I love a ‘hidden surprise’ cake and this one, when cut open reveals a chocolate and almond flavoured chequerboard effect, which looks really impressive and tastes great. It’s easier to make than it looks too.

Ingredients

• 350g unsalted butter
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 350g self raising flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 4 tbsp milk
• 50g cocoa powder

White chocolate ganache:

• 120g white chocolate, finely chopped
• 100ml creme fraiche
• 25g unsalted butter

Dark chocolate ganache:

• 200g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 200ml whipping cream
• 75g unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 180c/fan160c/gas4. Butter and line 3 20cm cake tins. Fit two piping bags with 1.5cm nozzles.
2. For the almond cake, cream 175g butter and 75g sugar until light and fluffy. Add 3 eggs, the almond extract, 1 tsp vanilla extract and fold in 175g flour and the ground almonds. Fold in 2tbsp milk, or enough so that the mix reaches dropping consistency. Scoop into a piping bag.
3. Repeat the process for the chocolate mixture, replacing the ground almonds and almond extract with cocoa powder. Scoop into a piping bag.
4. Starting at the outer edge of one of the cake tins, pipe a ring of chocolate mixture, then inside that, pipe a ring of the almond mixture. Repeat until the tin is full. Do the same thing for the second cake tin.
5. For the third cake tin, start with the almond mixture around the outside and then chocolate, working your way into the centre.
6. Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean, ideally on the same oven shelf. Cool for 5 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the white chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate, butter and creme fraiche either in a bowl over a pan of boiling water or in the microwave in short bursts. Cool until it thickens and is spreadable. Use the same method to make the dark chocolate ganache.
8. Stack the cakes with white chocolate ganache between the layers, making sure that the cake with the almond outer ring is in the middle. Once the dark chocolate ganache is spreadable, ice the outside of the cake with it and decorate.