Friday, April 8, 2011

The Naked Gardener's Very Merry Unbirthday Cake or Zebra Striped Cake with Cherry Chutney

I found this technique on one of my favorite blogs a while ago. I made it right away because it's so easy! I made this for an Alice in Wonderland style surprise "Very Merry Unbirthday" party. My friend over at The Naked Gardener was the Unbirthday girl, and she LOVES animal prints, hence the pink zebra cake.


Rather than use the cake mix recipe on the blog post, I used box White Cake mix. It's thicker than the other batter, so I got less layering, but it's entirely up to you which one you want to use. Make the mix as instructed on the box. Split it in two bowls, dye one your desired color.


Grease your pan. Begin spooning alternating colors on top of each other, beginning in the center of the pan. Mine was a little off center, which spiraled out of control rather quickly, so be careful. I had to shake the whole pan, jiggling it back to the middle. It worked enough, but I should have been more careful.



Bake as directed. Make sure a toothpick inserted in the tallest part of the cake comes out clean.



For the cherry chutney, I just sort of winged it. Lol. Begin with a 12 oz (340g) bag of frozen, pitted, dark sweet cherries put over medium heat.


You won't need to add more water. Add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, splash vanilla extract, and a splash of lemon juice. If it becomes too runny, add a tablespoon of cornstarch that's been melted in a couple tablespoons of cold water. Boil for a minute, then cool. If it's too thick, add some water, a tablespoon at a time.



This boiled like crazy and I couldn't get a photo without steaming up the camera, lol.
Cover the slices in the chutney and have at it!




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