Zebra stripes and hot pick are a really popular combination these days. But seeing it on the INSIDE of a cake is a great twist. This cake is absolutely easy and turns out very well for first-timers. I came across this method of zebra striping the inside of cake at a blog called Sugar & Everything Nice. I changed things up a bit, though, by adding the hot pink and bringing the stripes a little closer together.
This cake was so fun to make, because as you go you see all the rings forming (pictured below) and it's fascinating to watch.
Ingredients
One batch of white cake batter
2 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Black food coloring gel
Pink food coloring gel
Directions
1. Divide your batter into 3 separate bowls. Leave one uncolored. In the second bowl mix in cocoa powder and black food coloring gel (enough gel to get it the color you want… I added 1/4 teaspoon of the Wilton Fondant coloring paste/gel). In the third bowl mix in pink food coloring gel until it is the color you want (you will not need as much as you used for the black).
2. Grease and line the bottom of your pan (I used an 8 inch pan) with parchment paper. I wouldn't skip this step because if the cake tears apart coming out of the pan, the effect is pretty much ruined. Start off by adding roughly two tablespoons of your white batter to the very center of your pan. Wait a few seconds for the batter to spread out. In the center of your white batter, add two tablespoons of your black batter and wait for it to spread out. Then add two tablespoons of your pink batter. Your pan should look something like this:
3. You will repeat this process until the pan is as full as you want it to be. Don't make it too full because you do not want a overlarge dome to cook up. And yes, this will take awhile… but it's not boring. This is how the pan should gradually transform:
4. Bake your cake as evenly as possible. It helps to rotate the pan after 10 minutes of cooking. Bake your batter according to your recipe's instructions. Wait a few minutes after pulling it out of the oven, then turn it out but do not let it cool upside down. Once it's cool, you can remove the parchment paper and decorate or top however you like. Warning: you won't want to cover up that pretty top.
Get in touch with your wild side and try it out!
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This is so neat! I think my sister in law would like this, she loves her inner "wild side"….but I have to wait until after midnight to share it. LOL!!!
Maggie, you’re so funny!
This is SOOO cool! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Thanks Heather, I’m glad you like it!
Ok, I am not a huge baker, but this is awesome! I may have to come up with an occasion so I can try it.
Love, love, LOVE this idea. What a show stopper to cut into a cake like this!
OOOHHH! I love that…I always get people asking for variations on marble cake. How fun. Thanks for posting it.
FABULOUS cake, Kathryn!!
XOXO
Bird
That looks like fun AND something a novice baker like myself could try!
I absolutely love your blog! You are so talented, thank you so much for sharing. Your video tutorials are amazing!!
Thank you so much Joey! Blogging is so enjoyable when you know others are enjoying it!
That is SO cool! I think I might try that for my daughter's upcoming 'rock star' party! I wonder if I could get a similar effect with cupcakes? Hmmm… Thanks for the great idea!
Brilliant! I will be making a cake tomorrow just to try this out! Thanks for the amazing idea.
You have to tell me how it goes!
I am using a Pillsbury cake mix and it's not wanting to spread out much… hope it turns out!!! It certainly is looking interesting! Wish me luck!
If its thick, putting it in large ziploc bags with cut tips then squeezing some into the center helps push out the batter. Good luck!
I ended up making the cake for my new baby neice. You can see my blog post here http://madcourthouse.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-fun-cake.html
The cake was a big hit and everbody wanted to know how I had done it. So I told them they could find the link on my blog. Thanks again for the brilliant idea.
This cake looks amazing! Pink and black is such a good combination, but I never thought of it for a cake
Isn’t it fun?!
Thank you for sharing! My daughter's first bithday is at the end of the month, and I have been looking for all things black, pink and white zebra striped!
This cake is PERFECT!
Perfect! Let me know how it turns out!
While I love the pink and black–I am sooo going to do this for a certain TIGER tailgate that we have every home game!! LOVE IT!!
I considered that. The black and orange will look so great together, and what a fantastic idea to use it for a tailgate party! Please take a pic and send it to me!
What an amzing idea ! But in the end, it still tastes like white cake, right ?
All except the black… which you add cocoa powder and black food coloring paste to get it black. The food coloring does not taste but the cocoa powder makes it slightly chocolatey… but its very mild.
Sounds great ! Thank you !
I think this is great .Thank you .We are planning my cousins baby shower , pink zebra stripes. Hw do you think cupcakes would turn out?
Great idea! I haven’t done cupcakes but I am planning on experimenting next week using this method with cupcakes, so you’ll see!
Please let us know and/or see your cupcake version. Sounds pretty interesting.
Is it asking too much to email me if you do post a picture. Thanks for all the good you do in sharing your ideas.
yxelyxel@gmail.com
OMG, WOW !!!! I love this cake my niece has her quinceanera (15th birthday) comeing up soon, and her theme is pink Zebra. she is going to flip when i show her this idea !!!
This is AMAZING! I just discovered you through Pinterest and I'm so glad I did! Such great stuff on your blog! Thanks!!
Thank you!
i was wondering what color you used to make the hot pink? i am planning on making this cake for my best friends bridal shower and wanted to give it a few tries so i can make sure its perfect. thanks in advance, i'm so excited about this cake!
I used the rose pink wilton gel coloring. A little goes a long way so add a little at a time.
