Marble Cake
The marble cake remains a fond childhood favourite marked by streaks of vanilla and chocolate, formed by careless swirls on light and fluffy sponge. To create this nostalgic treat with maximum impact, don't be afraid to go heavy-handed on the colours – including a touch of pink for a subtle and warm tint. You might also find that using a bundt pan is an easy way to make this simple homemade treat much more sophisticated.
Yield: Serves 12
Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 60 mins
Difficulty Level: 2/5
Ingredients
- 250 g butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup (275 g) caster (superfine) sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2¼ cups (335 g) self-raising flour
- ¾ cup (180 ml) milk
- Pink food colouring
- 2 tbsps cocoa powder
- 2 tbsps milk, extra
ICING
- 2 cups (320 g) icing sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) milk
Steps
01. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 24 cm bundt cake pan well; dust with a little extra flour, shake out excess.
02. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until just combined after each addition. Stir in sifted flour and milk, in two batches, until mixture is smooth.
03. Divide mixture into three bowls; tint one mixture pink. Blend sifted cocoa with extra milk in a cup; stir into second bowl of mixture. Leave remaining mixture plain. Drop alternate spoonfuls of mixtures into pan. Pull a skewer backwards and forwards through cake mixture to create a marble effect.
04. Bake cake for 1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in pan for 5 mins before turning onto a wire rack over an oven tray to cool.
Make icing. Pour icing over cold cake.
ICING
Sift icing sugar into a medium bowl; stir in enough of the milk until it is a drizzly consistency (icing is on the runnier side so it gives the cake a light coating).
TIP
Make the colours fairly strong for maximum impact, as they may fade during baking. Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Un-iced, the cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Photo: bauersyndication.com.au