CHECK OUT MY STRIPES…L ‘ZEBRA CAKE
The Fascinating L ‘Zebra Cake…(instead of L ‘Opera Cake)
With a heavy heart I write that I have been unable to complete Mays’ Daring Bakers challenge…the first I’ve missed since I joined in Jan this year. Reason…chicken pox took over our house; then when things just about started looking up, 3 days ago, I had a minor mishap in the kitchen & severed a vein in the palm of my right hand. It’s on the mend thankfully, but didn’t leave me time for the Opera Cake that I so wanted to make for 2 reasons. Firstly, because I’ve always been fascinated by the Opera cake (even bought a square platter for it for the DB challenge), & secondly, for Barbara @ Winos & Foodies who it is was dedicated to this month.
For you Barbara…
…flowers of the Cassia Fistula tree in bloom here these days.
I’ve included pictures of part of the process because I want all of you who read this post to be tempted to try this at least once, if you haven’t already. Added bonus too; it uses no butter, & yet it tastes great!!
Eggs – 4
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In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar until creamy and light in colour.
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Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.
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Add vanilla extract to the mixture. Gradually add flour and then beat until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
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Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cocoa powder into another and mix well. The color of the cocoa batter should be quite dark, so add more if needed.
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Preheat the oven to 180C. (I lined the bottom of my 9″ Victoria sandwich tin & greased & floured the sides.)
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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.
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NOTE: 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.
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Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.
Drumroll please, for a stripelicious spectacular cake…
…And now I’m off to check out the Opera that’s rocking the blogosphere…come witness an even more spectacular cake being unveiled at Daring Bakers sites today…THE OPERA CAKE!!
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
68 Comments
merry
this looks yummy,,nice clicks,.whenevr i visit ur post ,,theres always something new,..thanks for sharing,,
notyet100
as alwys this looks great nd amsure will taste great too,,
Arfi Binsted
Deeba, what a furious stripes you’ve got there! Very pretty! Super Zebra cake! hehehe
SMN
Deeba luks yummy and nice thanks for that lovely instructions.
Sunshinemom
I commented on this one in Farida’s blog yest. and your post had me flummoxed for a minute. Checked the side bar and the header once to make sure…great recipes and lovely stripes!
bee
that is one spectacular cake. get well soon.
Arundathi
thats some amazing looking cake – thanks for the detailed instructions – y’know i’m going to definitely try it! i just hope the stripes work and don’t become a big zigzag mess! 🙂
Purnima
Deeba, hope ur hand is better n LOL @ shouting instructions, M seems to b enjoying every bit of it! Hey me too had bookmarked the Feb stepwise photos frm Farida, never got around baking..urs looks just perfect!! DEEBA = PERFECTIONIST! (OOPS..MEHER = DEEBA! Right Meher?)Gr8 job dear!
Rachel
get well quick deeba…
ovenhaven
Hey sweetie, glad you enjoyed the outcome of the cake. Beautiful work on the stripes! Wish mine looked like yours! Hehe 😛 The stripes never fail to amaze, huh? 🙂
Hope your hand gets better soon! *hugs*
Swati: Sugarcraft India
Sorry to hear about your hand Deeba.. This cake is very tempting..will give it a try soon.
Sia
just gorgeous cake deeba and get well soon dear.
Aparna
I bookmarked this from farida’s blog way back and am yet to get around to making it.:) But I will.
Glad you are all recovering.
We’ll see you at the DB next month.
Cakelaw
Wow, this looks fab! I have never seen a cake striped like this before.
Dharm
Your Zebra looks pretty darned good!! Sorry to hear about the chicken pox and your severed vein… Take care now!
Swati Raman Garg
love all that u bake deeba… a great cook in making in ur little princess haan … d day i have my oven .. i will try each of ur recipes and am sure it will last a lifetime…
maybelles parents
this looks good–and I barely made the opera cake because my house had strep. completely understand.
Gretchen Noelle
*Hate* chicken pox and the severing of a vein doesn’t sound much better! Hope you are all on the mend. Love this cake and still keep meaning to try it!!
