It is sunny and warm in LA!! We are in LA again for a week of filming and workshops at YouTube Space LA, and it has been so nice to escape the dreary winter weather we’d been having up in Canada. It feels like paradise right now . . . short sleeves, bare legs . . . American Target. Life is good! All I need now is a sprinkle covered cupcake and it would be complete. As I alluded to last post, it’s not all happiness right now, my friend on-screen and off, Beth from the YouTube channel CookingandCrafting, is going through some very challenging times with a sick family member. If you know Beth you will know how close she is with her family. They need your help. If you can donate any amount, please consider sending it to her brother Scott to help him on his road to recovery. The link to the medical fundraiser is here- http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-scott-get-better-/133503.
I’ve had a day to reconnect with YouTube colleagues who are now my friends I’m happy to say. It has been so exciting to be a part of something that has had this much time to develop real relationships. I think that if this had been a one week program instead of the 6 month/3 week program that it is, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to learn so much from each other. I’ll get to post more about that later as the week goes on! I’m even going to get to meet a real life cyber friend on Thursday! I’ve invited Miki from Miki’s Pantry to come and join us at our wrap party! She’s the soothing voice behind the YouTube channel Miki’s Pantry. We’re bound to like each other in person as we’ve been having conversation via computers since 2011 . I’ll post more about that later too. Anyway, that’s the update that is happening in LA . . . so . . . on to the cake!
I set out to make this cake in traditional black and white zebra pattern, but while I was practicing version one (there’s usually 3-4 versions of a cake prior to a video) something about it screamed PINK PINK PINK to me! The black and white looked too, well, black and white.
I started with putting a pink border around the outside. Yep, that definitely added the punch of colour I was looking for, but it still wasn’t PINK enough. When I sliced into the cake to see how the stripe effect worked out, I realized THAT was it!! I had to somehow get pink in the middle too! So I started baking version two . . . by the time it was ready for filming I had version three mastered as well.
Pink Zebra Cake
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (300 g)
2 cups sugar (400 g)
¾ cups vegetable oil (180 mL)
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 mL)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder (~11 mL)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk (240 mL)
white, pink, and black gel paste
vanilla buttercream
black fondant
pink buttercream
Wilton tip 1A
*white colouring is optional if you wish to have a lighter batter, you can use the batter as is
*you may also choose to omit the pink portion, and just use it as black
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350F/170F. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine, flour, sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil and vanilla on low/medium until ingredients are mixed together. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low in between additions. Slowly add the milk while the mixer on and mix until all ingredients are completely combined. Divide batter into three different bowls with one bowl having half of the batter and the other two have a quarter each. Colour the large bowl with white colouring, and the smaller two with black and pink respectively. Mix colouring until no light streaks remain. Spray two 8” pans with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment/baking/wax paper. Place four tablespoons of white batter into the center of each pan. Then, directly into the middle of the white batter, place two tablespoons of black batter. Directly into the centre of the black batter, place two tablespoons of pink batter. Repeat white/black/pink batter additions until all the batter is used up or pans are ⅔ full. Place pans into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire wrack.
Once cake is cooled, level, stack and cover in white buttercream. To cut the fondant pieces, roll fondant out very thinly and using a rolling cutter (pizza or pastry) slice long, narrow stripes and arrange on white cake as desired. To finish the cake off, using the pink buttercream with Wilton 1A tip, pipe a small beaded border along the bottom of the cake.
LOVING THIS ZEBRA CAKE….
just wanted 2 Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! I love it… Not only did it succeeded the first time i made it the people it was for loved the taste… I’ve made it twice and will make yet another soon… im almost sad that i can’t show you…
Sooo thank thank thank you!
By the way i made my buttercream for the middle blue becuz they asked for a raspberry en blueberry filling so I’ve mixed those together. And this is the outcome…
https://m.facebook.com/tilsweetness/photos/pb.666841376690959.-2207520000.1403204302./710227185685711/?type=1&source=54
It looks great!!
Thank you very much! Your reply and compliment means allot! Really im grateful especially for the cake recipe. I just love it!
