Chessboard Cake

by Joy
(Manassas, VA)


I LOVE the game of chess! I've been playing since I was a kid, and I wondered whether or not if I could make a cake that looks like a chessboard. The first one I made was just "okay," since it was my rough draft. The second time I made it, I entered it into a cake competition. It didn't win, but I got lots of positive feedback from it! You can check it out for yourselves! The cake was a bit of a challenge because of the all the measuring you have to do to ensure you have exactly eight squares on each row.

The dark chocolate and white chocolate chess pieces take hours to make because you have to let each piece chill and set in the freezer. Since the mold used to make the chess pieces only makes half a piece, you will need to repeat the process twice for the King and Queen; four times for the Rook, Bishop and Knight; and then eight times for the Pawns. And this is only for ONE color! Whew! We haven't gotten to the opponent/second player's pieces yet.
Yes, this cake is quite a work out. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun to make!

Lorelie's Response - Wow Joy that is a beautiful cake. Thanks for adding it to the all occasion cakes at Wedding Cakes For You. Can you tell us more about the molds? Where did you purchase them? Was it difficult to get the chocolate pieces out of the molds and attach the two sides? Any tips you can give would be helpful. Oh and please tell us what flavors cakes you used and did you make your own fondant? Thanks again. Hope to hear more about your chessboard cake.

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Apr 12, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Chess Pieces
by: Joy

Hi Lorelie,

Thank you! To answer your questions, no, the chess pieces were not difficult to remove from the mold. They pretty much pop right out. The mold for the chess pieces were purchased on Amazon. If you're going to try this, I would suggest purchasing more than one mold because you have to fill the mold with melted chocolate (I use Wilton Candy Melts) sit it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes, then remove them. You will need to make 16 pawns (32 halves) and with one mold, which makes two half pawns (one whole) at a time, at 10-15 minutes each; well, let's just say it's very time consuming.

To cut down on that time, buy several molds. They're not expensive. The most you'll pay for them is about $3 each.
Yes, I make my own fondant. (marshmallow) The cake is chocolate, with marshmallow fondant white squares, and marshmallow fondant pearls along side of the board. This was the second time I made this cake. The first time I made it, people actually PLAYED chess on the cake! :-)
Apr 12, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Great Cake
by: Anonymous

What a great looking cake.. I am sure to do something like this took a lot of patience.
Apr 12, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		One More Thing....
by: Joy

Thank you! Yes....this cake took me the entire day to complete!
Also...to make the halves whole, simply pipe frosting (preferably the same color as the chess piece) on the outer edge to adhere the two pieces together!
Apr 15, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Chessboard Cake
by: Carmen Danzy

Joy,I"m very proud of you I knew you would be an excellent Chef. You displayed your talents at a very young age baking cakes and pies all the time. I'm proud to be your Auntie keep up the good work love always.

Carmen
Apr 16, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks Auntie!
by: Joy

Thanks Auntie! :-)
Apr 17, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Debi
by: Anonymous

wow I love this cake !!! very unique! how long did it take you?
Apr 17, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Hi Debi
by: Joy

It took pretty much the entire day. :-) It's the chess pieces that take the longest. I only had one mold, and that mold only makes HALF of each chess piece. You fill the mold with melted chocolate and let it chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Then you have to repeat the process until you have 32 whole chess pieces, which is 64 halfs. Pawns take the longest because you need a total of 16 whole(32 halfs)while you only need either 1 or 2 of the other pieces. (whole) So, it's pretty time consuming! :-)

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