Coffee-flavored desserts are slowly growing on me; an off occurrence since my taste buds have detested coffee for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it’s because I’m growing older day by day and the flavor is a commonly acquired taste among adults.

Because of a worldwide coffee craze, I came up with a brilliant idea of creating a mocha flavored zebra cake. A zebra cake is typically chocolate and vanilla, but I wanted to bake something slightly different by using coffee powder, along with cocoa powder, and using meringue to make a chiffon cake. This cake looks difficult to prepare but is quite simple so it’ll be sure to impress yourself or anyone you choose to share it with!, that is if there is any left…

Or maybe I am just a dessert monster who is capable of eating an entire cake in a day… oops!

With that being said, use some free time to bake this cake as the ultimate stress reliever and indulge in its sweetness afterward.

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Mocha Chiffon Zebra Cake

 

yield: 7 in. cake

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. neutral flavored oil
• 3 1/2 tbsp warm milk
• 2/3 c + 1 tbsp. cake flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. instant coffee powder
• meringue (3 egg whites + 2.5 tbsp. sugar); beat until stiff peaks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 370 F.
2. Line a small cake pan with parchment paper. A 7″ springform pan or a similar shaped oven-safe pot will work.
3. In a medium bowl with egg yolks, add the granulated sugar and vanilla extract and whisk.
4. Add the neutral flavored oil and warm milk and whisk.
5. Sift in the cake flour and baking powder and whisk until evenly incorporated. (Do not overwhisk).
6. Pour half of the batter into a medium bowl and add the cocoa powder and instant coffee powder. Whisk until evenly incorporated.
7. Fold half of the egg whites into the white batter and the other half into the cocoa/coffee batter. Fold carefully and do not overdo it as it may deflate the batter. (Watch recipe video to see folding technique).
8. Pour white batter into one plastic/piping bag and the dark batter into another plastic/piping bag. Pipe the batters into baking pan, alternating colors to form a zebra design. (Watch recipe video to see piping technique).
9. Bake in the oven 35-40 min.
10. Remove from oven immediately and allow to cool at room temperature before removing from pan. Cake may deflate a little, but not too much.
11. Dust with powdered sugar if you’d like!

Store cake in an airtight container for up to 7 days for best freshness. When taking out the the refrigerator, microwaving for around 10 seconds will soften the cake.