The zebra cake is a delicious and eye-catching dessert that impresses at first sight.
When cut, it reveals a pattern of alternating vanilla and cocoa dough circles, creating a truly captivating visual effect.
Kids love it, and adults won’t be able to resist its aroma and softness either.
For a good result, it’s essential that both batters have the same consistency, so they layer uniformly.
When pouring into the pan, precision is key: you can use one or more spoons for each batter or, for an even neater result, two piping bags.
Following the recipe, you’ll find the procedure is much simpler than it seems written down.
Once you’ve learned the technique, you can get creative: with the same base, it’s possible to make not only the classic zebra cake but also multicolored versions, like cheerful rainbow cakes.
In this case, just add natural food coloring to the batters and alternate two or more shades.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 311.71 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 45.58 (g) of which sugars 22.17 (g)
- Proteins 7.23 (g)
- Fat 13.07 (g) of which saturated 7.93 (g)of which unsaturated 4.94 (g)
- Fibers 1.81 (g)
- Sodium 35.52 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 75 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 packet vanillin
- 1 packet baking powder
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (dissolved in a little milk with 1 teaspoon of sugar)
Tools
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Electric Whisk
- 1 Spatula
- 2 Piping bag or 4 spoons
- 1 Springform Pan non-stick, 9-inch diameter
Steps
To prepare the zebra cake, start by buttering both the base and sides of a non-stick springform pan.
Line only the base with parchment paper, allowing excess paper to hang out from the point of union between the base and side of the pan.
Once done, melt the butter over a very low flame, stirring constantly.
Do not let it fry.
Turn off the heat and set it aside to cool.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks, letting them fall into two separate bowls.
Beat the whites to stiff peaks with a pinch of salt using an electric whisk.
Then beat the yolks with the sugar.
When they are frothy, add vanillin and the cooled melted butter.
Next, add the milk and stir.
Finally, fold in the egg whites and the flour a little at a time.
Sift the flour as you add it.
Incorporate with a spatula with movements going from bottom to top.
Then add the sifted baking powder and mix.
Divide the batter into two bowls.
In one of the two, add the cocoa mixed separately with 1 teaspoon of sugar and enough milk to obtain a consistency similar to the other batter.
Mix with a spatula.
At this point, using two spoons for each batter, pour two spoonfuls of the light batter in the center of the pan, trying to be as precise as possible.
In the center of this batter, pour two spoonfuls of the dark batter and continue alternating the two mixtures until they are used up.
Level by gently shaking the pan (only once) and bake at 356°F for about 35/40 minutes, in a preheated static oven.
Place the pan on the middle-lower level of the oven.
Before removing from the oven, always perform the skewer test by inserting it in the center of the cake.
Remove from the oven only when the skewer comes out dry.
The zebra cake is now ready.
Storage
In an airtight cake container or under a glass dome, at room temperature, for about 4 days.
