Checkerboard Cake

You Won't Believe How Easy It Is To Make A Picture Perfect Checkerboard Cake. Seriously. You've got this.

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INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 eggs

6 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cup milk

Food coloring

Buttercream:

2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups confectioner's sugar

Round candies

METHOD:

Bake the cakes: Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and eggs and beat until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add this to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk.
Divide the mixture into 4 non-stick cake pans and dye them 4 colors.
Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, or until fully cooked.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Place the cakes in the freezer until firm (this will make them much easier to slice!).

Make the buttercream: Cream the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time, then beat for 3-5 minutes, until fluffy.

Assembly: Flatten the cakes and remove the brown sides and bottom.
Slice each cake into 4 rings.
Swap out the rings between each cake, so that each layer of cake contains one ring of each color.
Stack the layers on a cake stand, spreading some buttercream in between each layer.
Coat the entire cake in a layer of buttercream and decorate the base of the cake with candies.
Slice to reveal the checkerboard pattern inside!