Happy cook
Zebra cake looks so good and looks like you daughter had lot of fun making them.
When my daughter was 8 months old her cousin was having chicken pox and we purposley put her for few days with her cousin saying that she will also get it than waiting to get when she is bigger and next week she got them .
Bellini Valli
Oh Deeba, so disappointing that you didn’t get a chance to complete the challenge this month, but it definitely sounds like life got in the way. I know that all is well with you now and everyone is on the mend!!!!! The zebra cake is a fun substitition when we are weary of supporting our DB friends and visiting their sites. I loved the fact that this months challenge went blonde to support the LiveSTRONG event:D
Asha
So gorgeous! Specially when daughter made this, how lucky!!:))
Love the Zebra pattern!:)
Ruth Elkin
Sorry you couldn’t take part in Daring Baker’s this month, but this looks like a challenge itself! Your daughter did a great job, it looks so beautiful! I think I will bookmark this one.
familiabencomo
You are SOOO very talented! Well, actually, your daughter is SOO very talented! I love it that you 2 worked so nicely together. At first when I saw that your son had a helmet on I was a bit concerned about the process being used in the kitchen – it looked dangerous if he needed protection. Then, I read on to my relief & saw that he was just being a boy and had to be involved somehow. I hope your hand is feeling better. Pobresita! (Spanish for poor little thing) As for the Opera cake, this was an ideal replacement. The heat is terrible on the cake & unless the house is exactly 72 degrees F, it will start to melt. I finally posted my cake (thought I had set the timer on it last night!).
Big kiss to you, my friend! Keep your feet up & let your children pamper YOU until you heal properly.
Tanti baci,
Amy
Baking Soda
this is one adventurous looking cake! Lovely!
Hope the hand gets better soon!
Big Boys Oven
no to worry, I too did not do my 3 months homework! 🙂
Rosa's Yummy Yums
What a beautiful Zebra Cake! Those flowers are very nice too…
Cheers,
Rosa
TBC
I love the look of your cake!
Get well soon.
Proud Italian Cook
Oh Deeba, I hope you are ok! and the chicken pox? Sometimes life just gets in the way, I had to sit this one out too, a very busy and hectic month of May! I’m sure you would have done a spectacular job, as that zebra cake is beyond words!!! Take care my friend!
xoxo, Marie
Vandana
Cake looks fantastic with the stripes! Makes me want to bake it right away!
Vandana
toontz
Wow! You injured your hand, had a child with chicken pox and still managed to bake this beautiful cake? And take such informative photos! I am kneeling with my head bowed right now, lol! Those flowers are gorgeous, too. I am bookmarking this page…I have to try this cake. Now that I managed to muddle through the Opera Cake, I feel like I could handle this one!
Hetal
Love coming to ur blog,everytime there is some gr8 recipe.get well soon…
Roma
Wow! One of the best looking cakes I have seen in a long time.
ranji
perfect zebra stripes deeba..very beautiful and delcious cake..so moist too..loved it totatlly.
Sangeeth
very yummy looking cake…wow! i want a slice…
Cham
Again a stunning job ! Take care Deeba!
PAT A BAKE
Hi..guess what ? I checked your blog to check out your Opera Cake..and sadly you skipped this challenge. But your Zebra Cake looks cool. Im gonna try it soon. Your garden looks awesome..someday when I come to gurgaon, I’ll come visit you. Hope your recovered from your lil kitchen mishap. Cheers!!!!! and see you for the next challenge.
glamah16
What a fun cake!
azcookbook
Deeba, your Zebra cake looks gorgeous! The stripes came out so beautiful! Glad you made it!
jasmine
Eek. Chicken pox…you must be ragged. Take care of yourself and your family…
Beautiful striations in your cake, btw…
j
Barbara
Deeba you are so sweet. Thank you for the beautiful flowers. I hope your hand is better soon.
Divya
Hi Deeba,you make my day-please collect the award from my blog!!
Ivy
Deeba, I am glad your son is feeling well again and your palm is recovering. Promise you’ll make the Opera Cake anyway. I sure would like to see what you will create. The zebra cake is absolutely stunning and thanks a lot for showing us the technique. This is definitely bookmarked. Thank you.
