This 3-layer zebra cake features mesmerizing swirls of chocolate and vanilla, plus a silky chocolate cream cheese frosting. This marbled cake is easier than it looks because it starts with just 1 batter!
I originally shared this recipe in 2017, and I’ve since updated it with new photos, a video, and extra success tips for consistently great results.
You’re looking at chocolate and vanilla cakes baked together in a striking striped pattern. Pretty impressive, right? Much easier than you think to pull off, too. Like marble loaf cake but a little more flashy. Zebra cake is often baked as a single-layer cake or a Bundt cake, but I needed a fun and towering cake for a friend’s birthday. And an excuse to make chocolate cream cheese frosting!
*No zebras were harmed in the making of this cake. 😉
One reader, Erin, commented: “This cake is delicious! It’s fun to make, and the final product looks astounding. The cake has a wonderfully soft and fluffy texture. And the frosting!! That chocolate cream cheese frosting has to be the best kind of frosting I have ever had. It’s creamy, smooth, chocolate-y, and downright perfect. Even my dad, who hates frosting, loved it. It’s nice because it’s not as tooth-decayingly sweet as normal buttercream. And the cream cheese adds a fabulous tang! This is definitely my new favorite chocolate frosting recipe. ★★★★★“
Ingredients You Need
- All-Purpose Flour: Cake flour is too light to stand up to this particular cake. Use all-purpose here, and be sure to sift it before measuring. Sifting the flour rids any clumps and aerates it, which I find important in a cake recipe that uses this much flour.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These leaveners lift the cake up while baking.
- Salt: To balance out the sweet.
- Proper Room-Temperature Butter: To achieve a good rise, properly cream the butter and sugar together. You have the crutch of baking powder and baking soda, but the cake’s crumb truly sings when that creaming process steps in. You need softened, room-temperature butter, which is actually still cool and firm to the touch, not soft and greasy. Butter that’s too cold or too warm won’t mix properly.
- Sugar: We’re using granulated sugar to sweeten this zebra cake.
- Eggs: While I sometimes use only the egg whites to make white cake, we’re using whole eggs today. We don’t want a crumb as light and fluffy as the white cake; rather, this crumb is similar to the rich, moist texture of yellow cake.
- Sour Cream: It adds moisture and richness, and makes for a creamy, tender texture in every bite.
- Pure Vanilla: Reach for pure vanilla extract—a full Tablespoon goes in the cake batter, and then you’ll use it to flavor the frosting, too. You’ll really taste it in this recipe, so I don’t recommend using imitation vanilla here.
- Buttermilk: Store-bought buttermilk gives the best result, but you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute if you can’t find it in your grocery store.
- Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder, and either Dutch-process or natural cocoa is fine. There’s enough acid in the cake batter that it wouldn’t make a difference. (Learn why that’s important here: Dutch-Process vs Natural Cocoa Powder.)
- Espresso Powder: Optional, for a deeper chocolate flavor.
Recipe Testing Zebra Cake
Back in 2018 when I was working on this recipe, I started with a basic vanilla cake/yellow cake hybrid recipe: my checkerboard cake. I ADORE this cake, which tastes like a cross between a mega-buttery yellow cake and lighter vanilla cake.
But if I’m not careful, I can over-cream the butter + sugar or over-mix the batter since there’s so much of it. Additionally, there’s extra mixing involved when you turn half of the vanilla cake batter into chocolate cake batter. Over-mixing can leave you with a denser-tasting cake. I wanted to avoid that, so I slightly reduced the flour and added a little more baking powder for lift + airiness. I added some sour cream too, for a little extra moisture. (Never hurts!) Totally worked—this cake is so moist!
Made From 1 Batter
The cake batter follows a simple, familiar process. Whisk the dry ingredients together, then work on the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs, then the sour cream and vanilla. Pour in the dry ingredients and then with the mixer running, slowly add the buttermilk.
The chocolate cake is made from the vanilla batter, so you don’t have to prepare two completely separate batters. YAY! Divide the batter in half and add cocoa powder to one.
But since we’re adding a dry and bitter ingredient to the chocolate batter, it will dry out the cake. A little sugar and warm milk or buttermilk solved that problem. (Warmth helps the cocoa powder bloom/dissolve.) Both the vanilla cake and chocolate cake are so moist. We did it!
You can also add a little espresso powder to the chocolate batter. Just to help bring out the chocolate flavor. This is an optional ingredient. You can find it in the coffee or baking aisle at the grocery store, or online.
IMPORTANT: This is a thick batter, which is important for this recipe because as you are layering the two batters together, it helps keep them separate, whereas a thin, runny batter would end up just spreading all together.
