Hey guys, after all your guest postings of yummy baked goodies, I'm presenting today a Zebra Cake as a treat for all of you. This is my second successful baking attempt, the first being a simple tea cake, which I'm yet to share. This recipe is adapted from here to the T. Though mine has not come out so well in shape, but it tasted yummy. The top part had become a bit dark, so I had just scrapped it off. Nevertheless, the entire experience of making was good, right from mixing the batter, dropping it in the baking pan, seeing it spread to the sight of the lovely final product. Do have a look at it and let me know if its done well....
Ingredients:
Eggs - 4 large,  at room temperature
Granulated sugar - 250g, you can increase to 1½ cups for a sweeter cake
Milk - 1 cup, at room temperature
Oil (corn, vegetable or canola) - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Vanilla powder - 1/3 tsp, or you can use 1 tsp. vanilla essence instead
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Dark cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

Method:
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Using a hand-held electric mixer or wire whisk beat until the mixture is creamy and light in color

Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended

In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour, vanilla powder 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 (do not over beat to prevent air pockets from forming in the batter). The batter should be of medium consistency, not too thick and not too watery

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

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)

Lightly grease a 9" round pan

The most important part is assembling the cake batter in a baking pan. This is what you do. Scoop 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter (you can also use a ladle that would hold 3 tablespoons) into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter.

IMPORTANT! Do not stop and wait until the previous batter spreads - KEEP GOING! Do not spread the batter or tilt the pan to distribute the mixture. It will spread by itself and fill the pan gradually. Continue alternating the batters until you finish them.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Do not open the oven door at least the first 20 minutes or the cake will shrink and will not rise. To check if the cake is ready, insert a toothpick into the center. It should come out clean when ready. 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 cooking rack. Turn the cake back over and let cool.


You can sprinkle the top of the cake with some powdered (confectioner’s) sugar or leave it plain



Note - You may send your entries to my series 'Guest Post - Baking', I would love to host you on my space