Classic Marble Cake (古早味云石蛋糕）

INTRODUCTION

When I was young, there are not many choices of cakes. “Butter” cake baked using margarine such as Planta was very common and another variation to the so called butter cake was marble cake with part of the batter being added cocoa powder. This cocoa portion was placed next to the beige better so as to create a visual effect of the cake resembling marble design.

Subsequently,  bakers start to use the same concept but layer the two batter alternately such that design looks like the stripes in a zebra. So essentially, be it zebra cake or marble cake, they are essentially the same thing. Of course, subsequently, people start to improvise the texture of the cake by using egg separation matter and increase the butter content such that the cake are fluffier and “moister” and best of all, they hope to achieve a flat top cake that is currently a craze now.

This is my own recipe that is nothing to shout about. As a respect to traditional recipe, I have purposely use direct creaming method. In order to suit the current taste buds, the butter content had slightly increased but trust me,  the butter content is still much less than the current trendy butter cake. It had a rather light texture if creaming is correct and I honestly do believe it will suit the current taste buds.

“A marble cake is a cake with a streaked or mottled appearance (like marble) achieved by very lightly blending light and dark batter.^[1] It can be a mixture of vanilla and chocolate cake, in which case it is mainly vanilla, with streaks of chocolate. Other possibilities are strawberry or other fruit flavours, or (particularly in marbled coffee cakes) cinnamon and/or other spices.The first print references to marble cake begin appearing in the last quarter of the 19th century. One popular variation of this recipe during Victorian times was “Harlequin cake,” which was baked with checkerboard patterns. Early recipes used molasses and spices to achieve the dark-coloured batter” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_cake)

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WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: One 4” x 8” cake

• 200 grams of butter, softened at room temperature
• 200 grams of self raising flour, sifted
• 150 grams of white sugar
• 50 grams of condensed milk
• 50 grams or ml of fresh milk
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 tablespoons of cocoa powder

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STEPS OF PREAPRATION

• Preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius

• Lightly grease an 8” x 4” baking tin preferably with a detachable base. Alternatively, line the baking tin with parchment paper..

• Cream the butter, condensed milk and sugar until light and fluffy, add in eggs and beat until well combined. Eggs should be added one by one and scrap the bottom of the bowl to ensure no unmixed egg settled at the bottom of the mixing bowl.

• Sift in 1/3 of the self raising flour, milk and use the spatula to quickly fold in the flour.. Continue with the remaining 2/3 until all the flour  and fresh milk are added.

• Transfer 1/3 of the batter out , sift in the cocoa powder. use a spatula to fold until well combined. Use a tablespoon to scope 2 tablespoons of beige batter to baking tin and follow by 1 tablespoon of the cocoa batter. Perform the same until all the batter have finished. Knock the baking tin against the table 2-3 times to force out any trapped air bubbles. Use a spatula to level the top. Bake in the pre-heated oven of 160 degree Celsius for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.

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CONCLUSION

This is definitely not a difficult recipe and the beauty of the cake is based on how you design or overlap the beige and cocoa batter. Remember that to create a nice visual effect, the cocoa batter shall not be too much. It is best that the cocoa batters are isolated by the beige batter instead linking to each other.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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