Zebra Cake

One of the most eye-catching cakes ever!! The dark and white stripes giving this famous cake its name is a visual treat. What makes this recipe all the more adorable is that it takes hardly ten minutes to put the cake together and what you have as the end product is a kid's fantasy. Easily one of the easiest and tastiest tea cakes ever. During my initial days of blogging, I first saw this on Ria's blog and from there hopped on to Farida's blog . I instantly wanted to try this out. I must mention that my mind first wandered to the possibility of making a Rainbow Cake along similar lines.  And that was what I made first, the Zebra Cake came next.

Yup, I have used this recipe for making Orange and Chocolate marble cake, the Rainbow cake and the Zebra cake. On an average I would have used this recipe at least once a month, I am in love with this recipe:-)). I find that this one is the easiest to make on short notice as it is ridiculously quick and tastes fabulous by itself. Its extremely light, just the right amount of sweetness. So I end up making this one for my son's class party, for my cousins in my hometown, a slice for a friend etc etc.

I must say, I made this a couple of times, before I got the stripes better, and I must also admit, the stripes could have come out a lot more prettier. (Guess anything more than 3 tablespoons will make the stripes thicker as in mine)Well, that just gives me an excuse to make this again, just to improvise on the stripes:-)). Here comes my Zebra cake, the relatively pretty one among my attempts. Am sure this is one cake you would find on a lot of baking blogs. If you haven't tried this one yet, you absolutely must!! You are sure to find yourself making this over and over again!!

Here comes Farida's recipe, third time on my blog!!


Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Makes one 9-inch (23 cm) cake
INGREDIENTS
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (8 oz / 250 g) granulated sugar( I use powdered)
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) milk, at room temperature
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) oil (corn, vegetable or canola is fine)
2 cups (10 oz / 300 g) all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 tablespoon (equals 3 teaspoons) baking powder (if not available, substitute with 1 teaspoon baking soda)
2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder (make sure it is not very bitter) such as Dutch-processed (A word of caution: Sometimes I use Hershey’s natural unsweetened cocoa, but since it is BITTER it takes away from the sweetness of the cake, so it may not be your best choice if you want a sweeter cake. Also Remember! Dark zebra patterns won’t stand out with light cocoa powder)
You’ll also need: mixing bowls, electric mixer or wire whisk, 9 inch (23 cm) non-stick round cake pan.
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Using a hand-held electric mixer or wire whisk beat until the mixture is creamy and light in color

2. Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.

3. In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour, vanilla powder and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.  (DO NOT OVERBEAT to prevent air pockets from forming in the batter.

The consistency of the batter: neither very thick not too loose. If the mixture is too thin, add a little more flour. 
4. Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cocoa powder into another and mix well.
5. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
6. Lightly grease the pan with oil. If you don’t have non-stick baking pan, grease whatever pan you have then line it with parchment paper (baking paper).
7. The most important part is assembling the cake batter in a baking pan. This is what you do. Scoop 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter (you can also use a ladle that would hold 3 tablespoons) into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter. IMPORTANT! Do not stop and wait until the previous batter spreads - KEEP GOING! Do not spread the batter or tilt the pan to distribute the mixture. It will spread by itself and fill the pan gradually. Continue alternating the batters until you finish them. 


Please refer Farida's blog for the detailed step by step pictures.
Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Do not open the oven door at least the first 20 minutes or the cake will shrink and will not rise. To check if the cake is ready, insert a toothpick into the center. It should come out clean when ready. Remove from the oven. Immediately run a small thin knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert the cake onto a cooking rack. Turn the cake back over and let cool. You can sprinkle the top of the cake with some powdered (confectioner’s) sugar or leave it plain. 

In case you are wondering how on earth did I suddenly start taking great pics, will let the cat out of the bag:-))
Psst.. Had the pleasure of sending a slice to Madhuri and shamelessly requested her to take some pics for me. She good-naturedly obliged and here are the results. Advantages of having a blogger buddy :-)) Thanks a ton Madhuri!! More cakes coming, wink'.-)

This is also my entry to Champa's weekly Bake Off.