Zebra Cake

I was in the baking mood today and wanted to make something quirky. Since I have limited resources at home (we have not been doing groceries shopping since we came back from Melbourne), zebra cake popped to mind. Ever since I saw Zebra Cake on the web, I was intrigued! I was trying to figure out how to get the ‘zebra stripes’ and after some readings, found that it’s easy as abc – just pour alternating batter. I can do that!! Everyone can do that!!

One may ask, what is zebra cake? It is basically a marble cake with the difference in the pattern. In marble cake, two different batter (choc & vanilla) interact carelessly to achieve the swirly effect. As for zebra cake, the stripes are created by pouring a small ladle full of vanilla and chocolate batter, one on top of the other.

One thing I learnt was that the batter must be of flowing consistency so that it will spread easily when batter is poured over it (this is to achieve nice rings on the cake). Sadly, mine did not have any rings but a big dollop of chocolate batter in the middle of cake 😦 Another lesson learnt – use equal amount of batter for each ladle to achieve even rings.

I actually resigned to fate that the cake will turn out just like any other marble cake but on the other hand was hoping a zebra will appear. With a hint of hope, I sliced through the cake and I couldn’t remember I was this excited seeing the real thing in the zoo 🙂 I was quite pleased with the cake but as always, there is rooms for improvement especially with the stripes. Oh well, will dwell with the stripes next time…gonna make myself a cup of coffee and eat the zebra!

Zebra Cake

225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp baking powder
225g plain flour
200 ml milk
pinch of salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line the pan with baking paper.
2. Beat butter until soft, add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy
3. Whisk egg and vanilla essence in a bowl. Gradually add egg to the butter mixture, beating all the time.
4. Sift in flour, salt and baking powder. Fold gently. Add milk and mix gently to combine.
5. Divide half of the mixture into a bowl and fold in sifted cocoa powder.
6. Scoop 3 tablespoon of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoon of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter. Keep going, alternating the batter until it’s finish.
Note: Do Not wait for the batter to spread..Keep Going!! It will spread by itself and fill the pan.
7. Bake in the oven for 40-45 mins until golden brown. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, it should come out clean.
8. Remove from oven and let the cake cool on the cooling rack.

Have it with a cup of coffee or down it with milk. Enjoy!!