Zebra Cake 2.0

To be honest, there's nothing wrong with the previous zebra cake recipe.  It is a delicious dense cake.  But that's also the problem.  With denser cake like this, I find that I can only eat one slice at one seating and that's just not ideal for someone greedy like me.  

I don't know about you, but I find greed to be a great source of inspiration and motivation.  So after playing about with the recipe and experimenting... a total of five cakes; Mom and I, we came up with the recipe which will give you a moister and lighter cake.  Using my mom's own recipe for zebra cake, I updated the flavour a little bit.  I was a bit skeptical when I first read the recipe, but who am I to question my mother, who was a pastry chef.

The base for the cake batter is basically a meringue, with ovalette added to the egg whites.  Ovalette is a gel type stabiliser which gives extra volume and stiffness to the egg whites.  But if you can't find it, cream of tartar can be substituted.  To the meringue, the rest of the ingredients are then added.

To create the distinctive zebra stripes pattern inside the cake, I've given up using piping bags.  Patience is virtue I just don't possess.  I use soup ladles which is much quicker and it works just fine!

And one last note, the cake isn't too sweet which I like, but do add more sugar if you want it sweeter.

Zebra Cake 2.0

Recipe by Mom

250 ml egg whites, approximately from 5-6 large eggs
1 tsp ovalette
180 gr caster sugar
125 gr plain flour
100 ml water
125 ml vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon instant espresso

Grease, line, grease again and flour a 23 cm round cake tin.  Preheat the oven to 180 C.

In a free standing mixer, whisk the egg whites and the ovalette until they are holding soft peaks.  Keep whisking and gradually add the sugar a little at a time.

When you have a firm meringue, put the mixer on low and slowly add the flour and water.  When everything is incorporated, stop the mixer and fold in the vegetable oil using a spatula or a big spoon.

Divide the batter into two.  To one batter, add the vanilla extract; and to another, fold in the cocoa powder and instant espresso.  Using two ladles of the same size, one for each batter, ladle one batter in the middle of the cake tin.  Then ladle the other batter right in the middle of the first batter, and keep alternating the batter, creating a loosely speaking target pattern.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes.  When the cake is done, let it cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning it out.  Make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy the cake.  I stop eating after three slices, just so you know.