I did it tonight and didn't get THE result you did but i think it still looks good..Thanks!!
This is an awesome idea!! I love to bake and just so happen to be throwing a rock star themed party for my daughters 6th birthday! I plan on making a guitar shaped cake with her theme colors of pink and black and think this would be a nice touch!! The only thing is I will have to make the cake in a rectangular pan rather than a round one.. Do u think I will get the same effect?!
Could you add the black gel to a chocolate cake mix?
Sure!
AWESOME! I'm doing a hot pink/zebra theme for my 4th daughter's 1st Birthday next month! I am going to try this out for sure! Do you think it has to be a circle pan, or you could get the same sort of effect in a wilton shaped pan (ie. a castle, princess crown, etc.). I will need to ice the outside anyways, so will be missing the wow factor until it's cut into!!! Great job!
I just made this today, I love it! I'm by no means a cake decorater, but been helping my mom make cakes since I was little. It looks great, it ended up coming out really small, because of the pans I was using so I ended up making it a layer cake! I can't wait to cut into it later tonight, I work at a college and we have to work at a dance tonight and the theme is "Out of this World" I figured it would be a perfect snack! Thanks for sharing.
I just tried this recipe and the cake batter was so thick, it would lay down quite as nicely as yours did. I waited and waited. Any advice??
You might want to try thinning it with a little water. Or… simply use a piping bag and stick the tip into the center of the last circle and pipe INTO the center of it. It will push out the outer batter more forcefully than just spooning it on.
I have to make 100 cupcakes for my sisters 30th black and white party. These will be such a hit! Thank you for sharing
Good luck!
i made the cake. it was super easy. i used a square pan, it turned out well. next time more batter
So glad it turned out… thanks for the update!
Am I missing some directions? Was this half a boxed cake mix? You only made one layer so I'm confused. What did you use….cake mix or a one layer homemade cake recipe? Please be specific….I want mine to look like yours. Thanks.
Wow! This is really fun!! I am a novice baker. Ive been practicing at home with family cakes and just now starting to take on requests from others. I am always looking for new ideas and learn new techniques. This is just amazingly cool!! My daughter would like a tie-dye decorated cake but I think Im going to do this with different colors for an extra added surprise for her!! It wont be until Sept though. Im so excited!!! Thank you so much for posting this!!
I want to make this cake for my daughters birthday but bake it in a # 1 cake pan. Do you think that it will turn out if I bake it in a cake pan like that? Thanks!
I tried this with cupcakes. They came out looking more marbley but still look cool. This was also my trial and error batch. Next time should be more successful. I suggest using piping bags or just putting the batter in a freezer bag and cutting the tip off. Start with filling the bottom of the cupcake liner with white batter. Rather than putting a blob down and letting it spread, squeeze out the size of the layer you want from the bag. You won't get as many stripes but you will still get the same effect. It's too bad people like frosting because they look great unfrosted! Hope this helps
I want to make this for my daughters first birthday do you think that it would turn out if I made it in a pan shaped like #1?
Sure! You will get a different kind of striped look, but it will still marble and look REALLY interesting!
We're throwing a black & white zebra themed baby shower with splashes of pink decorations here & there (don't like the overpowering pink/black zebra stripes). This cake is perfect though. My sister is making the belly cake with this method (using the round sports pan & the 2 big cupcakes pan) and I am making extra regular size cupcakes to match. Definately will be using this idea. The shower is in 3 weeks and my sister is practicing now with a 3 colored cake just to eat.
I am definitely doing this for my daughters birthday!
Made a cake & cupcakes like this Saturday for a baby shower and it was a huge hit. We used the pink, white & black zebra theme so this cake was perfect. Thanks for posting. I woudln't have even thought to do this otherwise.
I just tried this. It's in the oven as we speak. I used the Betty Crocker white mix though and chocolate (I didn't color it black at all). The betty crocker was too thick since it has pudding in it but I didn't think about that at first. I added a little water to thin it out a bit. My center kind of went off center though.
So I think only part of it will look zebra-ish and the rest is going to look like a great big giant mess! Any tips on how to keep the center in the center when it spreads? This is just a test cake..my daughters birthday party is in 1 week!
My daughter is turning 11 the day after thanksgiving, and as i dont bake I really wanted to make her an amazing cake for the first time. I am so excited to try this out, but i think i will try it out a couple times before the big day
I do this with only 2 colors and it looks so much better than with 3. If your batters are not the same consistency, thin out the thicker batter a little to make it more fluid, and make sure that you bang the pans on the counter a little to help it level out and get out some of the larger air bubbles that form.
BEAUTIFUL & FUN!
Any thoughts on how I can successfully accomplish this with cupcakes?
Thanks bunches!
I saw this tutorial ystdy via facebook & couldn’t wait to try it! I used pink and turquoise inside. Then I made your marshmallow frosting (to freaking die for, btw!) & added purple coloring. For all of the colors, I used the Wilton gel/paste color in neon. SO much fun & gorgeous! I, of course, shared my cake on facebook & included your link. So many compliments poured in! If I can figure out how, I’ll definitely post a pic!
Did you put the parchment paper inside of your pan?
Yes. It really helps the cake come out clean.
Made this cake for my daughter’s 2nd birthday and I made two cakes and layered them together and it was wonderful
thanks for sharing…
How fantastic! What a clever idea. Thanks for sharing.