Zebra Cake

I love the look of this cake. Bright white icing striped with thick chocolate glaze.

The recipe for the cake batter that I used was too dense. As usual, I didn’t read through the recipe before I started…I just liked the photo. That was when I noticed that the cake proportions were a bit strange. So was the sour cream filling.

So to be assured a cake that tastes as good as it looks, use your favorite white batter (or a box of purchased mix). Then frost it with this Whipped Cream Icing that is so good and is very stable in the heat due to the addition of cream cheese.

The Chocolate Glaze is wicked wonderful. I used Dutch Processed Cocoa for the first time and it had lent a really intense chocolate flavor.

Zebra Cake

Ingredients:

1 box of white cake mix
4 Tbs cocoa
Sturdy Whipped Cream (recipe follows)
Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.

2. Grease two 8 inch cake pans.

3. Prepare cake batter according to package directions.

4. Divide the batter between two bowls. Add cocoa to one bowl and mix to combine.

5. Spoon 2 tablespoons of white batter into the middle of the pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of chocolate batter on top of white batter. Continue alternating batters in this fashion.

6. Bake cakes for amount of time on package directions until a tester comes clean. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

7. Place one layer on a cake plate. Spread with icing and top with second cake layer. Frost the cake with the remaining icing.

8. Spoon chocolate glaze into a pastry bag with round tip or use a ziploc bag and snip a hole in the corner. Drizzle chocolate glaze over iced cake.

Sturdy Whipped Cream Icing

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon extract
2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

1. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth.

2. With the mixer on, slowly pour in the heavy cream. Stop and scrape the bottom of the bowl then continue whipping until the cream holds stiff peaks.

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Chocolate Glaze:

Ingredients:

4 oz butter
5 tablespoons milk
6 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add milk, sugar, and cocoa. Bring to a boil and keep boiling until the mix starts thickening.

2. Cool completely before using. The glaze will continue to thicken as it cools.

Recipe inspired by Anastastia Skripkina