I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday yesterday. It didn’t come out quite like the picture (rarely does!) but I wanted to say that your cake recipe is one of the better ones I’ve made. I often find from scratch cakes to be lacking in flavour, palatable texture, moisture, and/or density. This one hits on all four points. I will definitely use it again, with or without the striping. Thanks for sharing.
I’m super happy to hear that! Thanks so much for letting me know.
I was scrolling down through the comments the other day and found one that matched what happened to my cake – wavy horizontal stripes instead of the vertical ones. I have a tall 8″ round that I use and then tort to get two layers. Now I know that too much batter in the pan affects the outcome of the stripes. Next time I’ll just divide the batter. I think it’s great that you answer questions if you can. It encourages people to try again.
Hiya!
Can I just start off by saying I absolutely love your website!! It’s so cute!! I know you have replied to loads of comments on here and have probably answered my question but, I have just tried your recipe for this cake as I want to make it for my best friends 18th in 2 weeks time, however I was wondering, do you definitely have to use a coloured gel for the different batters as opposed to just colouring!? Because I tried it with black and pink food colouring and I didn’t get anywhere near the same colours as you do with yours!! Also, to get the vibrancy in the colours, did you make both the other bowls of batter lighter with the white first in order to make the colour stand out!?
Sorry for the paragraph,
Milly
Thanks so much for writing! I’m glad you like the website. Food colouring is not as strong as gel paste, and as you’ve already discovered, does not yield the same results as gel paste. I use Americolor Gel Paste. Good luck!
Hi Milly – I did not get the vibrancy either, and I used Wilton gel colourings. However, I’ll be honest and say my bottles have been open a while, and I didn’t have a ‘hot pink’ type colour but a regular rose/pink, so that could have affected the outcome as well. I think next time I will use only egg whites in the main batter so I don’t have to use so much white colouring (I felt it changed the cake flavour a little), and get some new gels, with a hot pink colouring for the accent. I’m sure your best friend will love her cake 🙂
I find that Wilton colours do not last long, and require A LOT of paste to match the vibrancy that I get with Americolor.
That’s good to know! I’m not sure if Americolor brand is available in Canada as I’ve never seen it. Maybe something I’ll get my parents to pick up for me the next time they’re in FL.
I just bought some Americolor from Golda’s Kitchen. They’re located in Mississauga, ON but they also have an online store. I haven’t tried it yet but the cashier told me he prefered it over the ‘other’ gel brand.
Yes, Golda’s is where I buy most of my cake products.
Hi Your cake is amazing and would love to make this for my daughters birthday on !st July
Just a couple of questions so as I make sure I get it right
Did you use 8 inch (20cm) deep cake pans
or 8inch(20cm) deep sandwich tins
I only have 8 inch deep cake pans
Secondly the spring action ice cream scoops… What sizes did you use. I have one already which I measured the diameter across with my tape measure it is 5 cm.
Is this the middle size scoop that you used
I have seen a set on Amazon UK( I live in the North of England) Would be useful to know the sizes as your cake looked sensational
I can get the Americlour colour pastes but what make was the white one you used in the large squeeze bottle in your tutorial on You Tube .
I noted you put your fondant stripes on the butter cream but could you use white ready roll or fondant before the black stripes
Lastly what was the quantities that you needed for the buttercream for filling and icing the cake.
For the fondant how much do you need of that too the pink buttercream how much did you use
Would appreciate your help on this if your able as Im an amateur baker and would like to get it right with exact quantities
Hope to hear from you soon
Hi,
I was wondering if the fondant zebra stripes would sweat or melt on the buttercream if kept in the refrigerator? Thank you!
Some people complain about fondant sweating in the fridge, but I never have that problem…but I also have a cake fridge.
Can I make this as a muffins if so can I have some advice
Hi jen…was wondering if you can do (2)9 inch pans instead of 8 inch pans… thanks
Yes, the layers would just be thinner.
Thank u for the response since the layers will be thinner should I double the recipe to get a thicker cake?
You might find that is too much batter. It’s really up to you.
can i use this same recipe to make a big cupcake?
Yes, but a giant cupcake mold tends to be deeper than most cake pans, so you might not see much definition between the stripes…good luck…let me know how it works out.
