Marble cake reminds me when I was about twelve or thirteen and almost everyday, my friend and I would jump off the school bus and go straight to her house for tea. Luckily her house was just at the end of the lane to where my parents lived, and still do. Every day we would drink milky, sugary tea and eat fat slices of half-moon shaped marble cake that was bought from the local shop. It was heaven. In my memory this went on for years, through gold-top milk induced migraines, through squabbles, fall-outs and massive fits of giggles. At no point do I ever remember my friends mum sighing or saying 'not you again!' just dutifully holding out the phone so I could ring my own mother and let her know where I was, as if she didn't know.
There is a nostalgia linked with marble cake that makes it taste just that bit better. Flavour variations can be played with and near-limitless combinations can be achieved, as well as colours and patterns. You can really have fun with this. At stage 5, you can add different flavourings of not going for chocolate. You can split the mixture three or four ways and go for a rainbow cake with different coloured food dyes, or brilliant flavour combinations - Chocolate & Orange, Lemon & Mint for example. You can do as you wish! If adding lots of extra liquid, in the form of fruit purees for example, you might want to add a little extra flour to maintain consistency. This base recipe was adapted from the great Mary Berry.
Ingredients. Makes enough to fill a 900g Loaf Tin
225g Butter, softened
225g Caster Sugar
275g Self-raising Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
4 Large Eggs
2 tbsp Milk
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 tbsp Warm Water
Optional
25g White Chocolate, melted
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 140 degrees fan
2. I use Silicone loaf tins but if you are using anything else, grease and line accordingly
3. In a large bowl, add the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Using an electric whisk, give it a jolly good mix until well combined and smooth
4. Separate the mixture in two equal parts in separate bowls
5. Mix the cocoa and warm water in a cup or small bowl and when smooth, add to one of the bowls with half the mixture and stir to combine fully
6. Now you can be creative, put dollops of the two mixtures into the loaf tin in random places and continue until all the mixture is used up. You might want to use a knife or cocktail stick to swirl the mixtures together further. Level off the top when done
7. Pop in the oven for 50-60 minutes and bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool before removing from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
8. If adding the white chocolate, melt slowly and drizzle over the top
9. Stuff the whole thing in your face and enjoy!
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