Marble Cake

23 July 2011 - Marble Cake

Another recipe from Ju. Although Ju did mention in her blog that she prefers a finer, tighter crumb texture, but I still went along to use the recipe. Why? Because her photography of the marble cake won me over. Haha. And also I was looking for a marble cake recipe.

And another reason for me to bake a cake that day is because of my sister. You see, we were going to Lumut the next day and my sis was not going because she had to work. So, half of the cake was for her 2 days breakfast before she goes to work. See how much I love my sis! ;)

I did have some trouble understanding a line of the recipe (No.2). What does it means to "Fold through the flour, milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth"?

Initially, I did it wrong. I folded the batter in the flour, like the muffin method. The texture came out crumbly and coarse. I knew it was not supposed to be like that. I then did it the other way round. I folded the flour into the batter. And the texture came out smooth just like what the recipe says. Phew...

And I like it when I used a knife and swirled it. It was so pretty.

The recipe says 45-55 mins of baking time. When I went to check the oven at 40 minutes, it was already done and slightly burnt at the top. I quickly took the cake out, and my skewer came out clean when I inserted into the center of the cake, which indicated that the cake was indeed ready.
But because of the slightly burnt top, my swirls were not really visible at the crust.

As a result, the corners of the cake was slightly crusty and dry, but luckily, the inside of the cake was still moist. The cake was delicious with a very buttery taste and aroma. Texture wise, like Ju mentioned, was not so crumb-tight, but I was fine with that.

My ah-yee is a big fan of butter cakes, so she loved this Marble Cake. She requested for me to bake more of this. :)

Recipe: Marble Cake (copied from Ju's The Little Teochew)
- 225g butter , softened
- 225g caster sugar (I reduced to 200g)
- 4 eggs - 225g self-raising flour
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1. Heat oven to 180C/gas 160C/gas 4. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line the bottom with a circle of greaseproof paper. If you want to make life easy, simply put all the ingredients (except the cocoa powder) into a food processor and whizz for 1-2 mins until smooth. If you prefer to mix by hand, beat the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. - (I mixed the ingredient using my KitchenAid mixer.)

2.Fold through the flour, milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth.

3. Divide the mixture between 2 bowls. Stir the cocoa powder into the mixture in one of the bowls. Take 2 spoons and use them to dollop the chocolate and vanilla cake mixes into the tin alternately. When all the mixture has been used up (and if young kids are doing this, you'll need to ensure the base of the tin is fairly evenly covered), tap the bottom on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marbled effect.

4. Bake the cake for 45-55 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool. Will keep for 3 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to 3 months.