I had never really considered myself a baker per se. I was always more about cooking the main dish, and my sister was always the baker or so I thought. This has changed as I have gotten older . . .
As I have gotten older I have come to realize that I really do enjoy baking and creating cakes and goodies for people. I am not so much for the decorative side of things, far too fiddly for me, but I do like to bake.
I really love cake, and that is my favorite thing of all to bake. I usually keep half of the cakes I bake for us and then I gift out the other half to someone else . . . perhaps a neighbor, or an elderly friend. Sometimes the missionaries. I have yet to experience someone turning down my offerings.
I recently saw a recipe for a chocolate marble cake with a crumble topping and it looked quite tasty to me. Todd doesn't really like chocolate however. I had pretty much scratched the idea of a chocolate one off my list . . . I don't really need to be eating that much cake all by myself.
Todd really loves spice cakes . . . and then I thought surely I could adapt the recipe in some way and create a marbled spice cake . . . and that's just what I did. I adapted and changed the ingredients somewhat, keeping the core ingredients the same . . . but at the same time different.
I deleted the cocoa powder completely, except for a touch in the spice batter for color. I then had to up the flour amount to make up for it's lack of cocoa powder. I kept half the batter plain, but to the other half I added a tiny bit of cocoa powder, some molasses and a whole lotta lotta spice!
Cinnamon, ground cardamom, ground cloves, ground allspice and ginger . . . a dusting of grated nutmeg. I also added some mixed spice to the crumble topping and switched the chocolate chips out for white chocolate chips.
Oh boy, did this ever smell good when it was baking. Spicy and warm . . . moreishly inviting. Just like a home should smell. We enjoyed nice big slices of it with cups of warm cocoa . . . and took several slabs of it over to our friend Doreen for her to enjoy this evening with a nice hot cuppa.
*Crumb Topped Marble Cake*
Serves 6 to 8Makes one 9 inch cakePrintable Recipe
Delicious vanilla cake, marbled through with a lovely spiced batter and topped with a spicy white chocolate crumble. What's not to like?
For the crumble topping:125g plain flour (scant cup)75g caster sugar (6 1/2 TBS)75g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes (5 1/4 TBS)75g white chocolate chips (3 ounces)1 tsp mixed spice
For the Cake:225g of butter, softened (1 cup)225g caster sugar (1 cup plus 3 TBS)4 large free range eggs1 tsp vanilla paste250g of plain flour (2 1/3 cup)2 tsp baking powder50ml of milk (1/4 cup)
For the spice batter:1 tsp sifted cocoa powder
1 TBS molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon1/2 tsp ground cardamom1/4 tsp each ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground all spice and ground ginger
First make the crumble topping. Whisk the flour sugar and spices together in a bowl. Drop in the butter. Rub it into a crumble resembling coarse bread crumbs using your finger tips. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a nine inch spring form cake tin well, on the bottom and up the sides. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs together and then beat in a bit at a time until thoroughly amalgamated. Beat in the vanilla paste. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Fold this mixture into the cake batter. Stir in the milk. Divide the batter in half. To one half add all of the spice batter ingredients. Place the two different cake batters into the prepared baking tin, alternating spoonfuls of the vanilla and spice batters. Using a skewer gently draw swirls through the batter to marbelize it, taking care not to over do it. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then loosen around the edges using a small sharp knife. Release and remove the sides of the tin. Place the cake on a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Carefully loosen the bottom using a fish slice or palate knife and slice the cake onto a plate to serve.
This is a nice comfortable cake. A sturdy cake. Buttery and moist . . . and most at home with a hot drink or a cold glass of milk. I love these kinds of cakes best of all. Enjoy. Bon Appetit! (Don't you just love my faithful baking companion?)
