MARBLE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
I was craving for a simple cake without getting into the fuss of whipping gluten-free or a vegan allergen cakes…went back to my memory lane and thought of this marble cake which I used to whip quite regularly decades ago, and after experimenting with a tons of new things, sometimes you wanna go back to those simple pleasures which were so familiar.
When I first started baking as a little girl, marble cake was one of the first things I learnt from my mum. At times we would also play with colours to make those rainbow swirls in the cake. When I was whipping up this cake I had those flashbacks and vivid memories of the time I use to spend with my mum when I was a little girl. It’s truly such a family favourite and for a good reason! It’s a treat for all senses - it looked beautiful and tasted divine, with the classic flavours of chocolate and vanilla topped with the luscious chocolate buttercream frosting that’s as good as a warm and comforting hug!
I planned to serve and photograph it with icing, as soon as I pulled this cake out of the oven, the marble effect looked too captivating to not to capture. So I took the picture when it was still warm without any frosting ( swipe left to see that pic), but by the time it cooled and I frosted it, the sun moved and I got a bit stressed.... but it was actually fine, as the moment I clicked a shot, it looked gorgeous! “That’s the one” I said to myself, and sat down to enjoy this luscious and super delicious cake!
Though I must admit this isn’t the healthiest cake but it truly serves your indulgence cravings. I sooo enjoyed baking and digging into this heavenly cake - cutting the first slice and seeing the contrasting swirls is a true delight that you must experience too — learn how to make this amazingly delicious cake and enjoy those simple pleasures!!
PREP TIME: 20 minutes BAKE TIME: 25 minutes PASSIVE TIME: 2 hours FROSTING TIME: 20 minutes SERVES: 12-5 slices
INGREDIENTS
For Cake:
1 3/4 cup cake flour
3 eggs, room temperature
185g unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk/buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder
For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature (soft but not sticking to fingers)
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
2 tbsp cold milk or cream
1/6 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
METHOD
For Cake:
Grease and line a 25cm long x 4cm wide loaf pan with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium high speed until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time while the mixer is still running, whisk well after each addition until well combined, at least 3-4 minutes. Add milk and blend on low speed to mix with butter mixture.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Remove bowl from the stand, and fold in half of the flour, once its well combined fold in rest of the flour until well combined.
Take 1/3 of the cake batter in a bowl and fold in the sifted cocoa powder.
In a prepared pan, pour half of the white batter, drop spoonful of the chocolate batter on top leaving a little gap in each spoonful of batter dropped. Cover it with rest of the white batter. With a clean table knife, create a swirling pattern by running it through the batter to create a marble effect. Do not over do it as your swirls will mix too much and your swirls will be lost.
Bake it in pre-heated oven for 22-25 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out on wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, milk and salt with mixer running on low. Once mixed, increase the speed to medium high and whisk until light and fluffy. Taste the frosting, if needed add a pinch more of salt if the frosting is too sweet. Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of sugar if the frosting is bit soft, add bit more milk if the frosting is too thick.
On a cooled cake, spread the frosting all over sides and top with the offset spatula or a pallet knife. Serve immediately.
COOK'S NOTES:
I used cake flour to make a fluffy soft texture of the cake but if you do not have cake flour you can make it at home. Measure one cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons of flour from the measured cup and replace it with two tablespoons of cornflour. Sift the flours together 3-4 times as it’s an important step to fully incorporate with each other.
Adding cornflour helps make the cake light and soft in texture. All-purpose flour has more protein than the cake flour which makes the cake bit denser in texture like a bread.
I used dutch processed cocoa powder which is alkaline treated. It’s best to use dutch processed cocoa powder for richer chocolate taste and deeper luscious colour.
Always use the cocoa powders as mentioned in the recipe for best results.