Use Parchment Paper Rounds for Cakes
Lining cake pans with parchment rounds is the trick I use every single time I bake a round cake, whether I’m making a 1-layer sprinkle cake, a 9-layer Smith Island cake, or today’s recipe. Store-bought pre-cut parchment rounds are convenient, but it’s really easy to just make them yourself. You can cut the exact pan size you need, whether you’re making a 6-inch cake, an 8-inch cake, or a 9-inch cake. If you don’t make a lot of round cakes, just cut them as you need them. If you bake a lot, cut many at a time and store them with your baking pans, ready for the next time you bake.
Very lightly grease the cake pan with butter or nonstick spray. Place the parchment paper round inside, and then grease the parchment, too. Yes, you grease the pan and then also grease the parchment. This creates an ultra-nonstick environment for your cake. The cake won’t stick to the pan, and the parchment round won’t stick to the cake. For more tips on this method, see Parchment Paper Rounds for Cakes.
How to Make Zebra Stripe Cake Layers
Now here’s where the zebra shows up! You create the beautiful zebra stripe pattern by layering the batters on top of each other. Before baking, the cakes look like a bullseye.
Start with a spoonful of 1 batter in the center of each of the pans, then place a spoonful of the other batter on top. Alternate between the 2 batters until you’ve filled the pans.
Every now and then, tap the pans on the counter and give them a little shake, to level the batter off and help it spread toward the edges of the pan.
Don’t worry about making this look perfect. The layers of the finished cake are going to look swirly and stripey—we aren’t trying to achieve perfectly straight lines here.
Bake the cakes and then let them cool completely before you make the…
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Regular cream cheese frosting is one of my all-time favorites because it’s not as cloyingly sweet as American-style buttercream and it’s easier than, say, making Swiss meringue buttercream. It’s the creamiest of frostings with a silky smooth and velvety mouthfeel. With carrot cake, red velvet cake, banana cake, and pumpkin cake… it’s just the best!
But could we possibly improve on the perfection that is cream cheese frosting? By adding… chocolate?? Oh yes… we could indeed.
Not in the mood for cream cheese frosting? Chocolate buttercream, Nutella frosting, vanilla buttercream, or Swiss meringue buttercream would also taste fantastic on this zebra cake.
Yes! Instead of turning half of the batter into chocolate batter, simply tint half of the batter your desired color using a couple drops of gel food coloring.
Yes! See how I turned this into a 6-inch layer cake for a safari-themed 1st birthday cake.
Assembling This Zebra Cake
Once the cakes have baked and cooled, trim the tops using a cake leveler or a large serrated knife to create an even surface. A flat top ensures a sturdier and more stable layered cake.
If you’d like a little assistance with this part, I have a full post and video tutorial on how to assemble a layer cake.
Now the moment of truth. Cutting into the cake to see how those zebra stripes look!
One reader, Amy, commented: “Sally, thank you for this cool and easy technique! I omitted the cocoa & used pink & green food coloring to make an Easter cake. My 11-year-old son helped & said ‘I like that this is a cool, not boring, way to make a cake.’ ★★★★★“
Cool and not boring? I’ll take that as a major compliment, coming from an 11-year-old!
Print
Zebra Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 27 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This 3-layer zebra cake features mesmerizing swirls of chocolate and vanilla, plus a silky chocolate cream cheese frosting. This marbled cake is easier than it looks because it starts with just 1 batter!
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/2 cups (413g) sifted all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (75g) sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, Tbsp!)
- 1 and 3/4 cups (420ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
Chocolate Batter
- 2 Tablespoons milk or buttermilk, warmed
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 1/3 cup (27g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 12 ounces (339g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2/3 cup (55g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1–2 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- pinch salt
- sprinkles for decorating, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Make the vanilla batter: Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the bowl again, and then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. The batter will look lumpy and curdled; that’s normal at this point.
- Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the buttermilk, then beat on low speed until combined. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the buttermilk, then beat again on low speed until combined. Add the remaining of each, and beat just until incorporated. Do not over-mix this batter. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick.
- Make the chocolate batter: There will be around 8 cups of batter total. Divide it in half (you can just eyeball it) and transfer half of the batter into another bowl. Whisk espresso powder into the warmed milk and then add it to one of the batters, along with the cocoa powder and sugar. Whisk until combined; a few small lumps are OK.
- Grease three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Drop a large spoonful of 1 batter in the center of each pan. You can use the back of the spoon to spread it around a bit to make a circle. Top each circle with a spoonful of the other batter. Rotating the pans as you add the batters will help you get that circle shape. Alternate spoonfuls of the batters on top of each other in each pan and repeat until all the batter is used. After every few spoonfuls, give the pans a little shake to level out the batters.