Dhanggit
this is magnificent!! i would love to try doing this zebra look, thanks for this recipe 🙂
nicisme
Amazzzzzing looking cake, I really must try to make one!
Ben
Oh my friend, I am so sorry to hear about that. But everybody is alright now, right? And don’t worry about the cake, there will always be more challenges in the future 🙂
Have a great day!
Mike of Mike's Table
Glad things are quietting down. That cake came out beautifully–I really like the striping!
Rosie
Oh Deeba I just adore this cake!! Sorry you couldn’t make the D.B. Challenge but sometimes things have to give a little in life. Take care sweetie 🙂
Rosie x
Uma
that’s a beautiful cake! lovely stripes. Take care.
Dwiana P
Oh dear…. that zebra cake look so delish!!. My son is pointing on it and say look look mommy. “cake???” he is questioning me. LOL
the cassia fistula tree, I never heart about that before. All I know it so beautiful. Oh I wish I could have those flowers and put them on my kitchen table.
Riva B
Thanks for liking my photos at riva-luminessence. I like your blog and will send it to my grown up kids who will really like your recipes. My son and daughter are both very good cooks!
Riva
Raji
Just back from a vacation in Mumbai – so sorry about your hand – is it all healed up now? must have been painful and frustrating!! AND the chicken pox outbreak – UGH!
Take care -tell the budding chef the cake looks fabulous!
Cooking and the City
amazing cake, I love the stripes 🙂
giz
Gorgeous and unique. Love it.
anju
hi deeba, ur zebra cake was excellent & thanks a ton for the technique,.. tried it myself and it turned out really good. kids loved the stripes…u take care.. and thank u again for teaching an ameture like me the basic a,b,c’s of baking.
Arundathi
deeba – i tried the cake – and it came out well – the stripes and all – but its just not very sweet – more like a muffin than a cake – is that how it was for you too? or maybe I overmixed it? it looked great though
Angela
Hi Deeba,
Thks for sharing a recipe I couldnt resist making.. your blog is viciously additive 🙂 But I had a problem the zebra turned out with more pronounced darker stripes than light! I think the choc. pwd makes it more dense, perhaps I should have tried thinning it out with a little milk. Angela
Raaga
I used your technique with my chocolate orange marble cake and it came out so well… thanks a ton. Forgot to take a picture!
kellypea
Chicken pox? Bummer! That zebra cake is amazing. I’ve always wanted to make a marbled cake and have just never done it. Thanks for the inspiration.
Ruth Elkin
Made your zebra cake tonight as my bookmarked recipe! Looks good! I’ll have a blog post up about it tomorrow.
Anonymous
Thanks for this great recipe and technique. I tried it with my daughter helper at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashasusan/2743049839/
Great Blog you have here!
Asha
Everything's Herbed
nice stripes you got there. thanks for sharing the technique.
Sanghi
fantabulous cake. going to try out for christmas!
Olga
Thank you for putting up your wonderful recipe! My mom used to make this cake for me when I was little, so I decided to make it for my chocolate loving boyfriend and he loved it! It turned out great! Very Yummy!
Nachiketa
Wooohhhooooo for the Zebra…..
Love the stripes 🙂
Check out mine at
Zilicious Zebra Zake for Rajpals
TheVariable-nachiketa.blogspot.com
Aparna Prabhu
Deeba i read about ur zeebra cake from many blog frenz nd i did try the way u did it it came out gr8 nd i know it cud come out stil awesome………..loved ur blog thank u
andaleebwajid
Hi,
I tried this cake on Sunday but for some reason, the cocoa portion became rather dense and it sunk to the bottom of the pan after baking even though I followed your instructions in assembling it. The stripes were hardly distinguishable. Any idea how to avoid that from happening again?
Meetu
Deeba, I tried this cake yesterday after reading your blog and the cake turned out to be very good with amazing strips. Thanks for the awesome recipes and tips.
meena
this looks fabulous….even i've done it but i forget 2 take a snap..so iam very much glad 2 have a look at this…thank u