Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Cake Slice: Zebra Cake

First of all... I actually baked and now I am blogging... and to my knowledge hell hasn't frozen over :-P
So this months cake was Zebra Cake. I loved this cake! It was super moist and there are a lot of fun possibilities with all the color options and flavors you can try. Obviously I still need to get the hang of the layering but I don't mind having to "practice".
To go along with the recipe and picture, I have a cautionary tale to share.

Once upon a time there was a young (ish), fun mother. One night while she was lovingly making dinner for her family, she decided "What the heck, I have all the ingredients for this cake I need to make, might as well throw it together now."

Things were going relatively well. She managed to start the cake baking; start pasta boiling; stop naughty children from fighting; and give the 3 year old carrots so he would stop crying and tugging on her leg. All of a sudden the timers for the pasta and the cake went off. So she drained the pasta and took the cake out. Because she was trying to hurry, she put the cake on the stove top for a minute. Suddenly she smelled burning sugar and saw a small line of smoke coming from the cake pan. That's right, she forgot to turn off the burner :(

Quickly the cake was loosened from the pan and (this next step is probably the most important) while turning it upside down on to a cooling rack, she prayed silently to the, God of Cakes, "Please don't let this cake be completely ruined", at least three times.
So how did her sorry tale end? The bottom stuck to the pan but the side and everything else came out remarkably well. It was slightly worse for wear, but no one would have guessed how close the cake came to being food for the garbage bin.

So I guess the moral is to not multitask and the a secondary moral is to stay on good terms with the Cake God...


Zebra Cake
Makes one 9 inch round cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)
Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup whole or 2% milk
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 inch pan, line with a circle of parchment paper, grease the parchment and dust with flour.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Combine the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, stir in the milk, butter,oil and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.
Stir in the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time.
Transfer a third of the batter into another bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder.
Place a quarter cup of the vanilla batter into the centre of the pan and let it stand for a few seconds so it spreads out slightly. Place 2 tablespoons of the chocolate batter right on top of the vanilla and wait another few seconds until it spreads. Continue alternating vanilla and chocolate until you have used up all the batter and it has spread to the edges of the pan.
Bake until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a cutting board. Peel away the parchment paper. Re-invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slice and serve.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for 3 days.

To see much prettier cakes than mine, go here
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4 comments:

  1. Say what you want to say... but that cake looks pretty darn DELISH!!

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  2. Ha ha - glad the Cake God was good to you - it looks great. Just getting tea ready with the kids running about is a major challenge so you are a brave woman for trying to do a cake aswell - especially one that involves some tricksy layering - well done!

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  3. Your cake looks delicious and you can see the strips well. Good save in the kitchen!

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  4. Beautiful zebra cake and good save! I always pray to the Cake God in those situations.

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