized with a chocolate rose. Each slice of cake has the appearance of a checkerboard on its cross-section, hence the name. The elaborate preparation of this dessert easily defeated the head of the Chocolate RS.

Real-world dishes

Real facts

Chocolate (/ˈtʃɒklɪt, -kəlɪt, -lət, ˈtʃɔːk-/ ( listen)) is a typically sweet, usually brown food preparation of Theobroma cacao seeds, roasted and ground. It is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, or used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods. Cacao has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Olmecs (Mexico), with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BCE. The majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs.
Cake is a form of sweet dessert that is typically baked. In its oldest forms, cakes were modifications of breads, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, and that share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
Sponge cake is a cake based on flour (usually wheat flour), sugar, butter and eggs, and is sometimes leavened with baking powder. It has a firm-yet-well-aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. In the United Kingdom a sponge cake is produced using the batter method, while in the US, cakes made using the batter method are known as butter or pound cakes. Two common British batter-method sponge cakes are the layered Victoria sponge cake and Madeira cake. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 enabled the sponge to rise higher than cakes made previously.

Dish details from the Shokugeki no Sōma Wiki (CC BY-SA).

Recipe

Wiki recipe, completed by Totsuki AI

Chocolate-Covered Checkerboard Cake

Vanilla and chocolate sponge rings reassembled into a checkerboard, coated in ganache and topped with a modelling-chocolate rose

Difficulty
Total time: 4 h
Hands-on: 1 h 30 min
Cost: ¥¥¥¥
Servings: 10

Equipment2 × 18 cm cake tins, oven, hand mixer, saucepan, round cutters, palette knife

Tastesweet, rich

Ingredients

+ added by Totsuki AI. ≈ amount estimated by Totsuki AI.

Sponge (make twice — once plain, once chocolate)

4 eggs, separated, per sponge (amount estimated)
100 g sugar, per sponge (added by Totsuki AI)
90 g flour, per sponge (added by Totsuki AI)
20 g cocoa, chocolate sponge only (reduce flour to 70 g) (added by Totsuki AI)
30 g butter, melted, per sponge (added by Totsuki AI)

Ganache

250 g chocolate, dark, chopped (amount estimated)
250 ml cream, heavy (amount estimated)
2 tbsp jam, apricot, to glue the rings (added by Totsuki AI)

Chocolate rose

100 g modelling chocolate, or 80 g chocolate + 2 tbsp corn syrup kneaded together (amount estimated)

Method

+ step written by Totsuki AI.

1
Heat the oven to 170 °C. For each sponge, whisk the yolks with half the sugar until pale; whisk the whites to stiff peaks with the rest. Fold together, then fold in the flour (and cocoa) and melted butter. Bake in lined 18 cm tins for 25–30 minutes. Cool.+
2
Level both cakes and split each into 2 layers. Using cutters, cut each layer into 3 concentric rings.+
3
Reassemble each layer alternating colours (dark ring, light ring, dark centre and the reverse), brushing jam between rings.+
4
Stack the layers so the colours alternate, which creates the checkerboard when sliced. Chill for 30 minutes.+
5
Bring the cream to a simmer, pour over the chocolate, wait 2 minutes and stir until glossy. Pour over the cake and smooth the sides.+
6
Roll the modelling chocolate thin, shape petals and build a rose on top. Chill until set before slicing.+