Leopard Print Stand-Up Inlay Cake

This traditional joconde imprime cake is anything but traditional in leopard print with a surprise: a chocolate cake inside. While this inlay-style cake often wraps around an entrement (a mousse or filled interior), we've gone to the chocolate extreme with chocolate-on-chocolate cake wrapped in the inlay layer and topped with light and dark cocoa Candy Melt candy curls.

AmountServes 32

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

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Make candy curls 1 day in advance. Melt light cocoa and dark cocoa Candy Melts candy, separately, according to package directions. Add 2 tablespoons shortening to each; stir until melted. Pour, separately, into mini loaf pan cavities, 1 in. thick. Chill until set, 25 to 30 minutes. Unmold and bring to room temperature. Use peeler or cheese plane on narrow side of candy to make candy curls. Reserve remaining blocks of candy for future use.
Make layered cakes 1 day in advance. Prepare chocolate cake batter following recipe directions. Bake and cool two 6 in. and two 8 in. cakes. Prepare chocolate buttercream icing following recipe directions. Tort, stack and fill for two 2-layer cakes, 3 in. high.
Prepare pan and batter. Preheat oven to 350°F. Print pattern. Cut a piece of tape 3 1/2 in. long; stick one end to the long edge of the paper, fold tape in half to form a tab that hangs over the rim of the jelly roll pan. Cover pattern with parchment paper. Lightly spray parchment with non-stick spray and lightly wipe with paper towel to evenly spread and absorb excess spray.

Prepare sponge cake batter following recipe directions.
Tint batter. Sift 2 tablespoons cocoa powder over 1 cup batter. Fold in gently. Measure out a small amount of cocoa batter and stir in 1/4 teaspoon black icing color and 1/8 teaspoon no-taste red icing color. Gently fold tinted batter back into the 1 cup cocoa batter. Prepare disposable decorating bag with tip 3 and fill disposable decorating bag. Close bag with icing tie to prevent spillage.

Sift 1 tablespoon cocoa powder over about 3/4 cup vanilla batter. Fold in gently. Measure out a small amount of cocoa batter and stir in rose icing color to create a dark shade. Gently fold this tinted batter back into the 3/4 cup of cocoa batter. Prepare disposable decorating bag with tip 3 and fill disposable decorating bag. Close bag with icing tie to prevent spillage.
Pipe inlays. Use darker batter to pipe darker part of leopard spots first, making a C or partial circle design following pattern. Use lighter batter to fill centers. Use tape tab to slip pattern out from under parchment paper. Bake 2 minutes.
Make cake. While spots are baking, use icing colors to tint 2 tablespoons of remaining batter yellow, tinting it darker than the color desired. Gently fold tinted batter into remaining batter. Carefully pour batter over baked spots. Use spatula to evenly distribute batter in pan.

Bake cake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then loosen the sides of cake from pan edge. Turn out of pan onto another piece of parchment paper. Gently peel off parchment from pan and turn cake back over.
Decorate cake. Use spatula and chocolate buttercream icing to ice layered cakes smooth. Prepare cakes for stacked construction. Using a ruler and food-safe scissors or knife, trim a piece of cake roll, 3 in. tall x 15 1/2 in. long, and another, 3 in. tall x 9 1/2 in. to 9 3/4 in. long. Wrap around 8 in. cake and trimming smaller pieces to fit.

Trim a piece of cake roll, 3 in. tall x 15 1/2 in. long, and another, 3 in. tall x 3 1/4 in. to 3 1/2 in. long. Wrap around 6 in. cake.

Stack cakes with seams at back. Decorate tops of tiers with candy curls.