Cake "Zebra": recipe with photo

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

All Soviet pastries were famous for their simple set of products and ease of preparation. After all, women worked on a par with their husbands and did not have the opportunity to stand at the stove for a long time. But in any family there will definitely be its own, unique recipe for the Zebra cake, because every mother, aunt or grandmother cooked it in her own way, with her own zest. Do you want to return to your childhood at least a little? Prepare the same dessert for your loved ones! We bring to your attention a step-by-step recipe for homemade Zebra cake - with photos, tips and tricks. Shall we start?

Dessert story

It's easy to guess that the Zebra cake got its name for the similarity of the cut of the cakes with the skin of the animal of the same name. This effect is achieved by alternating layers of vanilla dough with chocolate. The rich black or brown color of dark dough is achieved by adding chocolate, cocoa or food coloring to it. However, the first two options are morepreferred. After all, any dyes are quite harmful, and therefore, unnecessarily, you should not spoil the classic recipe with them. Homemade zebra cake will win your favor from the first bite, just imagine: crumbly and at the same time moist dough opens with a delicate vanilla taste in your mouth, instantly giving way to spicy and chocolate shades. Tempting, isn't it? Time to start cooking!

Ingredients

The Zebra cake recipe can be safely called budgetary, because most of the ingredients are often already in the refrigerator and pantries of thrifty housewives, but even if you have to buy something, it will not hit your pocket hard. The quality of the products should be very high, try to keep everything fresh and chilled in advance. After all, the key to successful baking is the same temperature of all components. To implement the Zebra cake recipe at home, you will need:

• Wheat flour, preferably premium - 320g
• White or brown sugar - 200g
• Low-fat sour cream, buttermilk, neutral yogurt or kefir - 250 ml.
• Chicken eggs, preferably selected - 3 pcs
• Natural butter, not spread - 50g
• Quality cocoa - 40g
• Baking powder - 1 sachet.
• Vanilla extract - a few drops.
• Soda - 1/2 tsp
• Pinch of s alt.

Vanilla dough

Preparation of the cake starts with vanilla dough. For convenience, consider the stages of baking. The step-by-step recipe for Zebra cake is as follows:

Step 1

First place the eggs, s alt and sugar in a chilled bowl. Whisk all ingredients until smooth. You can use either a mixer or a regular fork or whisk. As a result, the mass should be a thick whitish foam. If you want to significantly facilitate whipping, then place the cup with the mixture in a water bath - this way the sugar will react with the egg much faster.

Step 2

Add sour cream and pre-softened butter to the egg-sugar mixture. Stir lightly, but don't overdo it. Applying too much force can break any air bubbles and the pastry will sag or rise poorly.

Step 3

Portionwise add flour, previously sifted at least five times, into the mixture. It's no secret that sifting enriches the product with oxygen, which means that baking will be more airy and loose. Also at this stage, you can add baking powder and soda. There is no need to extinguish the latter: soda will react with fermented milk products and give the desired effect. The consistency of the dough should be quite thick and fall off the shoulder blade in small portions. If the dough flows down, then there is not enough flour, add a little more. Once you're done mixing, take a scale and divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. In one of them, you can immediately add a few drops of vanilla extract.

If you couldn't find it in your city, you can always get by with vanillin or vanilla sugar. The main thing in this matter isdo not overdo it.

Chocolate Dough

Step 4

Add the sifted cocoa to the rest of the dough and mix thoroughly. Let the mixture stand for a while, the cocoa powder should disperse a little, otherwise it will unpleasantly squeak on the teeth during the tasting, and we don’t want to spoil the dessert experience, do we?

But I want to talk about the chocolate dough separately. After all, at this stage of cooking, you can move away from the traditional recipe and get a little creative by adding new flavors to the good old recipe. Zebra cake can sparkle with new colors if you add a little brandy or cognac, ground cinnamon, orange peel or nuts to the chocolate dough. Don't be afraid to experiment. Perhaps you will be able to create your own Zebra cake recipe, which will be passed down from hostess to hostess in your family for decades.

Subtleties of pattern formation

The pattern inside the cakes can be formed at your discretion or you can repeat the technique shown in the photo. We figured out the step-by-step recipe for the Zebra cake, it remains to get acquainted with the methods for laying out the dough to form a pattern. There are several simple ways:

• Put both portions of the dough into separate piping bags. In the form prepared for baking, spread the dough in small strips, alternating light and dark colors. You can do this in circles or diagonally, in anythe end result will pleasantly surprise you.
• Another way is suitable for those who do not want to bother much with the drawing. To do this, alternate portions of vanilla and chocolate dough and put them in a mold in small portions, the order can be chaotic. When the dough is finished, shake the mold slightly, take a thick wooden skewer and make arbitrary movements with your hands, as if mixing the layers of dough inside and out. Here you can safely show your imagination, and the most interesting thing is that the cake will turn out with a unique pattern every time.
• The classic way to form a striped pattern for a Zebra cake is also very simple. To do this, pour a spoonful of dough exactly into the center of the mold. Alternate colors until everything is over. The width of the stripes can be adjusted by the amount of dough, the more you pour into the center, the wider the lines will be. If you want to make a frequent drawing, then lay out no more than a tablespoon at a time.

Baking Features

Before baking, be sure to prepare the form, you can cover the bottom with parchment, or you can use a "French shirt". If your form is made of silicone or ceramic, then you do not need to use anything, baking will be easily removed anyway. The oven must be preheated if you have an electrical cabinet - set the top-bottom mode and the circular blowing function.

The optimal temperature for baking muffins on fermented milk products is 160-165 degrees. At this temperature regime, the cake crumb will remain moist, but at the same timewill be fluffy and light. As for the time, the process will take about 45-50 minutes. After 35 minutes from the start of baking, you can regularly check the cake for readiness with a skewer. As soon as it comes out dry, turn off the heat. Open the door slightly and leave the mold in the oven for another 25-30 minutes. Then remove the "Zebra" from the mold and leave to cool completely on a dish or wire rack.

Cream or glaze?

What is good about the Zebra cake is that even on its own without impregnation and cream, it is very good-looking. It can be served as a cupcake, and be sure that after the departure of the guests there will not be a piece left. However, for lovers of everything chocolate, there is a nice bonus: the cake can sparkle with new colors and turn into a complex and pretty decent dessert if you ennoble it with topping.

There are 2 options to choose from here:

• Chocolate glaze. Traditionally prepared on the basis of high-quality chocolate or cocoa, cream and butter. You can complicate the recipe a little and prepare a glaze on gelatin. It differs from the classics in a mirror shine and perfectly holds its shape after hardening. The working temperature of the glaze is approximately 37 degrees, at this consistency you can cover the entire top of the cake, and you will get beautiful drips around the edges.
• Cream. Here you can give free rein to your imagination and prepare a cream based on proteins, cream or cheese. But a prerequisite is the presence of chocolate shades in the recipe, because we need to emphasize the taste of dark dough.

Assembling and decorating the cake

If you liked the Zebra cake recipe described by us and the photo presented as an illustration, you can easily decorate your dessert in a similar style. To do this, divide the finished cupcake into two parts, soak each half with alcohol-based syrup or weak coffee. Then make chocolate cream with cream or cheese cream with cocoa.

Assemble the cake, spreading a good layer of cream over each layer, and don't forget to decorate the outside. You can use nuts, confetti, colored sugar, cocoa or grated chocolate as a topping.

Let your imagination run wild and create your own unique Zebra Cake recipe!