Help!
I dont know what went wrong but my cake didnt rise and I followed the recipe to a T making it with my daughter for her 9th birthday party tomorrow:(
She will be so sad.
If I make this with a boxed white cake and just separate and add the gels will it still work? And do I use two boxes or just one. Im using 9′ round pans.
Thankyou, Christa
Oh, that’s too bad. Baking takes lots of practice and there are many reasons why your cake may not have risen…opening the oven door, you forgot ingredients (the leavening agents, eggs). You’ll have to see if it works with a cake mix…I don’t use them so I don’t know.
Hi Jenn
I hope to make this cake for my son birthday. May I know if I can do this cake with eggless and sugarless? My son cannot consume cake with huge amount of sugar and eggs.
Appreciated your advice to share with me how to substitute the ingredient.
Thank You.
You can try using sugar (splenda) and egg substitutes (powdered egg substitute) and hopefully that works out for you! Good luck!
Hi Jenn,
Im making a my little pony cake for my daughters 3rd birthday and im using your pink zebrs cake recipe, i want to do a 2 tiered cake and was wondering if i halved the recipe would it be enough for a 6″ square pan? Thanks 🙂
I’m not sure if halving the recipe would be enough for 6″ cakes…you might want to stick with the same measurements. Good luck.
Hi! Beautiful Cake! 🙂 Was just wondering how much you would charge someone for this cake?
Hi there…I don’t make cakes to sell anymore so it doesn’t have a price.
I’m an avid baker and enjoy watching your tutorials. One question, about your mix method… It is different than the standard recipes, first mixing dry ingredients and then beating in eggs (vs. combining eggs, sugar…and dry ingred last). Do you do this to achieve a different texture or is there some other benefit… I always read about not overbeating the flour, so that’s why I’m wondering. Thanks.
Hi there..it’s just the way that I learned to do certain recipes. If I’m using oil instead of butter, the method will be different etc. Thanks for watching the videos!
I like the taste of butter in cakes. Can I substitute butter, and if yes, how much, for the oil in this cake?
No, butter cannot be substituted in this cake batter. The oil in this cake helps the batter to spread so that the different colours can form the zebra stripes. I tried it with butter and it is not thin enough.
how do you keep your cake from crumbling into the buttercream? i want to make this but always have this problem.
The first layer of buttercream always has crumbs in it. It is called a crumb coat. After you have iced it in the crumb coat, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden the crumb coat, and then bring it out and apply a second layer, which will be crumb free.
amazing! thank you!
I would just like to know how much fondant you need to make this? If I buy a whole big tub of the black fondant will I use it all or have a lot left over?? My other option is to buy a mix pack with red and yellow in it as well, but the portions are quite small. I don’t usually use ready to roll icing as we don’t like the taste, but this cake is awesome.
Thanks
You don’t need very much fondant and if you don’t end up with much, you can place the stripes further apart to make use of the fondant better.
Hi Jenn,
I attempted this cake this weekend and it looked great from the outside and tasted good however I found I needed twice the amount of mixture to fill my tins. Also when cut the cake has a marbled look, not the stripes. What did I do wrong? Any ideas? Thanks
Sounds like your tins were too large. Cake pans should not be filled full…there needs to be room for expansion. I used 8″ pans for mine and they were perfectly sized.
Reading your comment above, could substituting butter in have been a problem also? How high did the batter go in you tins? Mine (even with double) was quite thin.
When I made the cake with the butter sub, it did not work at all. So if you made that change, that is probably why. My cakes were about 2″ thick when they were finished baking.
I just made this cake. I used my own cake recipe and just followed your example on the colours. My black cake mix seemed to blend in with the white around it and turned everything dark purple as it baked. Do you have any suggestions on what I did wrong. I seemed to have a lot more layers than you, could that be the problem?
That’s weird. I’ve never had that problem before. Maybe with too many layers is right…I had 6 additions of white (which you can count in the picture of the cake). Hopefully you figure it out! I’ve never had any of my cake batters run into each other.
Hi! Just wondering if you have a recipe and instructions on how to make a giraffe cake? I think your zebra one is awesome but, my daughter is a major giraffe fan.
