Rainbow Zebra Cake

The day I made this cake, it was a day of firsts. Some of these firsts are a bit silly; I get excited over the smallest things =P

It was the first time I’ve ever made a vanilla cake by myself.
It was the first time I’ve ever made a square cake.
It was the first time I’ve ever used my #230 tip.
It was the first time I’ve ever made another kind of buttercream besides my usual one.
It was the first time I’ve ever piped writing on cake.
It was the first time I’ve ever spent so much energy on making a cake.

For those of you who don’t know what a zebra cake is, it is basically a cake made from vanilla and chocolate cake batter poured into the pan in a certain way to get zebra like stripes.

I made this cake for my grade 12 French teacher. She is the best; she’s one of my favourite teachers. This cake was tedious and tiring to make, but she was worth every ounce of energy.

For my cake though, I only used vanilla cake batter and divided it into 6 portions to colour them the colours of the rainbow. (My teacher is pregnant so she can’t have chocolate!)

Zebra Cake
adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

How To

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with a circle of parchment paper and lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pan.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs and sugar until mixture is light and creamy and the sugar has mostly been dissolved. Stir in milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into wet ingredients and whisk to combine.

Separate batter into 6 equals portions and add food colouring to each.

Put 3 tbsp of batter into the center of the pan and let it spread slightly on its own. Put 3 tbsp of another colour in the center of the previous. It will push out the other batter and, as it sits for a moment, will also spread itself. Alternating spoonfuls of the six batters, repeat the technique until all the batter has been used up.

Bake for 38-42 minutes, until the cake is light gold and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then turn out the cake and remove the parchment paper. Reinvert on to a wire rack and let cool before slicing.

Buttercream Icing
source: Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

2½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar (10 ounces)
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

How To

1. In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.

2. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 20 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.