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CHECK OUT MY STRIPES…L ‘ZEBRA CAKE

Deeba @ PAB
“I’m ten years old. My life is half over and I don’t even know if I’m black with white stripes or white with black stripes.”
Marty the Zebra…in the film Madagascar

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.

Am posting L ‘Zebra Cake instead which I got made a couple of days ago, guiding my daughter, who did an admirable job following instructions being shouted out by me (hysterically at times). All this while, the son who has recovered, & since lost his spots, was scootering in & out like mad!! Wonder if anyone has a Cheetah Spots cake recipe…would be more reflective of the ‘not so merry’ month that May has been!!

The chef in the making…with real world distractions!
This is one cake I’ve been dreaming of making ever since I first saw a picture on Farida’s @ AZCookBook on her top 10 pictures tag, & more recently, on a Mother’s Day post at Epicurean Escapism. I ‘ordered’ the cake made exactly as posted at Epicurean Escapism, & must say that it was the ease of instructions that led me on…resulting in a magical end result!
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!!

Zebra Cake from Epicurean Escapism
Ingredients:
Eggs – 4
Sugar – 1 cup
Milk – 1 cup
Oil – 1 cup
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Self-raising flour – 2 cups (I used plain flour + 2 tsps of baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt)
Dark cocoa powder – 4-5 tbsps
Method:
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar until creamy and light in colour.
  • Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.
  • Add vanilla extract to the mixture. Gradually add flour and then beat until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
  • 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.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C. (I lined the bottom of my 9″ Victoria sandwich tin & greased & floured the sides.)
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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!!

Posted by Deeba @ PAB
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