A friend has just called me to make a cake for her mothers 60th birthday. She wants it to be a 12" square but has requested it be half chocolate mud and half butter cake. I am wondering if I do it on the diagonal how do I go about doing this?
I have never made one of these before. Is there a way of doing it without having to make 2 cakes and cutting them in half?
Thanks all help is greatly appreciated. BTW - I am in Australia and MUST bake it tomorrow to finish it Friday for a Saturday delivery
Angela
I was reading a discussion here on CC a while back where someone said they placed one batter (chocolate) in half the pan. Tilted it up onto something (like a book or whatever to brace the pan) and then poured the other batter (white) into the other side, and let the pan down.
One other person said she coated a ruler in waxed paper and placed it in the pan's middle. Poured the batter on both sides and then removed the ruler.
I'm supposing you COULD just maybe leave the ruler IN there while baking--if it was a wooden one.
Just a couple ideas to get the thread going. I'm sorry, but I've never made a half & half cake! 
GOOD LUCK!
HTH,
--Knox--
I make these all the time (almost a trademark). I do the "tip the pan and pour in one batter" technique. I never worry about it being a straight line and customers have never mentioned it.
indydebi, this is a great idea for cakes that use the same batter, what i mean is, cakes that have the same consistency. The consistency of buttercakes and mudcakes is completely different. Buttercake is thick and fluffy, whereas mudcake is almost liquid.
Angela, probably your best bet is to separate your tin in half with a thick band of baking paper. Let us know how you go.
cheers
Nati
Good morning all ! 
I am new to this cake making . I did try half and half and was amazed that it worked just fine . I tried the ruler thing it was ok ?????? [ not my favorite ] what worked for me best was just elevating it a bit with tea towel under the one side. I did make sure i poured the chocolate first ?? I don't know if it just my recipe or not but found it was thicker and would stay more in place that the white??????? Then removed tea towel and poured the rest . That worked for me and i get asked to make them alot buy by friends and family ? [ don't know if that is a good thing or not ha ha ] Also my DH helps elevate it for me sometimes too [ he likes to help ]????? 
Have a great day all .
Lou
actually, i got a piece of plastic and stuck it in the pan, halfway through. then i just poured each in, and then took out the plastic square. you just have to find a plastic square the right size.
Hi...Just read your post....
when I have to back a cake that is 1/2 one kind and 1/2 another...what I usually do ....
Is i take a piece of Reynods wrap (aluminum foil)....and I will fold it over and over until I get it pretty thick.... I will make it a little Longer than the width of my pan.... and then the bottom I will sorta flatten out... so it will sit up.... (so I end up with something that sorta resembles a long ruler....with a little base.
I then put this in my pan.... and sorta take the ends of it and fold over the side of my pan....
I then Pour in my cake batter on one side.....then pour the other into the other side, then when its all in there and settled...I will gently Pull out the aluminum Foil.....the Cake sorta MEETS in the MIDDLE. Then you can go ahead and put it in the oven and bake!
Works great for me! I've done it Many times!!!
Kaye
I used to use a piece of cakeboard cut to length, covered in foil....until I found plastic dividers at Sugarcraft in Cincinnati that are made for this very purpose! I bought one of each size and now just plop them in my pans and pour, then pull the pieces out, rinse and store them for next time! I had no idea they made such a thing!
Isn't there a problem if one type of cake cooks more quickly than the other?
When I was a young 'un (maybe 13 or 14?) I bought one of those checkerboard cake pan sets, which was supposed to make it easy to bake a round layer cake that cut open to look like a checkerboard. It would have been great if the two batters rose the same amount, and if the chocolate didn't bake more quickly than the white (or was it vice versa?) I guess I should have started with a white cake and then added cocoa, instead of making two different recipes.
RP
Isn't there a problem if one type of cake cooks more quickly than the other?
Redpanda!!!
You brought up an excellent point. This wont work at all for a mudcake and a buttercake. A buttercake made in an 8 inch pan will cook in around 40 minutes whereas the mudcake may take up to 1 hour and a half.
By the time the mudcake is done, the buttercake will be like a rock!!!
Nati
That is right Nati - so I went down to my local cake decorator and have hired 2 tins to make it the same size.
Also was going to ask you Nati - do you know how or have instructions on how to make aussie native flowers. I have just bought a protea spray for $16.50, absolutely gorgeous but expensive. Was wondering what you think about this - since you are an aussie too. I will post pics tomorrow when it is finished - or tonight if I am keen on staying up late enough.
That is right Nati - so I went down to my local cake decorator and have hired 2 tins to make it the same size.
Also was going to ask you Nati - do you know how or have instructions on how to make aussie native flowers. I have just bought a protea spray for $16.50, absolutely gorgeous but expensive. Was wondering what you think about this - since you are an aussie too. I will post pics tomorrow when it is finished - or tonight if I am keen on staying up late enough.
mrssambo
i've never made any aussie flowers. Have you met Fran (franjmc) she has made a few, and may be able to give you directions. I've never had a need for them, as no one has ever asked me for natives, so i never learnt them. The flowers i've come to learn (apart from those done in a class) were done because a bride asked for them ; )
tis all about money, hehehehehe
Nati
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%