- Bake for 25–27 minutes, or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans set on a cooling rack for 1 hour, then remove them from the pans and let the cakes finish cooling directly on the rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the butter and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, 1 Tablespoon milk, and salt and beat on low speed; gradually increase the speed to medium-high and beat until combined and creamy. Add 1 more Tablespoon of milk to slightly thin out, if needed. Taste, then add another pinch of salt if desired.
- Assemble and frost: First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting (about 240g). Top with the 2nd cake layer, upside down, and evenly cover the top with the same amount of frosting. Top with the 3rd cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting in a thick layer all over the top and around the sides. Garnish with sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake keep its shape when cutting—it could slightly fall apart without this time in the fridge.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to use a cake carrier for storing and transporting.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cakes and frosting 1 day in advance. Keep cakes at room temperature, covered tightly. Refrigerate prepared frosting in an airtight container until ready to use. Bring frosting to room temperature before spreading as it will be quite stiff after refrigerating. (Add a splash of cream or milk to thin out, if needed.) Frosted or unfrosted cakes may be frozen for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Cake Turntable | Straight Spatula (for frosting) | Round Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Flour: Sift flour before measuring.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a DIY buttermilk substitute. Add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 3/4 cups. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure you’re using the bricks of cream cheese, not cream cheese spread. They’re typically sold in 8-ounce bricks, so you’ll need 1 and 1/2 bricks.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about the importance of room-temperature ingredients.
- Tint Half of the Batter: Instead of turning half of the batter into chocolate batter, simply tint half of the batter your desired color using a couple drops of gel food coloring.
- Smaller 6-Inch Cake: I scaled down this recipe to make a 6-inch version, and served it as a 1st birthday cake for my daughter’s “safari”-themed birthday.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I don’t know what I did wrong! When I put the cake together and frosted it, it seemed really spongy and light. But I left it in the fridge overnight before serving, and now it’s really dense. It still has great flavor, but I and so sad it’s not fluffy.
Hi Libby!
I bake one of Sally’s cakes almost weekly. While I always keep cakes in the fridge until the day it’s being served, it requires at least 4 hours for the butter in the batter and icing to soften (think of a stick of butter – hardens in fridge, softens at room temp). That same cake will be perfect once it gets to room temp. FYI – In the winter months, I give the cake a minimum of 6 hours before serving, out of the fridge.
I’m hoping to use this recipe for our wedding cake. I’m thinking three layers for a 6″ cake and a 4″ cake. Any advice on that? Thank you!
Hi Anna! Our handy cake pan sizes and conversions guide should be helpful for scaling this recipe for your needs. Enjoy!
I’m making this recipe for someone who isn’t a fan of cream cheese. Could I use vanilla frosting instead?
Absolutely! The chocolate buttercream recipe from this recipe or the vanilla frosting from this recipe should be perfect. Hope it’s a hit!
Can I use clear vanilla extract?
Absolutely.
This cake was a delicious and moist treat? My family and I all loved it, but I was wondering if cake flour could be used in this cake, or if it’d change the texture?
Hi Mia, cake flour isn’t strong enough for this cake, so we do suggest sticking to AP flour. Glad you enjoyed the cake!
Hi Sally! Yours is the only website I turn to when I’m baking something new:) I’m wondering whether I could adapt this recipe to make only 2 8 or 9 in layers. Would you recommend halving the recipe and making slightly thinner layers that way?
Hi Liz, there is too much batter for only 2 layers here. We’d recommend making the recipe as is, making two layers, and using the leftover batter for a few cupcakes. Thank you so much for making and trusting our recipes!
can I use cake flour?
Hi Amy, cake flour isn’t strong enough for this cake, so we do suggest sticking to AP flour.
can I replace sour cream with something?
Plain yogurt is a good substitute for sour cream!
Can you use a Bundt cake pan instead of the round one?
Hi Lise, This cake recipe will fit nicely into a Bundt pan. I’m unsure of the exact bake time for the bundt, but it should be close to (or over!) 1 hour at 350F. F
What is the cook time and temp if you want to make a 9×13 cake out of this batter?
Hi Ashley, It can be made in a 9×13 pan but we are unsure of the bake time. Same oven temperature though!
Hi, I have made this recipe before and it was AMAZING! I was thinking of making it again but just wondering for the frosting if it would still be good if I made it without the cocoa powder so it wouldn’t be intensely chocolate like. Thank you so much!
Hi Mia! You can use our favorite vanilla buttercream recipe instead!
What can I replace sour cream with?
Plain yogurt is a great sub!
The ingredient list says to use unsweetened natural cocoa, but in your post you say that you used Hershey’s special dark cocoa which looks to me to be Dutch processed. I would love to make this cake for my son’s birthday but don’t want to use the wrong kind of cocoa. Does it matter which kind you use?
Thank you!
