Aish Cooks

Zebra Bundt Cake

What’s not to like about a marble cake, patterned like a zebra and baked in a bundt pan? So it was an easy choice for a cake experiment… plus, if I get it right I might even be able to play with the colors (imagine making this in black and orange for Halloween or red and pink for Valentines or just any two of a birthday child’s favorite colors.. the possibilities are endless!!). This recipe seemed the best.. and the pictures were soo good-looking too!! I am sure adding a chocolate glaze drizzle to the top of the cake would have made it even more decadent, but hey.. it was well past dinner time on a Sunday evening and the 2 boys at home could barely wait to dig in. So.. glaze – you’ll have to wait for next time.

The original recipe uses cake flour, but I never have it at hand.. so I used this handy guide from Joy’s website for substituting cake flour with regular all-purpose flour and corn starch (the white kind).

Go ahead and give this recipe a try, you’ll be glad you did. Just be prepared for a few extra dishes during clean-up 😉

Zebra Bundt Cake

Based on Bakers Royale Zebra Bundt Cake Recipe

Makes: 10-inch cake | Prep-Time: 30 minutes | Baking Time: 50-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups cake flour (or) 2.6 cups all-purpose flour + 6 Tbsp corn starch (Note: to make it easier, take 3 cups flour and remove 6 tbsp to put back into the container, then replace that with the corn starch)
2. 2 tsp baking powder
3. ½ tsp salt
4. ½ cup natural (not Dutch-processed) cocoa powder
5. 6 Tbsp water
6. 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled
7. 2 ½ cups granulated sugar, divided
8. 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
9. 5 large eggs
10. 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
11. ½ cup whole milk

Method:

Step 1 – Pre-prep:

1. Grease bundt pan with butter or baking spray and dust with flour (tap on counter a few times to shake off excess flour).
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Sift the all-purpose flour and corn starch together 3-5 times to allow them to combine thoroughly.
4. Sift the flour mixture, baking powder and salt together one more time. Set aside.
5. Mix the cocoa powder with 1/2 cup of sugar and 6 tbsp water and whisk gently to make into a smooth paste. Set aside.

Step 2 – Make the vanilla-cake batter:

1. Cream the melted butter and remaining 2 cups of sugar together until well combined and fluffy (about 1 minute on medium-high using an electric mixer).
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
3. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well on medium-high or until well combined. The mixture will turn light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour in batches, alternating with portions of the milk, and mix gently (on low if using electric mixer) until well combined into a batter of pour-able consistency.

Step 3 – Make the chocolate-cake batter:

1. Add 2 cups of the vanilla-cake batter to the cocoa-sugar-water mixture and stir well until combined.

Step 4 – Assemble and bake the zebra cake:

1. Have both the vanilla and chocolate cake batters ready at hands reach, with a spoon or ice-cream scoop for each of them (do not use the same utensil or the colors will mix).
2. Pour 2 scoops of vanilla batter into the bundt pan first.
3. Now pour 1 scoop of the chocolate batter right in the middle of the vanilla batter in the pan. This will form the layered look and the marbled/zebra pattern in the cake.
4. Repeat by alternatively pouring the vanilla and chocolate batter layers until all the batter is done.
5. Bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted near the middle of the cake comes out clean without any wet batter sticking to it.
6. Let the cake cool down in the bundt pan for 15-20 minutes first.
7. Run the edge of a sharp knife along the edges of the pan to help dis-attach the cake from the pan.
8. Invert the pan onto a cake stand or plate and gently tap to remove from pan.

Allow to cool completely and then slice it up for serving. The cake keeps well at room temperature for a week and in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Warm in the microwave for 30s before serving if chilled.

Cook’s Notes:

• You can certainly use a regular round, square (10 inch) or rectangular cake pan (9×13) and just do the same thing. Start at the center of the pan and layer to get the pattern in the end.
• 2 scoops of vanilla to 1 scoop of chocolate should work well, cause when I did 1 scoop of each I had too much vanilla batter left over in the end which messed with the pattern!