Monday 12 November 2012

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zebra Cake

Update: Since this recipe, I have been experimenting to create a much lighter zebra cake and equally delicious.  And I think I have figured out the recipe. Please check it out here, Zebra Cake 2.0

Ah, don't you just love the name? I do. I am easily amused as you can tell :)  This zebra cake with its distinctive stripy pattern is nothing new actually. I remember my mom baking plenty of this cake when I was a kid.  And now, I am very pleased that I can bake it myself and share this cake with her.


I used to think that there's go to be an intricate technique to create the stripy pattern inside the cake.  But I can tell you, if you haven't made this cake before, it's actually pretty simple.  All that's required is a little patience, which I don't have.  So, If I managed, so can you....

This easy recipe is from the gorgeous Lorraine Pascale.  Previously I got the recipe by watching, pausing and taking notes from the TV programme.  However there must be an editing error that caused the flour to be added twice, causing a thick batter problem.  The ingredients list below has now been updated according to the book. I have also adjusted the method. Sorry for the confusion.


Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zebra Cake
Recipe by Lorraine Pascale

250 ml vegetable oil
250 gr caster sugar
100 ml semi-skimmed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 medium eggs
300 gr self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
25 gr cocoa powder
1 orange

Line a 23 cm cake tin and preheat the oven to 180 C.  In a big bowl, add the first five ingredients and mix well to combine.  Then, split this batter into two.

In the first bowl, make the vanilla batter by adding 175 gr self-raising flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.  Mix it all together and set aside. 

To the other bowl, add the cocoa powder, remaining 125 gr self-raising powder,  1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and orange zest to create the chocolate mix.

Now put each batter in piping bags, snip off the end and start building the cake.  To begin, put a dollop of the vanilla batter in the centre of the cake tin.  And then inside the vanilla batter, put the chocolate batter.  Followed by the vanilla and the chocolate and so on... creating a target pattern.  Though saying that, mine is a bit wonky as pictured below, but does it bother me? nah...


Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes.  Let it cool slightly, cut into slices and enjoy...

53 comments:

  1. Michael, I adore, and love your Zebra cake. Love the chocolate swirls, and the entire amazing look on this super yummy cake! Thanks for sharing the fabulous recipe!

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  2. I love this cake. It's so eyecatching! I made a Japanese cheesecake version and I was so nervous when I was baking it and slicing into it as I had no idea if it would work out! :P

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  3. Amazing :-)
    The wee touch of orange in the chocolate mix really sells it for me, I'll have to try this just to see the look on my daughter's face when it's sliced!

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  4. Awesome zebra cake with perfect stripe!

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  5. Lovely to look at and, no doubt, heavenly to eat.

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  6. Oh wow! This is amazing and gorgeous. I'm gonna give this ago, thanks Michael!

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  7. Looks wonderful.. patience indeed.. Hope I'll get to try this out =)

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  8. Woo hoo! Love this and have to give it a go. It looks pretty striking and bet it's delicious. A fun cake!

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  9. Yes I remember this cake from many years ago - in fact, I've made a few over the years, although never with the orange zest and that sounds like a nice idea. It looks lovely and I've never worried about a bit of wonkiness.

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  10. oh Michael your zebra cake is simply stunning... I saw her make this on TV once and have never seen it blogged about... I really wanted to make it but so glad you have and it turned out so well... well done you!!!

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  11. photo's are gorgeous by the way... the new life must be suiting you!

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  12. Wow Michael, what a beautiful cake...love the name of this cake as well. I sure wish I could have a slice of this zebra cake :)
    Thanks for the recipe and hope you are having a fantastic week!

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  13. phwoar! I love the name of this cake. I saw it on lorraine pascale's show too, and I remember telling myself I got to try this. hah I don't even care if it tastes goo d(though I bet it tastes bloody amazing), just the look of it is enough to convince!

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  14. Not only do I love the name, but I'm loving this cake!! It looks and sounds so delicious.. This might have to go on the table at Thanksgiving!!!

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  15. Love your zebra cake! It looks so beautiful.

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  16. Thank you for posting the recipe, it turned out great! :D
    Although, a small suggestion.. adding 130g of caster sugar makes it absolutely perfect :)

    PS: you're cake looks brilliant! :D

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    Replies
    1. Hi Aditi. Thank you for your comment and I am glad you enjoyed the cake. Thank you as well for the suggestions. I'll keep that in mind next time :)

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  17. Hi Michael,why is my batter so think and I have followed the exact recipe though?I had to add 200ml more milk.
    Thank you Michael.
    Leng

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    Replies
    1. Hi Leng. Thank you for your comment. I know what you mean. This is quite a thick batter. I also add a couple of tablespoons of milk to thin it out. But not as much as 200 ml. I actually have an idea to make a thinner batter and a lighter cake, but I will have to test it first. I will post it as soon as I try it. So, watch this space :)

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    2. I have read in some comments that this is a quite thick batter . That is because you have made a mistake . Lorraine doesn't put any flour in the mixture before she divides the two parts, you have an extra 175 gr of flour in your batter. I've seen this mistake on someone else's blog too. But I checked and it isn't on Lorraine's

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    3. Apparently there was a tv-show where she did add the 175gr flour, but not on the show I saw yesterday and it's not in her recipe on her page. Maybe she made a mistake ;-) It's comforting to know I'm not the only one who sometimes mucks up recipe's :-D

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  18. I had the same problem as Anon above.
    I've added quite a bit of milk, but the batter stayed thick, so I just went the plain marble route.

    It tasted awesome in the end, so I guess that's the most important thing :D .

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  19. I have read in some comments that this is a quite thick batter . That is because you have made a mistake . Lorraine doesn't put any flour in the mixture before she divides the two parts, you have an extra 175 gr of flour in your batter. I've seen this mistake on someone else's blog too. But I checked and it isn't on Lorraine's

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for that!

      I managed to make stripes in the end and the cake tasted divine, even with the extra 175 grams of flour :D .

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    2. Hi Filip. Great observation. I have since re-post the recipe according to the ingredients list in Lorraine's book :)

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  20. Could it be a tiger cake by adding orange colouring to the vanilla batter?

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    Replies
    1. I would think so. Do take pictures and send the blog link to me please, if you have one :)

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  21. as a artist I find that the cake looks better not in the centre giving it a more natural look. thank you for posting how to make a zebra cake. I am going to make a vanilla cake with pink strips and lemon icing.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I know what you mean and I also think it looks more charming off centre :) Please send me a picture or a blog link (if you have one) of your cake. It sounds great.

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  22. Thanks for posting the recipe. I tried it out this morning and it turned out great. Only thing is the piping bags seemed too small for the mixture. I could not tie them so made quite a mess!! Anyone else had problems like this. Maybe the solution is to use 2 bags for each batch or buy extra large piping bags? Delighted with the end result in any case

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