ZEBRA CAKE WITH AMARULA GANACHE
After looking over a number of recipes and trying to decide simple or fancy schmancy ..simple won! May look fancy but this is so easy with your Ank!
Usually when making a chocolate or vanilla cake I will use a chiffon recipe but to get the stripes you need a thinner batter so this sour cream cake works great. Throw on a few raspberries before serving if you like and enjoy!
FOR THE CAKE:
4 eggs
3/4 cup butter softened
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cup warm water
3 tsp vanilla extract
***
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/3 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
***
To half of batter you will add...
4 oz melted dark chocolate
GANACHE:
1 1/2 Cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup Amarula or favorite cream liqueur (optional)
1/2 cup Whipping cream or 1 cup if no liqueur
Prep: I used 2 small bundt pans but you can use a large bundt pan for this or even put in a 13 x 9 pan. Grease pans well and coat with flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Not often do I use the Ankarsrum small bowl and single whips but this is a time I did. As it is a small thin batter. Add the eggs, butter and brown sugar to the bowl. Blend till smooth and whip at a higher speed for 1 minute then add vanilla, sourcream and water. Add the dry ingredient, after these are added only mix till smooth. Place half of the batter into a large measure cup or a container with a pouring spout. Add the melted chocolate to the remainder of batter and again blend just till chocolate is well mixed in.
Now to get the zebra stripes (so sorry, I forgot to take pics of this cake during process) start with a thin layer of white just run a small bit around the bottom of pans, then a thin layer of chocolate over than, then white again and so on and so on till half batter is in each pan. Please note..with small pans you won't get quite the zebra effect as you do with 1 large pan. Place pans in oven and bake for 25 min or till done, will vary dependant on pan you use. Check for doneness with toothpick.
I prefer these small size as it serves 6-8. The other cake I will freeze for another time. I actually love baking with these little bundts for cake, monkey bread or even a meatloaf.
For Ganache..in a heat proof dish heat the cream and liqueur in microwave till hot but not boiling. Add the chocolate chips to this, cover and allow to sit for about 3 minutes and the chocolate will melt. Once cake has cooled and ganache has thickened a bit pour it over cake and enjoy!
I love Amarula, but you can choose any cream liqueur or for non alcoholic version just double the whipping cream.
Happy Valentines:-)
