Zebra Cake

It was time to ring in the New Year bells for 2011 & we had decided to do it at this friend’s place. Kartik & Sharadha were one of the few shining lights during our stay in the US & when they had called us over to celebrate the coming of 2011 at their place, I decided to get some goodies to go along with. And that’s where the Zebra cake came into the picture. I had actually tried this cake a couple of times earlier & even though it never did come out that well, with a little encouraging nods from the hubby (not sure if he was inebriated), I did give it one more shot & to my surprise it did come out nice.

Ingredients

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup ( 250 g) granulated sugar
1 cup ( 250 ml) milk, at room temperature
1 cup ( 250 ml)  Veg oil ( canola is fine)
2 cups (300 g) plain flour
1/3 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. dark cocoa powder ( I used Ghirardelli )

 In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Using electric mixer or wire whisk, beat until the mixture is creamy and light in colour.

 Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.

 In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour, vanilla and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. 

 Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cocoa powder into another and mix well.

 Preheat the oven to 350°F /180°C.

 Lightly grease a 9 inch cake pan with oil( or you can grease the pan  and  line it with parchment paper ).

 Scoop 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter (you can also use a ladle) into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of cocoa batter and pour it in the centre on top of the plain batter. 

Please note that you don’t stop and wait until the previous batter spreads – Keep going!!

Bake for about 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven.

 Immediately run a small thin knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and then invert the cake onto a wire rack. Turn the cake back over and let cool. For this one I do have to thank my husband as I really needed that push!!!!!!