Chocolate Marble Cake

Things got quiet on the blog since the last post entry. I have been travelling a fair bit, to Singapore, to Japan before heading back to Australia. Followers on Instagram should have seen all the glorious onomnoms we had during the travels. Oh man... I'm still trying to get over the holiday withdrawal symptoms! And there's no better way than to bake my way through it.

Chocolate Marble Cake (8" round/ 7" square)
(adapted from BBC Good Food)

Mixture A
190g     Plain flour
  20g     Corn flour
  10g     Baking Powder

    5g     Salt

250g     Butter, unsalted, softened
175g     Sugar
   4        Eggs

  45g     Milk
    5g     Vanilla Extract

  30g     Cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180°C
1. Line a 8" round /square cake tin.

2. Sift (A) and reserve.

3. Using a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and creamy, and the colour is pale.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that it is fully incorporated before adding another.

5. Fold in flour mixture (A), followed by the milk and vanilla extract.

6. Divide batter into 2 portions. Add cocoa powder to 1 of them and mix through.

7. Drop large spoonfuls of the chocolate and vanilla cake batter into the cake tin alternately, making sure that the base is evenly covered at the same time. 

8. Tap the cake tin against the counter top a few times to knock out trapped air bubbles and to even out the batter.

9. Use a skewer to swirl the cake batter around a few times to create the marbled effect.

10. Bake for 45-55 mins or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from tin and let cool completely on a wired rack before cutting. Cake will keep 3 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to 3 months.

Thoughts: The house smells of buttery goodness while it was baking in the oven. I had a hard time trying to stay away while it was still cooling on the rack. Couldn't resist snacking on a couple of slices when it was finally time to cut it up!

I lost some height in the cake since I used a 8" square instead of a 8" round tin as stated in the recipe. This can be easily resolved by using a 7" square tin if you prefer to have a square cake while maintaining its height. However, you may need to monitor and adjust the baking time slightly if you choose to do so.

Here are the adjustments I made to the original recipe:

• butter increased by 25g, simply because a block of butter comes in 250g form. Haha! And fats result in a tender bake, it shouldn't be bad. *winks*
• sugar reduced by 50g. Due to its hygroscopic nature, it may have affected the moisture of the cake.
• added corn flour to the flour mix to produce a "softer" texture.

A simple bake that is old fashioned good. It combines the best of both worlds and settles the age old argument of whether to have chocolate or vanilla cake. This chocolate marble cake is buttery and fairly moist with tender crumbs. It reminded me of marble cakes sold in neighbourhood bakeries during my childhood, invoking some feelings of nostalgia. 

Perhaps I am clouded by my emotions and it isn't that good, but I am greatly gratified by it. Not to mention that the stores here sell A$6-8 for a portion of what we typically get in SG. So yes, I am quite happy with this chocolate marble cake! *happy dance*

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