Portuguese Pastry Post-Doc: Xadrez Cake / Bolo Xadrez

Xadrez cake or “Bolo Xadrez” was the last type of Portuguese pastry I had been aiming to try. Why? It has chocolate, an ingredient relatively uncommon in Portuguese pastry. Xadrez means “chess” and of course it describes the checkered appearance of the cake. The Xadrez cake is composed of both chocolate and yellow cake, covered with a layer of chocolate. The frosting between the layers may be egg cream, or possibly vanilla or chocolate butter cream frosting. “Chess cake” means something very different in American English, often to a chess pie, a classic Southern sugar pie. Here is a recipe for a Portuguese-style chess cake, which takes it even one step further to have a checkerboard coating.

Xadrez Cake from Chique de Belem