Chocolate Tweed Layer Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, soft
1 cup sugar (divided)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 dash salt
1 cup milk
3 unsweetened chocolate squares, grated finely
3 egg whites
Frosting
classic buttercream frosting, # 10211 goes great with this cake
Chocolate Shadow
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 -3 tablespoons water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 (F).
Grease 3 8-inch pans, or 2 9-inch pans, and line bottom with wax paper.
Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar.
Beat in vanilla.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Add to creamed mixture, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Stir chocolate into batter.
In separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy; slowly add remaining 1/2 cup sugar until soft peaks form.
Fold into cake batter.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes.
(Tops of cakes will not turn brown, so test with toothpick to see if they are done) Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then turn out onto cooling wracks to cool completely.
Prepare your favorite buttercream frosting and frost when cakes are cool.
For the chocolate shadow, melt the chocolate chips in microwave for about 1 minute, or until the chips are soft enough to stir together.
Add one tablespoon of water at a time, until chocolate mixture is thin enough or pour.
Drizzle thinned chocolate over frosting.
Chill cake for at least an hour, or until ready to serve.