TIPS:
* use the same brand and type of cake mix for both colors - they rise and bake at the same rate
* the thicker the batter the less the two flavors bleed into each other--Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden for the light part and Butter Recipe Chocolate for the dark
* about half of a batch of boxed mix is all that will fit into these very shallow pans
* use a white cake mix and divide it into two parts. Color half with food coloring to give you the checkerboard effect.
* fill pans half-way - NO MORE

BLOCK CHECKERBOARD CAKE

1 pkg. Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 pkg. Duncan Hines chocolate cake mix

Bake cakes as directed in sheet pans. Cool thoroughly. Cut in strips. Place side by side, alternately. Reverse for second layer. Put together with Buttercream Frosting. Frost outside of cake with Chocolate Frosting.

This is the ORIGINAL CHECKERBOARD cake:

BATTENBURG CAKE
Butter, softened - 4 oz
Caster sugar - 4 oz
Eggs - 2
Ground rice - 2 oz
Self raising flour - 4 oz
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Almond essence - a few drops
Red food colouring - a few drops
Apricot jam - 3 to 4 tbsp
Almond paste - 8 oz

Pre-heat oven to 325F. Grease and base line an 18 cm (7 inch) shallow square cake tin with buttered greaseproof paper. Place the butter, sugar, eggs, ground rice, flour, baking powder and almond essence in a large bowl and beat well for approximately 2 minutes until smooth. Spoon half the mixture into one half of the prepared tin as neatly as possible. Add a few drops of red food colouring to the remaining mixture to turn it a deep pink colour, then spoon this into the other half of the tin. Try to get the join between the two mixtures as neat as possible. Smooth the surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and has shrunk slightly from the sides of the tin. Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Trim the edges of the cake and then cut into 4 equal strips down the length of the colours. Gently heat the apricot jam in a small pan and stick the stripes of cake together, one plain piece next to one coloured one, and then vice versa to make a chequerboard effect. Brush the top of the assembled cake with apricot jam. Roll out the almond paste into a rectangle the length of the cake and sufficiently wide to wrap around the cake. Invert the cake on to the almond paste, then brush the remaining 3 sides with apricot jam. Press the almond paste neatly around the cake, arranging the join in one corner. Score the top of the cake with a criss-cross pattern and crimp the edges with your fingers to decorate.

BATTENBURG CAKE
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup suger
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Milk
Red food coloring
1 cup apricot jam
2 cups finely ground almonds
3 cups confectioners suger
1 egg room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons almond flavoring
Lemon juice and water

Cream butter or margarine and 1 cup of sugar together. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt gently. Add some milk if needed. Divide batter into 2 equal parts. Add food coloring to 1 part to make a deep pink colour. Grease two 7 inch square pans. Spread batter into pans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 C) until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean, abo ut 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand in pans for 5 minutes. Turn out on rack to cool. Trim edges from both cakes. Cut each cake lengthwise into 4 strips as wide as the cake is thick. Trim to make strips match. Heat jam slightly. Spread on si ded to glue 2 pink and 2 white strips together checkerboard fashion. Spread all 4 sided of completed cake with jam. Repeat with remaining pink and white strips. Makes two cakes.

To make almond paste: Mix almonds, confectioners sugar, egg, lemon juice and almond extract together. Kneed until smooth, adding a bit of lemon juice or water if too try to roll. Add only 1/2 teaspoon at a time. It will be stiff. Divide into 2 equal parts. Roll 1/2 of paste 1/8 inch or so thick on a surface lightly dusted with confectioners sugar. Cut to fit length of cake and long enough to cover 4 sides leaving ends uncovered. Lay cake on one end of paste. Wrap to completely enclose all 4 sided of cake pinching paste to seal. Roll in granulated sugar. Place with seal underneath on a serving plate, or store in plastic bag. Repeat for second cake. Chill. Slice thinly to serve.