Creating a blog was out of the question for a long time for me, as measuring everything in the kitchen was like biting into an eggshell. I enjoy cooking and don’t want to waste even a slightest bit of enjoyment in that small world of mine. But little did I know that everything will change, when my husband came home with the Oscar nominated film ‘Julie and Julia’( a real life story) where Julie Powell (part played by Amy Adams) challenged herself to make all the 524 recipes from Julia Child's cook book ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ and blogging all her experiences (The Julie/Julia Project). It was an inspiring movie. A few days later when we were discussing this casually with a friend of ours over tea…everything changed dramatically…..” How about you making at least half of it in one year? Not French but your own. 262 recipes that will inspire others and present it as a blog?” For a minute my mind traveled faster than light… With an experience as a helper in my mother in laws kitchen for 6 years followed by a three year everyday struggle to satisfy the palate of my foodie husband, if I cannot do it then why should I cook? But on the other side with an experience in English literature extending no more than expanding outline stories in English grammar class when I was 18 and two small kids that come in handy at times, will a commitment for the next one year work? Anyway my ‘cook's ego’ didn’t allow me to say no...

So my friends …here I am opening my recipe book, trying to perfect and present 262 recipes in the coming 365 days….A Challenge that will of course tastes good. Come.. Have a walk with me along my journey.. Cheering and inspiring….Forgiving and tolerating…Testing and tasting….for ‘A Tasty Challenge’

Search This Blog

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Marble Cake

Recipe No: 76
This is one of my favorite cakes and the best Marble cake that I ever ate is from the Ann’s Bakery back in Kerala. (The one that I mentioned in one of my older posts about Chicken Sandwich) That was moist, perfectly sweet, served plain without icing and above all it had a perfect balance between the Chocolate and Vanilla.  In most of the other cases the Chocolate will be so overpowering with Vanilla falling short. This is my take on Marble cake… well I should admit that this is the result of my effort to imitate Marble Cake from Ann's.
Ingredients                                Makes two 8 inch cakes
  • All purpose flour/ Maida……2 ¼ Cups
  • Baking powder…………………2 Teaspoons
  • Salt…………………………………1/4 Teaspoon
  • Unsalted butter………………..1/2 Cup (1 Stick)
  • Vegetable Oil……………………1/4 Cup
  • Sugar……………………………...1 ¾ Cups
  • Large Eggs……………………….2 (At room temperature)
  • Vanilla extract………………….2 Teaspoons
  • Milk or Heavy cream…….…..1 Cup
  • Hot water……………………..…3 Tablespoons
  • Chocolate Powder…………….2 Tablespoons
  • Instant Coffee Powder………1/2 Teaspoon
Method of Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C.
  2. Butter and Flour (Or use cooking spray) two 8 inch pans.
  3. Swift Flour, Baking powder and Salt together and keep aside.
  4. Dissolve Chocolate Powder and instant Coffee Powder in hot water and keep aside to cool.
  5. Mix together Butter, Oil and Sugar till creamy.
  6. Add Eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add Vanilla essence too. Do scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl as there are chances of butter sticking to the bottom without mixing.
  7. Add Flour and Milk alternating with each other, starting and ending with flour.
  8. Once everything is mixed well remove 3/4th of a cup of batter to another bowl and mix in the Chocolate mixture.
  9. To the prepared pans add a large scoop of Vanilla batter followed by a drizzle of Chocolate mixture. Continue this is both pans till all the batter is used.
  10. Shake the pans to make the batter even. Insert a butter knife into the batter and holding straight up make swirling movements. This will give the marbling effect to the Cake.
  11. Bake in the center of the oven till it is just done. This will take approximately 30 minutes. Take care not to over bake.
  12. Let the cakes cool in the pan itself before taking it out.
  13. Serve at room temperature. Don’t refrigerate.
Notes:
  • Use a good quality Chocolate powder. That will make a whole world of difference. If you can get Dutch processed Cocoa then that will be great. If you don’t have good Cocoa Powder then use Semisweet Chocolate chips. Melt together 2 once of Semisweet Chocolate Chips with ½ Teaspoon of Instant Coffee Powder and a Tablespoon of water on a double boiler.
  • To prepare a cake pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and then spread a thin layer of butter and sprinkle some flour. If there is excess flour dust it away.
  • Once the flour is added don’t over mix.  If you do, that will develop the Gluten in the flour which will make the cake tough.
  • By any chance if you are using salted butter, then avoid using extra salt.





Make it, enjoy the deliciousness and
serve it to your family with love...

2 comments:

SIBU SIMON said...

hi try using lesser chocolate mix next time. All the best

seb said...

Hi asha,

I tried this and the it was came out pretty good... I kept thinking why isn't my chocolate batter dark as yours. I let it be, I thought it must be the difference in the cocoa powder or something... Later when I was re-read the recipe, it struck me - I was reading too fast and read it as 3/4 of the batter.. and not 3/4 cups of the batter!!! No wonder the chocolate batter was so light :p

Not that it mattered,we loved the cake :)

Milgy

Post a Comment