Cut into this amazing Zebra Layer Cake to reveal chocolate and vanilla stripes. The marbling technique is surprisingly easy to master and I’ll show you how!
It was around 2012 when I first saw Zebra Cake making the rounds on popular food websites and baking blogs. (Not to be confused with their famous Zebra Cake.) Cut the cake to reveal graphic chocolate stripes marbled with vanilla. The effect is so striking that it looks like a zebra stripe.
After more than ten years, I will try it myself. There were so many iterations floating around at the time, I just didn’t see the need for one. It wasn’t until recently that I found a familiar inspiration for another round of this cake. An asparagus-flavored funfetti-like version made with rainbow confetti folded into vanilla batter.
This was a really fun cake to put together and the marbling technique is not as difficult as it looks. I was really surprised that the first attempt went as well as it did. I’m already planning to make another one! Be sure to watch the video at the end of this blog post. This can be a useful guide to making and assembling your own zebra layer cake.
Make the vanilla batter
Stock up on eggs! Because this cake uses a whole bunch of egg whites. (Not just in the pie, but in the frosting too!) This white vanilla batter is quick and easy to make. It makes a lot of volume, so use a big bowl!
Prepare the chocolate paste
Beat the base of the chocolate dough with dark cocoa powder, egg yolks and milk. Then mix in 3 cups of white vanilla batter. I used black cocoa powder to get the boldest stripe. It’s the same cocoa I used in these Oreo cookies and it tastes amazing. Regular dark cocoa powder also works well.
Mix in some sprinkles!
Little rainbow confetti sprinkles make this cake so happy! You can leave them out of this recipe if you prefer. However, if you’re like me and can’t resist a pop of color against a bold graphic stripe, fold in about 1/2 cup.
Stack pastas together in layers
Use 1/4 cup of ice cream in each batter and scoop the vanilla-dusted batter into the center of the pan. Continue with 1/4 cup of chocolate batter placed directly on top of vanilla. Keep repeating this technique, occasionally tapping the bottom of the pan against the counter to spread the batter. The layers should appear as concentric rings. My first attempt is far from perfect, but it ended up being pretty nice. I think my next attempt will look even better now that I know what to expect.
Bake and flatten
Place the pans in a preheated 350°F oven. As the cakes rise, they form a dome in the center. When they are cool, flatten them. Doesn’t that look cool? Even hypnotize!
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
The Swiss meringue buttercream adds just the right amount of sweetness to the marble sponge. If you are new to making this buttercream, you can watch my video in this blog post.
A drizzle of ganache
I always love drop cake! A drizzle of chocolate ganache on top of the vanilla swiss meringue buttercream really brings the flavors of the cake layers together.
Add a party mascot!
How cute is this Zebra Cakes onion? This is just a small figure that you can find in most used stores in the toy department (or here). We dressed it up with a DIY mini pom-pom necklace and a cardboard party hat.
Add more confetti and you have a great party Zebra Cakes!
One of my favorite things about this zebra layer cake is that each slice is unique! No two are the same! Each part is like an original edible work of art.
The cake recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cake Perfection (which I love). The cake crumb is firm but still moist. It reminds me a little of a pound cake, but a little lighter. Paired with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, it slices like a dream! The mushroom is slightly chocolaty – the dark chocolate is balanced with the vanilla counterpart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
One more thing – I’d love for you to take this very quick survey! What would you like to see more of from Sprinkle Bakes? The form asks for your email address to send a reply. We never share or sell your information. If you have already subscribed to updates, you will not be subscribed again if you submit your email address. Thank you!
Zebra Layer Cake
Cut this cutlet to reveal the zebra stripes on the outside! It’s cute to do and fashion is easier than you think. The chocolate and vanilla pastes are packed in the middle of two pastry bags. When delivered, the dough forms concentric circles. Enjoy Zebra Cake recipe and share.
After lighting, assembly and slicing, the circles form a zebra-like stripe within the patty. I use unsweetened black cocoa butter color, but regular cocoa butter color (similar to Hershey Special Dark) works just as well for a thick streak.
Would you like zebra cake donut Comment Below
The extension also works with regular cocoa butter, but the strip is brown, more like black. Save the eggs because this patty uses several egg whites! I often use tinderbox egg whites for my Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe. If you do this, make sure you have 100 egg whites on the tinderbox.
