Zebra cakes with vanilla pudding frosting and a drizzle of boozy chocolate glaze. So, so easy because you use boxed cake mix and instant pudding mix, just like the lemon blossoms recipe! You can get a little fancy with the frosting tips if you want, or just give it a healthy dollop and enjoy. I started these out with the intention of making mini Boston cream pie cupcakes, but I ended up with these instead. Not complaining!
Vanilla pudding frosting > Buttercream
So this vanilla pudding frosting…is the answer to my unending search for a buttercream frosting substitute. I just don’t like buttercream. There. I said it. It’s out there.
Buttercream is too much like eating straight up butter. But this vanilla pudding frosting is out of this world, and a lot easier to make than buttercream! No softening butter required. The instant pudding and the heavy cream work together like they’ve known each other forever. Thick and fluffy! Stuffed in a pastry bag with a star tip, you can make beautiful roses on the cupcakes and they’ll taste WAY better than buttercream.
Frosting with Vanilla pudding: tips and tricks
Here is a frosting tip for making pretty roses: using a star tip, work in to out. Start at the center of the cake and spiral outwards. Also, keep the pastry bag straight up, perpendicular to the cupcake, like this:
Pastry bags work really well because they’re angled just right for frosting tips, but you can also just as easily use a gallon ziplock bag!
The easiest way to transfer frosting into a pastry bag or ziplock bag is to place the bag in a tall drinking glass and roll the edges over the sides of the cup. Now you essentially have someone holding the bag open! All you have to do is spoon in dollops of delicious vanilla pudding frosting!
Boxed cake mixes help you focus on your presentation
Of course, I love to make homemade cakes, but there is something fun and super convenient about using boxed cake mix and instant pudding mix! It’s nice for when you really want to focus on the presentation of your dessert, and not necessarily fuss with measuring spoons, whipping egg whites, and folding batter. Removing the complexity of fancy cake making and just honing in on your frosting skills makes you a better pastry decorator!
The boozy chocolate glaze...
Chocolate-y glazes remind me of donuts and donuts make me very happy, so I was elated to include a chocolate glaze in this recipe. Similar to buttercream, I am not huge on just melting chocolate chips to make frosting or glaze because it just ends up tasting like…melted chocolate chips. This glaze is powdered sugar with cocoa powder and Kahlua! A touch of half and half and vanilla, too!
As long as you keep the liquid ratio the same, you can totally replace the half and half with Kahlua and make an *extra* boozy chocolate glaze! Just eat responsibly 😉
I dubbed these zebra cakes because of the chocolatey stripes the glaze creates against the vanilla pudding frosting, but these aren’t true zebra cakes. I think those have a chocolate and vanilla striped pattern in the cake batter? But you don’t have to go for the zig zag pattern. As you can tell, I played around with the pattern. Some have swirls instead of stripes! A swirly zebra…what an idea.
Let me know how these turn out when you make them! I love hearing how you guys make and style these recipes. Tag me on instagram if you share there at bakerstheory!
Now, I must tend to Jim. He’s complaining how he’s a victim of too many good desserts. Woe is him! 🙂
Zebra Cakes with Vanilla Pudding Frosting and Boozy Chocolate Glaze
Equipment
- Mini muffin tin (24)
- Frosting tip (optional)
- Pastry bags or gallon Ziplock bags
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box Yellow cake mix such as Pillsbury or Duncan Hines
- 1 box Instant vanilla pudding mix 3 oz
- 4 Eggs
- 3/4 cup Vegetable oil
Vanilla Pudding Frosting
- 1 box Instant vanilla pudding mix 3 oz
- 1½ cups Heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup Whole milk
Boozy Chocolate Glaze
- 1½ cups Powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Half and half Milk works too
- 1 tbsp Kahlua Coffee works too
Instructions
Make cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Spray mini muffin tin with non-stick spray
- Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined with a whisk or spatula. Batter will be thick.
- Using a cookie dough scooper or spoon, scoop a tablespoon of the batter into each muffin tin. (This is half the cookie dough scooper for mine.)
- You will fill one and a half mini muffin pans with the batter. Bake the pans one at a time for 12-14 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan. Place the cakes on wax paper to be frosted and glazed.
Make pudding frosting
- In a deep bowl, combine pudding mix with heavy whipping cream and milk and beat with a whisk attachment using an electric mixer. Frosting will be thick.
- Cut the tip off a frosting bag or one of the bottom corners of a gallon ziplock bag. Insert a frosting tip, if desired. (I used a star tip for a rose-type of pattern.) Place the bag in a tall cup and fold the top edge over the cup.
- Scrape the pudding frosting into the bag. Twist the bag to seal and apply pressure to push frosting out of the tip.
- Frost the cakes by starting at the center, circling your way out.
Make boozy chocolate glaze
- Combine powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, half and half, and Kahlua (if using) or espresso. Whisk until a thin glaze.
- Similar to the pudding frosting, pour glaze into a pastry bag, but this time without any frosting tip. Snip the tip and drag the glaze back and forth across the frosted cakes in a zig zag pattern.