NO bake cake

Happy birthday to ME! Yes, I know many of you are thinking that with my witty writing and youthful good looks I could only be a hair older than a young college girl but the truth is that I am several hairs older and turned 32 this past weekend. My birthday is no excuse for me not to be on the look out for new ideas to blog about so.... Viola! This week's posting! Zebra Cake! 

Why zebra cake? It's an easy cake to make that is tasty (and calorie friendly...) for everyone. In addition, it works on kitchen skills, patterns, and even some spatial orientation skills. Your main ingredients are vanilla, whipped topping and chocolate wafers. The wafers are probably the trickiest thing to find. I find them at our local grocery store in the cookie aisle. They are usually on the top shelf next to some obscure diabetic cookie or something. They run for about $3.89 each. 

It really is as easy as I show in the pictures. The whipped topping acts like a glue and holds the wafers in place. I've actually done this cooking project with students who have multiple impairments several times. I like to keep my whipped topping cold but not yet frozen because it is easier for my MI/VI students to use. I would also suggest a bright red (or yellow) spoon for contrast as the whipped topping can easily take over the spoon. Make sure your spoon is a large one--that helps a lot.  It can be messy and fun and is only a repeated two step sequence! The only thing that might turn a student or two off is that it can be sticky. On the flip side, this is great for younger students because who doesn't like to lick off whipped cream? 

 

I've also included a link to allrecipes.com with a recipe that you can use. There is also one on the box.

 Here's the recipe link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zebra-cake-2/

I also have included some pictures of other variations of the zebra cake that you can do. These are all from allrecipes.com.

 

 

Remember, you can also make this a connected experience by going to the grocery store and purchasing ingredients. You an print out the pictures that I posted for this one and use it for a picture symbol for visual learners. You can make this a complete experience by having the student take out the needed materials (pan, bowl, etc.), prepare the cake and then cleaning up. Younger students can have a little contrast fun by adding fun topping like strawberries, chocolate chips, Oreo cookies, etc. 

Just remember the zebra cake requires about 4 hours in the freezer to finish.
 Do it early in the day so you can enjoy it later!