Thanks,
Delana
Hi there, no I do not have a giraffe cake, but I’ll add it to my list of viewer requests! Thanks!
Will this recipe be enough for a dozen cupcakes? Thanks.
Yes, it will be. Enjoy!
In the video you say Wilton tip 12 but the recipe says Wilton tip 1A. Which one is it/
You can use either one. They are both round tips.
I want to make this for my daughter’s 6th birthday. Is the fondent store bought or do you make is homemade? Also, if homemade is it colored in the same black gel as the cake?
Thank you for sharing your creations! 😀
Yes, you can use store bought fondant (I use Satin Ice), or you can use home-made fondant and colour it with the gel paste. Yes, it is the same black gel as I use for the cake. Good luck!
Thank You Jenn 🙂 I am super excited to attempt this cake!
Helllp!!! Had to quadruple recipe for two 13×9 cakes. Now it seems watery. Added a bit more flour, now freaking out that the colors will blend. Plz plz respond ASAP as I’m making it as we speak
I hope it worked out for you!
Hello miss. The recipe is to fill two 8″ pans ? Or I must to make the recipe a second time to fill the 2nd 8″pan ?
Please.
Thanks you
This cake is enough for two 8″ cake pans.
When you say it will fill both tins, is that 3/4 full like a normal cake? Or 1/2 full to produce two halves?
It will produce 2 half cakes, which will make one whole cake.
Can you use strawberry filling for the pink and get the same results?
You won’t get the same results as it will be a much more subtle pink, but I always say it’s best to try and see. Good luck!
Can I use a white cake mix out of a box or do I need to use the recipe listed?
You’ll have to see and find out…sorry I don’t use box mixes, so I can’t help you…but I would guess it would be fine.
Hi Jenn. I am new to your site & I love it!!!!!! I am just wondering, where do you purchase you Americolor gel pastes in Canada? Or do you order them online?
Thanks so much! I can’t wait to watch more of your videos!!
Hi Jenn, another quick question…was it deep pink or electric pink color? Thank you!!!! 🙂
I used deep pink for this.
I have never used these colors or made a cake like this for that matter before and while at the store the Electric Pink is more the color of pink im using for decorating. is there a reason you chose the Deep Pink over the Electric Pink? does it not get a bright inside the cake as the deep? or you didnt care how bright it was but just wanted a very noticeable pink? sorry just trying to figure it out, im a new at this! 🙂
You can use whichever colour of pink you want.
Also can I omit the egg yolk and just use the egg whites in your cake recipe to keep the cake white like i would with a box mix? I ask this so i wouldn’t have to add the white food coloring… Thank you!
You can try and see! I haven’t tried that before with this recipe.
I haven’t ever seen them in stores in Canada, so I order them from Amazon or Golda’s Kitchen. Thanks for watching the videos!
I get all mine at PM HOBBY CRAFT IN CALGARY.. theres one in the northand the south.. they have a web site too..
Ohh and I forgot to ask! I have two pan’s of 10 inch, how much more of the batter do I need?
You might want to double the recipe if you’re using 10″ pans.
Thank you so much for replying so soon! I’ll try my best 😉
Hi Jenn!
I love this recipe and want to make this for my 16th birthday party. I would like to make it a day ahead. I have two questions: can I store the buttercream in my fridge overnight so I can use it the next day? And for how long will this cake be tasty?
Hi! Yes, you can store the buttercream in the fridge, but before you go to use it, you’ll want to bring it out and allow it to come to room temperature (usually a couple of hours). Cakes are generally best if eaten within 2-3 days. I hope you like it!
Hi! Thanks for the recipe I loooove the idea ! Very original !
I would like to ask please if I can make another cake like a chocolate one or any other flavour and then use the white/pink/black colorant and get the same result ?
Thank you! It would be for my little cousin, she loves the idea but also prefer chocolate cakes haha.
The colour dyes will not dye the chocolate batter as well as they do vanilla.
Okay, thanks a lot !
You don’t have salt listed in your ingredients list.. might want to add that so people don’t forget it like I did. 🙁
Thanks for pointing that out. We didn’t realize we had left it out. Your recipe should have turned out just fine without it.
