checkerboard baby shower cake

The day before Spiderman was due, I had to make a baby shower cake for the same person, an old colleague. She didn't know the sex of the baby so I used both blue and pink, and (pink & blue) velvet cake was the request.

I wanted to try an ombre frosting technique for awhile so this seemed perfect. There are so many cool ways to make ombre frosting these days so I want to experiment more when I can.

If you read this blog you know I love cake surprises inside. So alternating layers of velvet wasn't good enough for me. I wanted checkerboard. I learned a lot from my American flag cake last year so I applied it here. Find 2 circles that are even in size in relation to the cake size. I used a kiddie plate from my son's kitchen and a cornstarch lid. 

Using a serrated knife, cut around the circle in a straight up and down sawing motion. Separate layers.

  

Layers laid out. I will mention that any velvet flavor cake has a TB or so of cocoa powder. So these layers came out a deep pink and teal since blue + brown = teal. FYI. :)

Put layers back in alternating colors.

all 4 layers

The cake is assembled.

 I made pink & blue onesies and feet, one side is pink, the other blue since she didn't know the sex. (It was a boy!)

 I found these cute candy feet at Michaels so I used them for more punch.

Detail of ombre

 Inside pic (it's a dark pic, but it's all I have) - you can see the checkerboard though.