Zebra Cake

zebra cake

I redeemed a free tub of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” soft spread from the product package that I received earlier.

I’m not a very health-conscious person except I encourage home-cooking. I  use full fat products as I love my food tasteful. Usually those products like this one highlighting “No trans fat, less saturated fat, cholesterol free” doesn’t really ring a bell to me as I’ve always had a perception that they make food tasteless.

However, I have to say I love this product for its taste. It’s buttery and smooth.  I really can’t believe it’s not butter! My husband loves to spread it on toast. I use it for baking. This zebra cake is my first trial. Compared with regular butter, it makes my baked goods moist and soft without using sour cream or yogurt. I actually used it right straight from the refrigerator without getting it to room temperature. It’s THAT soft. You could also melt it before use.

Oh, one more important fact! I may not care if this product is healthful, but it really is affordable!

Ingredients (8-inch cake):
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 cup “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” soft spread
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon cocoa powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Line with a parchment circle and butter the parchment.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs and sugar. On medium speed, beat until the mixture is light and creamy. Add milk, soft spread, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until the flour is just incorporated.
Divide batter into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cocoa powder into another and mix well.
Scoop 1/4 cup of plain batter into the middle of the cake pan. Then scoop 1/4 cup of cocoa batter and pour it in the centre (right on top) of the plain batter. Continue to alternate between the plain and cocoa batters (always pouring it in the centre right on top of the previous batter) until you use up the batters. Bake until golden or until a cake tested comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Cool for 15 minutes in pan and then remove cake from pan to cool on a wire rack.

30 comments

  1. Okay, so this cake is in the oven right now. Just a tip: make sure the butter (if using real butter) is melted before you add it to the egg mixture. Wonder how it will turn out!

    Thanks so much for the recipe!

  2. I'm in the process of making this right now and I can already tell you that the cake batter was delish! =P

    I didn't use "I can't believe it's not butter" cause I didn't have any and didn't feel like going out to get some, so we'll see how it turns out with regular butter! Thanks for the recipe! Loved that I had all the ingredients in my pantry and I didn't need to run out to get stuff!!

  3. For anyone who's curious about the soft spread, it's in fact made with a blend of nutritious oils such as soybean and canola oil. So, it has less saturated fat than butter. Plus it has no trans fat and is cholesterol free. Also full of omega-3.
    You can go to their site to learn more.

  4. What a nifty looking cake! I wonder if something like Benecol (healthy butter-like spread) would work the same way since the texture is similar.

  5. I too am curious like Angie as to what "not butter" is. Don't think I've seen it here in Singapore. Anyway this cake looks gorgeous and I've always been amazed at how beautiful a zebra cake looks like.

  6. I made the zebra cake quite a while ago, but mine didn't turn out as beautifully swirled as yours did. Kudos on a great cake!

  7. Yeah, I wanted to ask you the same question as Angie! What is 'not butter'? Btw, I love my food tastful too!
    Have a great day!
    Happy Mother's Day to you!
    Blessings, Kristy

  8. i've always wondered how to make cakes like that other than glopping the chocolate in a bunch of places and using a knife to swirl. it looks so neat.

  9. Oh, yum! You make me want to make this AGAIN. Good to know that I CAN'T BELIEVE butter works here. ;-)

    Paz

  10. now that's a fun cake, I can't believe how easy the pattern is created, my first thought was how perfectly you swirled it together…

  11. Hi, I just wanted to leave a post to thank you for the cast iron casserole which arrived a few days ago. I'll post a blog about it someday in the near future and will send you the link. We would surely have enjoyed a meal cooked in it by now but we had a death in the family and are a bit too depressed to think of fancy cooking. Sometime this week. I found a great bread to bake in it on foodgawker. Unbelievable but sounds like a fun thing to do.

    Marlis

  12. Such a cute cake! Turned out beautiful. I had a cupcake fiasco yesterday (they totally sank… thats never happened to me before!) so I'm scared to make cake right now.

  13. It is a very pretty cake but I have to say this, you know I do:

    It needs more cocoa!

  14. That's a really gorgeous cake! And it looks incredibly moist!

    Happy Mother's Day :)

  15. I wonder what exactly the "not butter" spread is….softened margarine?
    The cake does look very moist and great to me.

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