I love it!!! i can’t wait to try it. Jenn Do you have your battercream recipe?
Yes, and it is linked in the post for you (in the ingredients). Enjoy!
I need the butter cream Recipe too please
Hi, it’s linked in the post, but here it is http://cookiescupcakesandcardio.com/?p=2696 Have fun!
Wow, really nice idea! I want to know if we can make it in advance and froze it?
Thanks a lot!
Yes, you can freeze it if you need to make it in advance. You’ll want to take it out a couple of hours ahead of time to allow it to thaw gradually.
Sorry, I don’t speak to mutch english but y try Please what is the trademark of your color for the cake? S’il vous plait j’aimerais savoir qu’elle est la marque de colorant à gâteau vous prenez?
I use Americolor Gel paste for my colouring needs.
Hi, I love watching your videos you have uploaded. I want to make your Zebra cake for my mother in law for Mother’s Day. I always have trouble when converting from cups to kgs etc. do you have the metric version of the recipe please? Thank you. :0)
Here is the conversion link…http://cookiescupcakesandcardio.com/?page_id=3348 Enjoy! I hope she likes it!
Thank you very much. 🙂
Loved the idea of your cake! My daughter is having her birthday party at a zoo, and we are all about the zebra theme. Anyways, I am going to be making a 10 inch round cake and was wondering if you started to add more of the white color batter toward the top of the cake so that the stripes don’t look too close to each other? (like your above pic) Since it is a bigger cake, do I initially put the 4 tablespoons of batter in or should it be more, double it? I want to do a few dry runs before the big day, but want to get an idea of the ideal proportions. Thanks!!
The lines will be close together along the sides of the pan no matter what because of the pressure the additional batter adds. You can try to add more white between the colours to help that. You will probably want more batter than this, as it was for an 8″ cake. Have fun!
Hi Jenn,
Thanks so much for the inspiration, I made a 2 layer pink zebra cake using a 9×13 pan with the marshmallow buttercream! It held up beautifully and the cake was a huge hit! Now to tackle the milk and cookie shots haha…
Cheers 🙂
I’m super happy to hear that it worked out! Good luck with the shots…they’re tricky! It took me so many batches before I figured it out.
Does it work in cupcakes?
You are awsome by the way!!!!! 😀
Yes, definitely!
Hello,
I am hoping to attempt this for my friend’s bridal shower. However, the bride is lactose intolerant, do you have any tips on how to make this lactose free and still look and taste amazing? I believe I would be looking for alternatives on the buttercream and milk. Any suggestions, you might have would be very much appreciated.
Whenever I have had that required special ingredients, I just sub what’s in the recipe for an alternative…eg. reg milk for almond or soy milk. It has worked for me many times in both the cake and the icing. Good luck!
Thank you for the tutorial – very keen to try it but could you tell me how you Colour the cake batter white and ho.w you get white buttercream – mine is usually yellowish from the butter
Many thanks Doreem
All of this is explained in the video…you get the colouring by using the Americolor gel paste.
Hello! You’re SUCH an inspiration to young bakers like me, wow all your work is fantastic!
I’m wondering if you have any tips for making the buttercream so perfect on the cake (woah!!)
also, do you use a specific brand for the stripes (fondue?) or make it yourself? I’m not really experienced with it.
Hi! Thanks for watching my videos! I use Satin Ice fondant when I’m not using my own marshmallow fondant that I’ve made. Smoothing the buttercream just takes time and a trip to the freezer in between each layer to make sure that it stays even.
Hello Jenn thank you for having taken time to answer me. I have make the cake and I did not make a success of him(it).
I know not where what is what I missed.
I put some black frost gel Wilton and its in fired to the purple. In my opinion it is due to the white pate.
40 min later the cake was not cooked in the middle.
I am going to make the sprinkles cake I hope that I am going to make a success. I am too much afraid.
You have to know your oven when it comes to baking times. In my oven, the cake 40 minutes to bake, but you obviously need to have more time in the oven for yours to be baked. It’s not a bad thing to have it in the oven for longer…you want it to be completely baked before taking it out.
