Zebra cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting
Sally's Baking Recipes · 12 min video
Read about layer cakes in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
Whisk the sifted flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- butter
- granulated sugar
Beat the butter and granulated sugar on high speed until smooth and creamy, about three minutes.
- 5 whole eggs
Add the room-temperature eggs and mix on medium speed until combined, scraping down the bowl.
Eggs, sour cream and vanilla
- sour cream
- vanilla extract
Mix in the sour cream and vanilla; the mixture will look curdled, which is normal.
- buttermilk
Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in alternating additions, mixing between, and mix just until combined. The batter is smooth, velvety and slightly thick.
Alternating flour and buttermilk
- warmed milk
- espresso powder
- cocoa powder
- sugar
Dissolve the espresso powder in the warmed milk, then mix it with the cocoa powder and a little sugar into one half of the batter to make the chocolate batter.
- nonstick spray
Spray three nine-inch round cake pans, line each with a parchment round traced from the pan bottom, and spray again.
Preparing the cake pans
Drop a large spoonful of one batter into the centre of each pan, then a spoonful of the other on top, alternating and rotating the pans to keep the layers circular; fill all three pans at the same time so they are even.
Spooning the zebra stripes
Cool in the pans on a cooling rack for one hour, then turn out and finish cooling on the racks.
- cream cheese
For the frosting, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy, about one minute; scrape down and beat in the butter until combined.
- butter
- confectioners' sugar
- cocoa powder
- vanilla extract
- milk
- salt
Add the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, milk and a little salt; mix starting on low and increasing to medium-high.
Level the cake layers by slicing a thin layer off the domed tops with a large serrated knife.
Set one layer on a cake stand, spread about a cup (around 240 grams) of frosting to the edges, top with the second layer upside down and another cup of frosting, then the last layer.
- sprinkles
Spread the remaining frosting thickly over the top and sides; smooth with a bench scraper or swirl with the spatula. Garnish with sprinkles if wanted.
Frosting the outside and chilling