- Prep Time 35 mins
- Cook Time 24 mins
- 1 hour resting 1 hr
- grand Time 1 hr 59 mins
- Course Cate
- Cuisine American
Zebra cutlet layers
- 4 mugs each– purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon baking greasepaint
- 2 ladles kosher swab
- 7 egg whites
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 ½ mugs granulated sugar
- 2 mugs entire milk separated
- ½ mug unsalted adulation melted
- mug sunflower oil painting or vegetable oil painting
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla excerpt
- ½ mug unsweet black cocoa greasepaint
- ½ mug mini rainbow confetti sprinkles plus further for garnish
- Swiss meringue buttercream
- 5 egg whites
- 1 mug granulated sugar
- Pinch of swab
- 1lb. unsalted adulation at space temperature
- 2 ladles vanilla excerpt
- Chocolate ganache drip
- mug semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ mug heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon light sludge saccharinity appended for polish, this is voluntary
Zebra cutlet layers
- Preheat the roaster to 350F. cover two 9- point cutlet kissers with cuisine spray, and line the bottoms with diploma circles.
- In a voluminous coliseum, whisk together the flour, incinerating greasepaint and swab.
- In a separate voluminous coliseum, beat together the egg whites and granulated sugar. integrate on medium- high until foamy and well incorporated, around 2 twinkles. Beat in 1 1/ 2 mugs of the milk, melted adulation, sunflower oil painting, and vanilla, until smooth. append the flour admixture and beat until smooth and lump- free, around 2 twinkles.
- In another voluminous coliseum, beat together the egg thralldom , remaining ½ mug milk, and the black cocoa greasepaint. append 3 ¼ mugs of the vanilla batter to the cocoa admixture and beat until smooth and invariant in color.
- Fold the rainbow sprinkles into the vanilla cutlet batter utilizing a rubber spatula.
- Utilizing ¼ mug measures, or detector ice cream scoops( 2 oz. capacity), portion ¼ mug of vanilla- sprinkle dough into the locus of the kissers . Remain this process, lading the batter into the locus of the kissers and sometimes rapping the bottom of the visage on the countertop to position the batters together. Do this until all the batter is exercised and they appear as concentric rings in the kissers .
- Singe the galettes for 35- 40 twinkles( mine too hardly longer, at 45 twinkles) until the centers are domed and fluffy. A toothpick tester should come out substantially clean( mine had some color on it due to a melted confetti sprinkle.) Transfer the kissers to a line sack to cool 10 twinkles, also turn out to cool fully on line sacks. After chilling the galettes, balance them with a saw-toothed cutter. They can also be wrapped in plastic movie and transferred to the refrigerator to sit overnight. I detect that the crust softens and they’re easier to balance after a night in the refrigerator.
Swiss meringue buttercream
- Position a saucepan filled1/3 full of water over medium heat. Bring to a poach.
- In a voluminous pristine– sword coliseum, combine the egg undyed, sugar, and swab. Set the coliseum over the stewing water and bend while whisking intermittently. Bend until the admixture is hot( 110 °F) and you can noway longer feel sugar grains when the admixture is rubbed between your cutlet and thumb. Transfer the hot admixture to the coliseum of a stage fete fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high celerity for 5- 7 twinkles or until a thick, candescent meringue forms that holds stiff humps. The coliseum should feel cool to thetouch.However, chill the meringue in the coliseum for 10 twinkles, If it does n’t. Return the coliseum to the fete and exchange the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment.
- Beat the space temperature adulation into the meringue one cell at a time on medium- low celerity, staying to append the coming cell when the former cell disappears. The batter will deflate with the adulation extension, and may indeed look gelled( if the adulation was the fewest fleck cold this happens), but this is usual. When all of the adulation is appended, beat the admixture on high celerity until light in color and ethereal, about 5 twinkles. Beat in the vanilla excerpt.
- Position a cutlet subcaste on a cutlet association or serving plate. charge the cutlet with around 1 ¼ mugs of the buttercream. Top with a alternate cutlet. Cover the exclusive cutlet with the buttercream, and smooth unevenly over the covers and sides. Chill the frosted cutlet until the buttercream enterprises, around 30 twinkles. Meanwhile, make the ganache drip.
would you like zebra cake ice cream comment Below
Ganache drip
- Position the chips and cream in a microwave oven– safe coliseum and heat at 100 authority for 45 seconds to 1 nanosecond. have the admixture to sit 1 nanosecond, also whisk together to produce a smooth ganache. append the sludge saccharinity, if utilizing. have the admixture to cool hardly. Remove the cutlet from the refrigerator and ladle some of the ganache over the sides of the cutlet. exercise the ladle to brush the chocolate over the points to drop down the sides. Pour the remaining ganache in the top locus of the cutlet and smooth to cover it fully.
- Garnish the top bite of the cutlet with further rainbow confetti sprinkles. Top with a devious zebra figure, if you ’re consequently disposed.
- Store the cutlet in the refrigerator. Bring to space temperature before serving.
