I thought I would be making Zebra Cakes with the winner of my white cake comparison. But then another contender entered the ring: the Eggless Vanilla Butter Cake!

Farmers market season gave me the perfect chance to try it out, so today you’re getting two recipes 🙂

I made copycat Zebra Cakes, which I renamed Cream-Filled Vanilla Cake Bars, for Cookie Cazimi’s gift-with-purchase promo. And they turned out so good (and better than store-bought) I knew I had to share!

If you’re also running a cottage food bakery, these little loaves are a great option to sell or give away. And if you can get away with it in Maryland — which has some of the strictest cottage food laws around — chances are good you can in your state, too.

That said, always check with your Department of Health first — not legal advice lol.

This blog post may include affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you. Your trust is invaluable to me, and I only recommend products that I genuinely believe will benefit you and would personally buy or have bought myself!

Whether or not I earn a commission, these are products I would still recommend. With your support, I’m able to provide you with free information on my blog that is helpful to you.

Specific Baking Tools I Recommend

• A set of 2 silicone mini loaf pans
• Gram Scale with 0.01g Accuracy
• Dual Platform Food Kitchen Scales

Eggless Vanilla Butter Cake Recipe

This recipe makes 8 mini loaves.

Ingredients

• 127.50g Greek Yogurt (room temp)
• 112.50g White Sugar
• 84.75g Milk (room temp)
• 42.00g Butter (melt)
• 3.75g Vanilla Extract
• 2.63g Salt
• 118.13g Cake Flour
• 16.88g Potato Starch
• 5.40g Baking Powder
• 0.90g Baking Soda

Method

1. Follow the original mixing instructions from Sugarologie.
2. Pour 65g batter into each cavity of a silicone mini loaf pan.
3. Bake for 25-29 minutes.

Zebra Cake Recipe

This recipe covers 8 mini loaves.

Ingredients

• 96.00g Marshmallow Fluff
• 279.07g Chocolate Flavored Candy Melts
• 20.93g Vegetable Oil
• 40.00g Vanilla Flavored Candy Melts

Method

1. Prepare the cakes

   • Cut each mini eggless vanilla butter cake in half horizontally.

   • Place the bottom halves back into their molds.

2. Fill with marshmallow fluff

   • Spoon the marshmallow fluff into a plastic bag and snip off the tip to create a piping bag.

   • Pipe 10 g of marshmallow fluff onto each cake bottom.

   • Place the top half of the cake back on and press gently to spread the marshmallow fluff evenly.

3. Freeze the cakes

   • Place the filled cakes in the freezer until firm. This makes them easier to dip later!

4. Coat the sides

   • Melt the vanilla candy melts with the vegetable oil until smooth.

   • Using a fork or dipping tool, dip only the sides of each cake into the coating.

   • Let excess drip off for 20–30 seconds.

   • Place cakes on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet. In the video, you see me place them on a greased cooling rack but I don’t recommend it.

   • After 1–2 minutes, gently move each cake to a fresh spot on the sheet to prevent sticking and pooling.

   • Set aside to let the coating firm.

5. Full dip

   • Re-dip each filled cake, this time covering the entire loaf in the vanilla coating.

   • Let excess drip off for 20–30 seconds.

   • Place onto the lined baking sheet again, moving each cake after a minute to prevent pooling.

6. Drizzle with chocolate

   • Melt the chocolate candy melts until smooth.

   • Using a fork, spoon, or piping bag, drizzle thin lines across the tops of the coated cakes to create the zebra stripe effect.

7. Set and serve

   • Allow the cakes to fully set at room temperature or in the fridge until the coating hardens.

   • Enjoy your homemade zebra cakes!

My Verdict on the Eggless Vanilla Butter Cake

Adriana of Sugarologie described the Eggless Vanilla Butter Cake as tasting like pancakes with syrup — and honestly? So true!

It’s very delicious, fluffy, not-too-sweet but also loaded with flavor.

The 2 white cake recipes I tested both had strong vanilla notes, but this one adds that pancake-syrup back note that makes it feel extra celebratory.

Like, a birthday cake with vanilla or chocolate ganache frosting would go so hard!

There’s a nostalgic taste to these that make this my new go-to vanilla cake recipe.

And if you want to try it in a different size, don’t forget about my Cake Pan Converter Spreadsheet so you can convert any dessert recipe into over 25 different pan sizes.

Or if you’d rather not do the math, leave a comment with your preferred pan size if the Cake Calculator from Sugarologie doesn’t have it, which to honest, I doubt lol. She has a great site!

This Week’s Round Up

I release content in bundles — this round comes with:

📺 YouTube Short — Crashing Out On My Spirit Guides While Making Zebra Cakes

📬 Substack Essay — My Virgo Solar Eclipse Crash Out

💌 Click here to check out the latest drop!