I've seen zebra stripes on several cakes and wondered what is the general consensus on the easiest way to get the stripes looking the most natural?

After looking at many many others I just made one last weekend as my own birthday cake (in my gallery). I even looked at some YouTube videos. I would characterize most of the individual shapes as some form -free form that is - of a blade of grass. Some of them go on in one direction and others in different directions. Add in a few that are a kind of U shape squiggle too! Don't try for a repeat pattern like wallpaper! I did not add the stripes after the cake was fondant-ed(is that word!). I rolled out my fondant, placed the dark brown shapes down in the pattern I wanted, rolled a bit to smooth the two layers and then put it on the cake in 1 piece. For a first try I was pretty happy with the result! I would definitely do again using different colors too, like pink and brown or pale yellow and brown. I like the idea of the dark brown chocolate fondant instead of the no-flavor black. And I did the inside stripe too! Good luck!

I have done several zebra striped cakes. I have done it both ways. Rolling it into the fondant and then covering the cake, and I have applied it to the cake after covering. I like the look of it both ways. It is easier to do after the cake is covered. And just as the prior post said, the shapes are not consistent and pretty easy to do. The biggest mistake I made the first time or two, was I kept wanting to make the stripes too thin. Get a picture in front of you, and dive in. You will do a great job! Happy Decorating!

I did one with buttercream. VERY EASY to do. The most important thing, I think, is to have good reference in front of you. Google "zebra print" or "zebra stripes" and you'll find lots of pictures you can use as reference... and I don't mean other cakes. I've seen a lot of "zebra" stripes that really don't look like zebra at all. Find a good picture of a piece of fabric, a piece of clipart or the best reference -- an actual zebra skin.

Here's the link to my cake:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2006208

If you scroll down in the comments, there's a brief description of how I did it (another CCer copied it from another thread and posted it in the comments so she'd have the reference later! What a great idea!).

I also did another one where I painted the stripes on fondant. But I was in a bit of a rush, so my stripes weren't as nice as I would have preferred. And they came out somewhat streaked, which I didn't like. I wouldn't recommend that method (especially if you're in a hurry).