Yellow and chocolate cake batters are layered together to create a gorgeous two-layer Zebra Cake. Filled and covered with a silky smooth chocolate frosting!
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
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2¼
cupall-purpose flour
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2
teaspoonsbaking powder
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1
teaspoonbaking soda
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1
teaspoonsalt
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½
cupunsalted butter(at room temperature)
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1½
cupsgranulated sugar
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3
eggs(at room temperature)
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1
teaspoonvanilla extract
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1¼
cupsbuttermilk(at room temperature)
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3
tablespoonsunsweetened cocoa powder
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1
tablespoonmilk
For the Frosting
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20
tablespoonsunsalted butter(at cool room temperature)
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1
cuppowdered sugar
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¾
cupDutch-process cocoa powder
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Pinch
salt
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¾
cuplight corn syrup
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1
teaspoonvanilla extract
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8
ouncessemisweet chocolate(melted and cooled slightly)
Directions:
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Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans; set aside.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
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Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
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Add the dry ingredients all at once and beat on low speed until just combined.
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Add the buttermilk and beat on low for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 3 additional minutes.
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Make the Chocolate Batter: Transfer 2 cups of the batter to a separate medium bowl. Gently whisk in the cocoa powder and milk until completely incorporated.
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Drop a large spoonful (I use a medium cookie scoop for this!) of one batter in the center of each pan. Top with a spoonful of the other batter. Alternate spoonfuls on top of each other until you’ve used all of the cake batter. Give each pan a gentle shake to level out the batter.
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Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks and cool completely before frosting.
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Make the Frosting: In a food processor, process the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powdered, and salt until smooth, about 30 seconds, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Scrape the sides of bowl, then add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy, 10 to 15 seconds.
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Assemble the Cake: Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter and spread 1 cup of the frosting evenly over the surface. Place the second cake layer on top. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. The cake can be kept at room temperature for up to 1 day before serving. Once cut, leftovers should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
I baked this Zebra cake 4 the 1st. time.
When I came across it… I was saw that beside the Buttermilk, there was also Buttermilk in it.
Figuring it would be super moist! I also look @ the pictures, to C texture. & I liked what I saw!
Sooo I went for it… & was very disappointed 😞, as it was dry. (Not sure Y, b/c I checked with a toothpick till it was just done…
I will try 1 more time…
I made a (vanilla) Depression Era cake but used this frosting recipe. I cut the butter to 17 T as I just couldn’t bring myself to use that much butter! It was silky, shiny and smooth and more than enough to frost a 2 layer cake. Very delicious but we all agreed I should probably cut the butter a bit more to get a frosting that is a little less greasy and will have less of a buttery taste. A personal preference for a family that can have some difficulties digesting butter. I loved the food processor method to bring it together – so simple!
Zebra cake is easy to make and so moist and delicious. I bake a lot and this has been one of my better cakes. Can’t wait to bake again with a different icing.
Wish you would make a video of this recipe so I could see you putting the cake batter in the pan. Not sure I really understand it.
My frosting looks nothing like yours. No shine, not very spreadable and terribly sweet
Oops! I don’t think the recipe converter is working to switch to metric.
How did you make those swirls of frosting? It looks beautiful. Do you have any posts or videos that would help me improve my frosting technique? Not my forte so far! Thank you so much!
How super interesting this technique. I’ve never seen this before. So neat. Look forward to reading about other readers who have done this technique and even some other flavor combo/options. Dont get me wrong, chocolate is the bomb in cake but it’s so fun to read about all of the little twists readers do along the way.
Would really like to see your recipe in weights, so much more accurate. Also 20 tablespoons??? Why not 2.5 cubes butter?
Can you clarify how much milk you add for the chocolate batter ? I only see buttermilk in ingredient list and that is added in final step of making the white batter. Thank you.
I am also puzzled about the buttermilk. Should the.milk be divided in half?
How much milk is added with the cocoa powder?
I made this cake with a friend of mine, she was very impressed:) I was a big hit-thank you!
Zebra cake is so popular right now and this looks fantastic!
Wow, your cake looks amazing! I need to give this a try sometime.
You and my husband would get along fantastically with your “cake should have frosting” mentality.
wow, what a neat method! the stripes really turned out great
Wow! This is so cool! Thanks for showing how to do it :) I’ll be trying this soon.