Hello, I was wondering if the black or pink coloring leave a bitter(?) flavor to the cake as they do in icing. I love the look of this and am going to try it as I have a zebra theme cake to make for my niece’s party in two weeks.
Thank you!
Carla
No, the gels have no taste or smell to them.
Hi Jenn,
I definitely have to try this cake next!
Just wondering, what measuring spoons/ scoops do you use? – I need to buy some new ones and I like the look of the ones you use in this recipe and in the amazing ferrero rocher cupcake recipe too – another on my to do list!
Thanks
Joe Joe x
I just buy whatever is on sale at Target! Boring, I know 🙁
Thanks. Made it! Looks fab on the outside. Haven’t cut into it yet though to see how it looks! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153860030790128&set=ms.10153860030790128.10153860032175128.bps.a.10153761811980128.1073741827.764375127&type=1&theater
Hi Jenn, can i ask do i need to beat the mixture till soft/stiff peak?
No, you don’t want to beat cake batter too much. You may ruin it.
Hello , I’m french girl , sorry for my english. I want to do this cake . Can you gave the proportion in gram please ?
I want to do this cake for my sister birthday .
Thank you .
There is a conversion link for you under the recipes heading.
Hi Mrs ,
Thank you for answer. I look the conversion link.
flour=120g, sugar=200g, oil=180ml,milk=240ml that’s right? I don’t find for the baking powder? How I do?
Thank you
I updated the post for you…hope that helps!! Good luck.
Hi 🙂
I want to make this cake for my birthday on next Sunday. I read your conversion above. But 2 1/2 cups flour = 300 gr, sugar 2 cups = 400gr ?
Guess there is a turner, isn’t it? Or has it to be more sugar than flour?
Greetings from Germany 🙂
Sugar weighs more than flour.
can I use castor sugar instead??
I’m not sure, you’ll have to google it and see if it’s the same.
Hi Jen
Hi,
Was just wondering if you had a recipe for the vanilla buttercream? or if it was store bought?
cant wait to make this 🙂
I do! I just linked it to the blog post. Thanks for asking as I didn’t realize I hadn’t linked the recipe.
Hi. looking for the links you mentioned above for your vanilla buttercream as well as the pink you use, as I’m not finding them. Help…lol
I used deep pink and the buttercream recipe is here: http://cookiescupcakesandcardio.com/?p=2696 Enjoy!
Hello,
I love this idea. I just did the cup cake version and it looks awesome. Thanks so much for recipes. I haven’t tried one we did not like! Yummy.
For cup cakes, was there anything you did different from this recipe above?
I haven’t made them into cupcakes, but I am confident that you would follow the exact same steps.
Thanks for the shout out, Jenn!!! 😀
I had a great time hanging out with you, getting to know you and just being around cool people. Thank you very much for inviting me! I totally appreciate it.
As for Beth, I pray that her brother will heal soon. It really sucks to lose those you love.
Have a wonderful weekend, Jenn, and keep up with the good work!
Jenn, you’re awesome!
My adult son would probably like this since he is a Ted Nugent fan…not sure about the pink for him though. 🙂 I personally think it really finishes the cake off!
Hope you enjoy LA and welcome to the US! Be careful about pick-pocketers.
I’m trying to figure out how you get anything done at home. My house always needs cleaning or picking-up, and I always think I need to do that before I start baking, so my baking seems to sit on the back-burner. And here you are, making at least three attempts before the item actually gets on the tube. You’re amazing!
The cake is a great idea!
Thanks,
Laura B
The great thing about this cake is that you could change the cake to any colour scheme that you want to….it doesn’t even need to be zebra if you don’t want it to be. We have a lot of balls that we’re juggling right now, and I’ll admit that outside of the kitchen, cleaning is not our priority…it gets done when we have time. We’re both really good about doing a little bit whenever there is a minute. We don’t have any free time here in LA, we’re filming and doing our workshops the whole time, but thanks for the advice!
I love this! You make it look so easy. I hope my dd will want this for her 9th birthday!
I’m so glad you like it! Thanks for your loyal following Laura!