Cats Cakes and Bakes: 2015

Zebra Cake

Ingredients for the cake:-

· 6oz butter or margarine

· 6oz caster sugar

· 3 medium eggs

· 10oz self raising flour

· 4 tbsp milk

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· Black colour gel

· Pink colour gel

· 9oz white fondant

· 1oz black fondant

Ingredients for the buttercream:-

· 4.5oz butter

· 1/5 tsp vanilla extract

· 2 cups icing sugar

· Pink colour gel

To decorate the board:-

4oz white fondant

1/2oz black fondant

Method:-

Pre heat the oven to 170c (Fan).

Grease two victoria sponge tins.

Cream the butter and sugar together

Then add one egg at a time with 1tbsp of flour (sieved) repeat with the milk, then add the vanilla extract and the remainder of the flour.

You will then need to separate the mixture, with half in one bowl, ¼ in two more bowls.

Now you will need to add black to one of the ¼ bowls and pink to the other.

To get the black true black I always add a little cocoa powder with the first few drops of colour then add more until the desired shade.

You now need to spoon the mixture into your tins, I use 3 different sized spoons but if you have 3 different sized ice cream scoops they will be great too.

Firstly with the biggest spoon add the “white” mixture.

Then with the medium spoon add the black, then with the smallest spoon add the pink.

Repeat this process until you have filled both tins.

Once both tins are filled place them in the pre heated oven for around 19-23 minutes.

Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack until completely cool, so they are ready to ice.

While the cakes are cooling you can prepare the buttercream and fondant.

Buttercream –

Gradually mix the softened butter (I soften mine in the microwave for a few seconds on the lowest setting) and the sifted icing sugar together. Once mixed well take out 1/3 of the buttercream and add pink food colour gel to your desired taste (I used 1 tsp).

Take the quantity of icing for the cake board and roll the white to a little thicker than you will want it on the board, repeat with the black.

You will then need a roller cutter (I used a pizza cutter) to cut stripes for your zebra from the black. You will repeat this process for the main cake also.

Then you need to place the black ontop of the white and roll it to your desired thickness (around 5mm)

Once rolled to the correct size you can place onto the board.

Repeat the process with the larger quantities of fondant; this will be for the main cake, when done use your rolling pin to hold it. This will be the easiest way to apply the icing once you have crumb coated the cake.