Marbled Loaf Cake

If you are a foodie and you get a chance to travel, you tend to subconsciously pick up certain textures and tastes that linger on long in memory. And they needn't be something elaborate....usually it is the simple rustic things that stay back with me. So my today's post is actually dedicated to a slice of Marbled Loaf Cake that I had in Starbucks enroutè Edinburgh. It was light and simple but its texture n taste was simply yummm. I am not intending to replicate it here...but that slice did remind me of the fact that my blog doesn't have a recipe of this vintage beauty yet!! So here is my recipe of this classic cake. Please note that this is not a copycat recipe of Starbucks cake...but flavour n taste-wise is better than that, as it is homamade with love, and without any added preservatives/chemicals.....hope you will love it as much as we do at our home.....

If u want the same texture as pictured here, don't forget to go through the TIPS section given below.

Yield: 2 Loaves, of 1 pound and 1/2 pound each. Alternatively, u can use 2 cake tins of 9X2 inches.

Pre-prep: 1. Line and grease your cake pans;

2. Pre-heat your oven to 180° C/350°F.

Ingredients:

4 Large eggs (60-63 gms each, weight with shell)

240 gm Unsalted Butter

1 Tablespoon Sour Cream/Thick Curd

1/8 teaspoon salt

240 gm Castor Sugar

2.5 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

225 gm All-purpose Flour (Maida)

4 Tablespoons Cornstarch

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda 

100 gm Dark (55%-70%) semi-sweet chocolate

Method:

1. Sieve together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda 2-3 times. Don't skip on this step as it really helps in making the cake light and airy.

2. Whip butter for 2-3 minutes. Add in sugar and cream together till pale and fluffy. Add in sour cream/thick curd and vanilla extract and beat for another 1-2 minutes.

3. Drop in eggs one by one and beat till the mixture looks emulsified. If it looks curdled at this stage, just add 1-2 tablespoons of the flour mix (prepared in point no. 1 above) and it will all come together.

4. Add in the flour to the butter-egg mix and fold it in with a spatula,using light hands. Overmixing can lead to gluten formation and a hard cake hence stop mixing when u see everything coming together.

5. Melt the chocolate in microwave/double boiler and keep it aside till it comes to room temperature.

6. Take out 1/3rd of the cake batter in another mixing bowl and fold in the melted chocolate (chocolate shouldn't be hot or it will cook the batter. It should be room temperature.) till everything gets mixed. Don't overmix.

7. Take your lined and greased pans and first pour a thin layer of the vanilla batter. On top of it, drop in by spoonfuls, alternate scoops of vanilla and chocolate batter (i.e. first drop in 1 Tablespoon of chocolate batter..then 1 Tablespoon of vanilla...then chocolate...and so on till the whole batter is finished). Now insert a skewer and first move it across the length of your cake pan and then across the breadth.

8. Put the pan in the oven and bake at 180°C/350°F for 65-75 minutes. Check with a skewer for doneness and when done, take the pan out and let it cool in the pan for 20-25 minutes, or till the pan comes to room temperature. Demould the cake from the pan and let it cool further on the cooling rack. Never unmould or try to cut a cake fresh out of oven, it will crumble.

Slice the cake up when cool and enjoy with your family...

TIPS:

1. All the ingredients need to be at room temperature. However, if you are living in humid and hot climate, it is better to use butter that is slightly colder than room temperature, as that will help in creating better air pockets as opposed to an already melted butter. Whipping the butter first without sugar, adds to aeration. All other ingredients need to be room temperature. 

2. Sifting the flour helps in even mixing and aeration..don't skip it or your texture might be different.

3. I use 1/3 rd of batter for mixing with chocolate instead of 1/2 of batter ( as done by many others) coz I have found that the marble effect comes out beautifully if vanilla batter is more than chocolate batter. If you want more of chocolate batter, take out 1/2 of vanilla batter and mix with 125 gm dark chocolate (instead of 100 gm stated in ingredients above). The process remains the same as above.

Hope you will give it a try and let me know how you found it to be. Till then enjoy this virtual treat...

Happy baking!!