Checkerboard Cake

This is a mid-century icebox dessert at its most charming. Pieces of light, airy angel food cake get torn into egg-size chunks and layered into a tube pan, where a chocolate-gelatin mousse studded with whipped cream and almonds gets poured over and seeps into every gap. Eight hours in the fridge later, you have a cool, sliceable cake with a checkerboard pattern of pale cake against dark chocolate filling.

The technique is part custard, part icebox cake. Melt unsweetened chocolate with sugar in a double boiler, then bloom gelatin in cold water and stir it in for the structure that lets the mousse set firm enough to slice. Whisked egg yolks add richness and silkiness.

Folding (not stirring) is the move once the egg whites and whipped cream join. Each fold has to deflate the air mixture as little as possible, since that air is what gives the chocolate filling its mousse-like lightness.

The tube pan shape isn’t optional. The angel food cake holds its shape best in the same shape it was baked, and the central tube ensures the chocolate mixture reaches the center quickly when poured.

This cake must serve cold, straight from the fridge. The gelatin softens at room temperature and the cake collapses.

Note: contains raw egg yolks and whites. Use pasteurized eggs and skip if serving to vulnerable groups.

Pro Tips

• Use a store-bought angel food cake to save hours. Homemade works but the texture barely changes.
• Blanch and brown the almonds in a dry skillet until fragrant for deeper flavor.
• Run a thin knife around the edge and tube before dipping the pan in hot water to release cleanly.
• Frost with whipped cream just before serving so the cream stays freshly fluffy.

Variations

• Use a chocolate angel food cake instead of plain for a darker, all-chocolate version.
• Swap almonds for toasted hazelnuts or pecans.
• Add 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur or rum to the chocolate mixture for grown-up depth.