Chocolate Checkerboard Cake

Instructions

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1. - Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pans with vegetable pan spray. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk; mix well after each addition. Continue beating 1 minute. Divide batter in half. Stir melted chocolate into half the batter; mix well.
2. - Place Batter Dividing Ring into one prepared pan. Follow instructions in pan set for filling sections shown below (for convenient filling, place batter in disposable decorating bag) and remove ring. Follow filling instructions for 2nd and 3rd pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
3. - Assemble cake. Position layer with chocolate cake on outside onto serving plate; spread top with chocolate icing. Position layer with yellow cake on outside on top of 1st layer; spread top with chocolate icing. Position final layer; ice entire cake with chocolate icing.
4. - Note: Other colored batters may be substituted for vanilla and chocolate.
5. - Pan set instructions for filling sections:
6. - Place Batter Dividing Ring in the first prepared 9 x 11/2 in. pan. Pour darker colored batter in outer and center sections and lighter colored batter in the middle section. Fill sections halfway.
7. - Remove ring from pan by carefully lifting straight up on handles. Rinse and completely dry ring.
8. - Place ring in 2nd prepared pan and repeat steps 1 and 2. These will be the top and bottom layers of your checkerboard cake.
9. - Place clean and dry ring in 3rd prepared pan. Pour lighter colored batter in outer and center sections and darker colored batter in the middle section. Fill sections halfway. This will be the middle layer of your checkerboard cake.
10. - Remove ring from pan as before. Bake and cool cakes following recipe directions. Remove and stack cakes.
11. - DO NOT PUT DIVIDING RING IN OVEN.