Hi Katie, that’s a great question! Hershey’s Special Dark is a blend of natural and dutch processed cocoa powder. You don’t want to use all dutch processed for this recipe – if you can find Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder that will work, otherwise stick with natural. Happy baking!
Is the bake time for if you bake all 3 layers at the same time? If I’m only baking one or two at a time, does the bake time decrease? Looking forward to making this cake for my birthday next week!!
Hi Kate, the bake time will the same regardless of how many cake layers are in the oven. Hope it’s a hit!
I made this cake the day before I frosted it, and it was amazing! I loved how silky smooth the chocolate frosting was too. It was so easy to frost the cake with the frosting. I’ll totally be making these again.
I only had two 9 inch pans but my batter was thick for some reason so fit in 2 pans. It turned out great. Light, moist, and flavorful! We did had leftover frosting since it was only 2 layers.
I made it with my 8 y.o. for New Years. We had so much fun!
Made this cake today! The cake was moist, however, slightly dense. I wasn’t a huge fan of the frosting but added a chocolate ganache on top that made it a bit sweeter. Overall, pretty good!
Hi Sally
I’m so excited to cook this for my twin girls first birthday at the weekend! My oven temp is a bit variable from middle to bottom shelf. It’s not fan forced so runs a bit cold. Could I bake the cakes one at a time? Or is all together and rotating if need be better? And if so should I just dish into all three tins at once and leave the two im not cooking covered at room temperature?
Thanks
Sharon
Turned out exactly like the recipe! Added a bit of almond extract and it tasted beautiful 🙂
Hi Sally,
I’m in the midst of making this recipe right now and once I started adding the eggs, my batter curdled. I saw on some of your other white cake recipes that you mention the batter will look curdled so I wanted to make sure the is is correct in this case.
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Sally,
I am excited to make this cake for my sons first birthday next week. I am going to make as a 2 tier cake, what measurements should I go for for the top tier (6inch). Thank you.
Hi Megan, You can use the post Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions to calculate different pan sizes.
You can also read all about 6 inch cake layers here.
My girls and I made this cake for our Making day for remote learning and they had a ball decorating it. They thought it was delicious too!
Hi Sally!
I am trying to find a cake recipe combining chocolate and almond for a friend’s birthday and figured this one could be a great choice. Do you think I could just add almond extract to the vanilla cake to get the almond flavor in there? If so, how much?
Thank you so much for an awesome blog!
Hi Stephanie, you can certainly add almond extract to the vanilla cake. I recommend 1/2 teaspoon!
Made this for my niece’s birthday this week. This may be the best cake recipe I have made. Everyone loved it.
I used 8-inch pans so a little more time in the oven was required. I filled it with the nutella butter cream. Which was amazing. Coated it in vanilla butter cream.
My nephew said it was the best cake ever. I also used large spoonfuls so I had thicker zebra stripes, which I wanted. Will definitely make this again.
Ciao Sally
Can I make this in a bund pan
Kind regards
This was a fun cake to make. I made it to celebrate my cat’s birthday (yes). My daughter wanted us to have a birthday cake in her honor. The zebra stripe cake seemed to be fitting for an animal’s birthday. Very effective presentation! And the chocolate cream cheese frosting is amazing.
Delicious! I made this for a coworker’s birthday and topped it with your Swiss Meringue Buttercream with caramel extract. Everyone loved it! My chocolate stripes weren’t as distinct – I didn’t have dark cocoa powder, but it was a great tasting cake.
Made this today for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. When I leveled the cakes I noticed that two were raw in some places. Hopefully I can salvage them by putting them back in the oven covered in aluminum foil.
One thing I also noticed was how dense this cake is. Like others have commented, almost like pound cake. That’s not necessarily bad, just not what I was going for.
I love your site, and it is the first place I always visit for recipes. Unfortunately this cake did not turn out like I hoped.
Hi Christine! Thank you so much for trying this zebra cake recipe. I’m surprised to hear that the texture was as dense as pound cake. Was your cake batter particularly thick? You may find a post I wrote recently helpful: How to Prevent a Dry or Dense Cake. Let me know if you ever decide to try the recipe again!
Absolutely incredible. I made this yellow cake for a cookie dough 4 layered cake. I had a ton of cookie dough balls on top too and this cake is moist, sturdy, rich and just amazing. It doesnt need anything with it. I could eat the whole batch!! Love love love!!
Hey Sally, I have 3, 8 inch pans, would this recipe work for that? I am making this cake for my daughter’s 1st birthday on Thursday, I wanted to make a bigger cake rather than the 6inch. Not to mention it’s hard to get a hold of cake pans right now during this shut down and I don’t have 6 inch pans. I have the 3 eight inch pans… Or 2 nine inch…help!!!
Hi Neha, you can use the 8 inch cake pans. The cakes will be thicker and need a little extra time in the oven.