Cake That! Showstopper – Chess Cake with Chocolate Ganache Filling & Vanilla Meringue Frosting

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s light and fluffy.
3. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract and vegetable oil.
4. Sieve in the flour then using a hand mix (or if you’re lucky enough to own one, a kitchen aid.. I am being silently jealous of you now) combine until smooth.
5. Divide between two bowls. In one bowl sieve in the cocoa powder and add two of the tablespoons of milk. Then in the other bowl add the last two tablespoons of milk.
6. Spoon into two piping bags.
7. Pipe a ring of vanilla around a lined baking tin (I used 20inches), keeping to the edge. Then pipe a ring of chocolate in the inside of the vanilla ring. Continue with alternative rings. Then repeat in two more tins.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
9. While the cake is baking, make the meringue frosting because this needs time to cool.
10. Place the egg whites and sugar into a bowl over a pan (as if you were going to melt chocolate). Heat while continuously stirring.
11. Once it appears that the sugar has melted transfer into another bowl and mix on high speed for 5-10 minutes. The egg whites should start to form peaks.
12. On a medium to high speed add small pieces of butter followed by the vanilla. For a while it might look like it’s starting to split, but it does come back together and thicken to give you a smooth, shiny frosting.
13. Leave aside to cool for as long as possible. I ended up leaving it in the fridge over night so it was incredibly thick, but an hour or so should be okay.
14. Once the cakes are out the oven and cooling, make the ganache by heating the cream until it’s just about boiling, then pouring it over the chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Leave this to cool as well as this will thicken it up and prevent it from running all over the cake.
15. When everything is sufficiently cooled, assemble and frost.

For decoration I used gold chocolate balls, but you could also shave chocolate on the top. I just had no chocolate left! I really hope this cake has demonstrated my skills as a baker, and despite it’s very simple appearance the inside is showstopper worthy!