Zebra cake
When you don’t just want cake, you want damned epic cake, here’s your gig. A marble cake by any other name, this one is all about intense chocolate flavour, shot through with bright pops of orange. And if you stuff up the marbling and end up with more of an artless dumped effect rather than an elegant zebra-like one, that is totally OK; however you slice or dice this beast, it’s all good.
The chocolate-y bits here taste ridiculously chocolate-y. That comes down to using good cocoa, and plenty of it. We used Dutch cocoa, more accurately called ‘Dutch-processed’ cocoa. The difference between this and regular cocoa is that the cocoa solids in Dutch cocoa have been treated with an alkaline, which reduces the natural acidity and produces a less bitter, more intense, smooth flavour. You can use regular cocoa here but the cake simply won’t taste the same. Or look the same either as Dutch cocoa is noticeably darker and richer in hue.
If you’re looking to convert your favourite chocolate recipes from normal to Dutch cocoa, bear in mind that, as Dutch process cocoa isn't acidic, it doesn't react with alkaline raising agents such as baking soda. That means recipes using it should rely on baking powder, which has a neutral pH, to rise. Now you know. FYI we used Van Houten brand, which is arguably the most famous commercial brand.
And we hate to go on, but geeze this is good. The recipe makes a massive cake so it’s ideal if you have a crowd coming over, or just want some good cake hanging around whenever the urge strikes (you can cut this up and freeze it). Note that you do need a pair of digital scales to accurately weigh the ingredients here but in our world, these are a critical piece of kit anyway. When you get a set, you’ll wonder how you ever functioned without them.
MAKES 1 x 24cm BUNDT CAKE
500g caster sugar
115ml water
115g dark chocolate, broken
360g plain flour, plus extra, for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
225g softened unsalted butter, plus extra, for greasing
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
125ml (½ cup) buttermilk
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
Preheat the oven to 160˚C, fan-forced. Lightly grease a 24cm, 10 cup-capacity bundt tin with butter, then lightly dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
Combine 110g (½ cup) of the caster sugar, the cocoa and water in a small saucepan, then whisk to combine. Place the pan over medium heat, then bring just to a simmer, whisking often to prevent lumps forming. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate, stand for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt, then whisk until the mixture is smooth. Scrape the mixture into a medium-sized bowl, then cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl, then set aside.
Combine the butter, remaining sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer, then beat well until light and fluffy. (Alternatively combine in a large bowl and beat using electric beaters). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each. Add the flour mixture, then using a large metal spoon, stir quickly to combine well. Add the buttermilk and stir to combine. Add 2 cups of the batter to the cooled chocolate mixture in the bowl, then stir until smooth and combined well. Stir the orange zest into the remaining batter.
Using a large metal spoon, drop half the orange-flavoured batter as evenly as you can into the prepared bundt tin, then drop in half of the chocolate mixture, tap the pan firmly on the bench to even the layers. Repeat the process with the remaining batters, then draw a dinner knife through the batter in the pan in a zigzag; this will create a striped or marbled effect. Bake the cake for 70 minutes, or until a cake tester withdraws clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cake rack to cool.