Zebra Cakes in Bracknell
A zebra cake has its stripes inside: two batters spooned alternately into the centre of the tin, each spoonful pushing the last outwards into a ring, so every slice comes out striped. A 6-inch is £100 and an 8-inch is £130 — the same as any cake that size, because the pattern costs nothing but care. Made to order in Bracknell.
It is the one cake here whose decoration cannot be seen until it is cut. If you want the markings on the outside instead — black fondant stripes over white — that is a separate job and it is quoted.
What does a zebra cake cost?
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
6" with stripes inside Two batters, no extra charge — the pattern is in how it is poured 8–12 slices | £100 |
8" with stripes inside More rings, because the tin is wider: the clearest version 14–18 slices | £130 |
Zebra print on the outside Black fondant stripes cut and laid over white — a decoration, not a batter | Quoted |
Both Striped inside and printed outside; the one people photograph twice | Quoted |
Stripes inside the sponge are included in the price of the cake. Fondant markings on the outside are quoted with the design — see fondant cakes. Delivery from £30 by distance, or free collection.
Order a zebra cake
We reply within 24 hours with a price. No deposit is taken until you are happy with the quote.
Not ready to send it? What follows answers most of what people ask first.
How long it takes
7–10 days for a simple design, at least 14 for two tiers.
Sooner is sometimes possible: a rush adds 50% when the notice is under 7 days, if the diary is clear.
In a hurry? Bento cakes take 3–5 days.
Delivery
From £30, quoted by distance from RG12 0UY.
Collection from Bracknell is free — see the areas we cover.
Paying
50% deposit to hold your date; orders under £50 are paid in full.
Balance 3 hours before collection, or cash on the day.
The deposit is non-refundable but transferable with 4 days' notice — full terms.
How do the stripes actually get there?
By gravity, one spoonful at a time. A spoon of plain batter goes into the middle of the tin and settles into a disc; a spoon of chocolate batter dropped onto its centre spreads under its own weight and pushes the first disc outwards into a ring; the next plain spoonful does the same to that. Twenty-four to thirty spoonfuls of about 30g each later, the tin holds a set of nested rings 4 to 6mm wide, and a vertical cut through them gives stripes. Nothing is stirred at any point — a single pass with a skewer turns the whole thing into a marble cake.
Three patterns inside a sponge
Zebra — layered from the centre, never stirred: regular stripes.
Marble — poured together and dragged with a skewer: a random swirl.
Rainbow or half-and-half — separate batters baked in separate tins, then stacked.
Why does a bigger tin give better stripes?
Because the rings have further to spread. In a 6-inch tin the batter reaches the wall after a handful of spoonfuls, so the outer rings crowd together and the pattern is tightest near the edge. An 8-inch at £130 gives perhaps a third more rings and spaces them more evenly, which is why the photographs that make people want this cake are nearly all of larger ones. In a deep tin the top and bottom of the cake also differ — the first spoonfuls spread more as the tin fills — and that is normal rather than a fault.
When is the pattern inside the wrong choice?
When nobody will see the cake cut. A zebra sponge is wasted on a cake that is photographed whole and then taken away in slices on paper plates, and it is wasted on a cake covered in fondant that somebody will cut in the kitchen out of sight. It earns its keep where the cutting happens in front of people — a dinner, an office, a tasting — or where the cake is plain outside on purpose. For the same trick in colour rather than cocoa, cake colours covers what a strong shade does to a sponge, and animal cakes is where a zebra on the outside usually belongs.
What else do people ask?
Allergies? Our kitchen handles all 14 of the allergens UK law requires us to declare, so nothing we bake is free from any of them. What is in each cake, and our hygiene rating.