… when I was a teenager I was madly in love with a young lady called Natasha. It was quite an intense, four year relationship that unfortunately but inevitably ended badly… we met recently and healed some of the wounds having realised that twenty five years, marriages and children do a lot to smooth the pain away but I don’t think anyone really forgets their first true love. There are many things I remember about Natasha but one thing that I often recall is her mothers incredible marble cake. Her mother, who sadly passed away a few years ago was, from what i can remember (or my stomach can at least) a very good cook, in a very traditional ‘mum’ kind of way and her marble cake was pretty exceptional. It was a tall slab of cake that I had to stretch my mouth to eat… how can that be bad… I only hope that Tasha has the recipe… this is not it but it brings back memories of my teenage years and that can, on occasion, be a good thing…
almond and chocolate marble cake
you know sometimes when you’re thinking about making a cake and you just want something that is simple and sweet and not over-fancy with all that sickly cream and icing… well this is that cake… its simplicity is its beauty. The sides and edges burnt a little in the oven as I was playing it all by ear but with a little trimming and a dusting of icing sugar you’d never know…
these ingredients make a very tall 12 inch cake
5 goose eggs (6 regular hens eggs)
250g self-raising flour
150g ground almonds
400g butter
400g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
pre-heat the oven to 170C and grease and line a 12 inch, loose-bottomed, deep caked tin
weigh the flour in with the ground almonds
this next stage can all be done by hand or with an electric mixer, the choice is yours… my choice was a large bowl and a wooden spoon… in a very large bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add two eggs and vanilla extract and beat in followed by a third of the flour/almond mix which you beat in… continue this way (eggs followed by flour) until it’s all gone… you should have a thick batter
take half out and place in it’s own bowl to which you add the cocoa powder and beat in
spoon alternate blobs of each coloured batter into the cake tin and then when it’s all in take a knife or a bamboo skewer and swirl the batter around… don’t be too careful here, you really can’t go wrong, it’s supposed to look like a royal mess…
bake for 45 mins or until it’s golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
once it’s cooled, sprinkle with icing sugar before serving
eat and of course, enjoy!
Nice post. Nice cake. Think you may have missed the almonds off the list of ingredients?
Oh yes, first loves… the heart breaks.. the turmoil… the love… aaaahhhhh… I'm so glad I don't have to go through that again!!!
Fantastic looking cake… I would love a slice or two or three … or four.. right now 🙂
I just adore cakes make with almonds. I will have to give this marble one a try.
I love simple cakes like this especially when they're as filled with nostalgia as this one is. A lovely post.
I love marbled cakes, but can never get the 'marble' swirled nicely … rats! Yours came out so well! Trick? Do tell!
First love….. Mine was Russell Crowe in LA confidential
( I was a late starter)
Ps I don't think his mum bakes
Ohhh, now you've got me reminiscing about my first love too Dom. Those heady days… Similarly, it didn't end with a bunch of flowers and promises to stay friends forever. Ah well. Lovely recipe Dom- my favourite part of baking marble cake is making all the fun patterns.
Marble cake always seems a little bit magical. My Mumused to make one too!
Such a sweet story Dom. I remember missing the cooking of various ex's mothers/friends/flatmates more than the ex!
I do like tall cakes, too, they seem more cakey than 'short' ones. Reckon this would work as a cupcake?
funnily enough I actually had a little cake mixture left-over and filled 4 cupcake cases with it… and yes, they were damn fine!
it was my first attempt and I guess I got lucky… I just spooned it into the tin in alternate splodges then swirled with a stick… I think a very thick batter is the key!
Must be a seasonal thing, or a cook/bker thing as I've made a vegan variation of Chocolate Marble Cake called mine Tiger cake
http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/vegan-tiger-cake.html
Enjoyed reading about your teen memories, made me smile.
Lovely looking marbling, and what a huge cake! Were you feeding a crowd?
Beautiful looking cake Dom. Nice job with the marbling too. I love that you added ground almonds to the mixture as well. I am a sucker for cakes with grounds almonds in it. I love the taste and the texture. Yum!
You've got the marbling perfectly – it looks gorgeous. Just my kind of cake! 🙂
My Mum made marble cake every Sunday for tea time. We never tired of it. Yours looks lovely – I don't even mind a little crispy around the edges.
FABULOUS post and I remember my first love too, and his mother's cream scones, which were amazing! LOVE this cake and your memories too Dom, Karen
Goose eggs! Ah, I've never eaten one of those before! Do they taste much different to hen's eggs? Love the idea of this marble cake. It looks beautifully moist. Nice story too. Ah, young love. My first 'love' (in the most immature sense of the word!) was a Brazilian boy whose mother made the most amazing black bean pork stew (I can't remember the name of it but it was incredible!). I've never made it but I'd love to look up the recipe one day…