Zebra Cakes
Servings: 16 cakes
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 box vanilla cake mix you can use yellow or white, my favorite is Betty Crocker Super Moist Vanilla Cake
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ⅓ cups water
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup full fat sour cream
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the filling:
- 7 oz Marshmallow creme you can also use marshmallow fluff
- ¾ cup salted butter room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 2-4 tbsp heavy cream room temperature
For the coating:
- 32 oz almond bark
- 3 tbsp crisco you can also use vegetable oil or butter
- ⅓ cup milk chocolate melting wafers you can also use chocolate chips or baking bars
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350° and spray and line with parchment paper 2 half sheet pans (18×13-inch). In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand held mixer, mix together the boxed cake mix, corn starch, sugar, water, eggs, vanilla and oil until combined, about 1 minute. Add in the flour, salt and sour cream and mix on medium until incorporated and there aren't any lumps, 2-3 minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly between both pans and smooth. These cakes will be thin! Bake for 15-18 minutes or until completely cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before refrigerating for 30-60 minutes.
For the filling:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand held mixer beat the marshmallow creme and butter on medium high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 2 tbsp of heavy cream or milk. Mix on medium speed until smooth and add additional heavy cream until it reaches desires consistency. You want it spreadable but not too thin.
For assembly:
- Once the cake has cooled cut out 32 hexagons using around a 2 inch cookie cutter. The cake is soft so in between cuts I dip the cookie cutter in flour to avoid the cake sticking. Spread the filling on top of half of the shapes and top with another. Place on a jelly roll sheet pan lined with wax paper or parchment paper and freeze for 1 hour or up to 24 hours. The longer these are frozen the easier they are to work with!
For the coating:
- In a large heatproof bowl melt the almond bark, 30 seconds at a time mixing in between, until totally melted. Stir in the crisco until smooth. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before dipping in the heart cakes. In a small bowl melt the chocolate wafers and pour into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
To decorate:
- Dip the frozen cakes completely into the melted almond bark and place onto a cookie rack covered in wax paper or parchment paper. Allow to set for 10 minutes before drizzling on the milk chocolate in arched lines to create the design.