Most people stop at the Z
... but not me !
So you see!
There’s no end
To the things you might know,
Depending how far beyond Zebra you go!
I led him around and I tried hard to show
There are things beyond Z that most people don’t know.
I took him past Zebra. As far as I could.
And I think, perhaps, maybe I did him some good…
The quote is from Dr Seuss’ On Beyond Zebra. The book was first published in 1955 and is about an imaginary alphabet that Dr Seuss created with letters that go past Z. It’s a great lesson in using your imagination and thinking “outside the box.”
This week’s bake is a Zebra cake from Sugar Spun Run. It’s a vanilla/white and chocolate/black cake, swirled so the inside looks like zebra stripes. The cake is frosted with white butter cream and covered with black fondant "zebra stripes."
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
2 ¾ cup cake flour (315g)
2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
softened to room temperature (85g)
2/3 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
¾ cup whole milk room temperature preferred (175ml)
½ cup sour cream (120g)
1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract²
6 large or extra large egg whites room temperature preferred
For the Chocolate Layer
¼ cup dark cocoa powder (25g)
2 Tablespoons very hot or boiling water
2 Tablespoons sour cream
this is additional from the sour cream listed above
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
this is additional from the sugar listed above
1 batch White Frosting
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans (they must be at
least 2” deep) by lining each of the bottoms with a round of parchment paper and generously
spraying the sides with baking spray.
2. In a stand mixer (or you may use a large bowl and an electric mixer) stir together flour, sugar,
baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined.
3. Turn your mixer to low speed and add butter, one tablespoon at a time, not adding the next
tablespoon until the first is incorporated. When you’re finished, the mixture should resemble
coarse sandy crumbs.
4. Add oil and stir until combined.
5. In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract and stir into batter
until thoroughly incorporated.
6. In a separate clean, dry, and grease-free bowl use clean beaters to beat egg whites to stiff
peaks.
7. Use a spatula to gently fold egg whites into batter (don’t over-mix, but make sure there are no
lumps of egg white remaining).
8. Portion 3 cups (580 grams) of batter into a separate bowl (you’ll be left with 5 cups in your
first bowl), we’ll be making this into chocolate batter.
To make chocolate batter
1. In a large measuring cup, stir together hot water and cocoa powder (it will be thick!). Add sour
cream and sugar and whisk until well combined, then stir into your smaller bowl of batter and
use a spatula to carefully stir together until completely combined.
2. Dollop approximately 1/3 cup of white batter into the center of each of your prepared cake
pans. Using a clean scoop, scoop just shy of 1/3 cup of chocolate batter and drop that directly
onto the center of the white batter. Repeat, alternating batter flavors, until you have used all
of the batter. Take a reasonable amount of care so that your white batter doesn’t touch
another ring of white batter nor does a ring of chocolate overlap with any of the other
chocolate batter, this will keep your stripes looking like stripes and not like marbled swirls.
3. Carefully transfer pans to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick
inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Allow to cool in pans for 15
minutes then run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen from the sides (if needed)
and carefully invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
4. If needed, carefully level the cakes with a sharp serrated knife once completely cooled.
5. Decorate using my white icing.
Here are some pictures from the baKe:
Have a great day ! Linda and Rob
Comments
Post a Comment