Zebra Cake

A little while ago I came across this pin for a "Striped Zebra Cake" and was intrigued by the concept. It's been years since I've made a marbled cake, and this technique looked like it deserved a try. St. Patrick's Day provided a good excuse to make the attempt.

I just used the regular Better Homes & Gardens Vanilla Cake recipe, divided it in half, added green food coloring and peppermint extract (a little more than I had planned!) to one bowl and a square of unsweetened chocolate, melted, to the other.

You can see the process in the pinned strip, but basically you alternate pouring a little bit of batter into the center of each prepared pan.  I didn't bother using a spoon, just poured carefully.  Then you bake it as normal.

This is what it looks like when it's baked. Isn't that a cool design?

I frosted it with regular buttercream frosting.  Originally I thought about making it mint flavored, but that was before the extract came out of the bottle into the cake batter too quickly.  We're glad I left it plain.

One of the recipes I saw when I was looking for ideas had a chocolate ganache drizzle along the edge, so I gave that a try as well.  I think I liked it plain better, or maybe with some green sugar crystals.

Anyway, this is what it looks like when you slice into it.  If I ever do a jungle/safari themed birthday party, this would definitely be a fun way to make the cake.  Since the odds of that happening are pretty slim, I figured I'd share it with those of you who still have plenty of birthday parties in your future!

One other note - I used my 9" round cake pans.  I think using 8" cake pans would make the design look better because each layer would be a touch higher.  Maybe I'll have to try it again some time anyway!