It's that time of the week again....I need to find something else to bake to take into school tomorrow! Last week, the Cherry Loaf went down a treat and I thought maybe it's time for some chocolate indulgence. I have never made a Marble Loaf before and wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. I had a little google search and saw many different methods and lists of ingredients, but to be honest, I didn't really feel comfortable with any of them. So, this recipe is completely made up from my personal experiences of making cake mix and how I felt most comfortable 'marbling' the cake. It's quite a messy technique, but it's great fun AND I can imagine baking it with young children would be a right laugh!
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Ingredients
225g Butter
225g Caster Sugar
275g Self Raising Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
4 Eggs (beaten)
2 tbsp Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
100g Milk Chocolate
2 tsp Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Hot Water
1. Preheat the oven to 160degreesC and grease a 2lb loaf tin. (I have a silicone one so I don't need to do this).
2. Cream together the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into the the mixing bowl and stir into an even consistency.
4. Pour in the beaten egg and milk and stir thoroughly.
5. Meanwhile, using a ban marie, melt the chocolate on the stove.
6. Mix the cocoa powder with the hot water and add to the melted chocolate. Stir so the dark colour of the cocoa and lighter colour of the melted chocolate become even.
7. Separate the cake mixture into 2 bowls so that there is approximately the same amount in each bowl.
8. In one bowl, add the vanilla extract and mix.
9. In the other bowl, spoon in the cocoa powder and melted chocolate mixture. Fold into the cake mix until evenly distributed. It should have a lovely chocolately colour.
10. Dollop one spoonful of the vanilla mixture into the loaf tin, followed by a dollop of the chocolate. Keep rotating the order in which you add the mixture so that it has a random marbled affect when cooked. It will look a bit random when it is raw, but the 'vice versa' approach really gives the most aesthetically pleasing final product.
11. Place into the oven on a baking tray and allow to bake for 1hour or until the cake is fully risen, soft to the touch, and do the 'fail safe' shuvving-a-knife-in-to-see-if-it's-clean test.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 or so minutes. Remove from the tin and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool for a good half an hour and then slice and have with a cup of hot chocolate.
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Considering this is my first attempt at a Marble Cake I am sooo chuffed with how this turned out! As you can see from the piccies below, the loaf had risen perfectly, the colours had intertwined fabulously and it was so crumbly and soft - just like any good cake should be!
The chocolate layer seemed to dominate the top of the loaf, but if you look at it side on, it kind of has a 'zebra' like appeal...
Next time I make a Marble cake, I reckon I will up the quantity of the vanilla part of the cake (think I did just a little more of the chocolate mixture than the vanilla) and add some melted white chocolate for an extra bit of sweetness. Might up the amount of chocolate I melted in it as well, as it really cut the bitterness of the cocoa powder.
When I was slicing it, it was so cool to see all the different slices, as not one slice had the same look. I love the strategy of 'random dolloping' the cake mixture. I really hope that everyone at school loves it and finds it just as gorgeous as I do! (This week Mrs D, I've put you some in your own little tub again...no greedy guts stealing your piece!!)
Bon Appetit!!
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