Marble Cake

It has been a tough week.  I feel a little under the weather and bothered by a problem.  It has been a few days since I started feeling unmotivated.  Today, I said to myself is time to get past moody feelings and start getting things done.  I haven’t been baking much.  Since baking is therapeutic for me, I decided to make something and start feeling productive again.

I didn’t take long to decide to make a marble cake because the whole family loves it.  But I didn’t have butter.   I did have a new jar of coconut oil so I went ahead to make marble cake with coconut oil.  I second guessed the cake would turn out well since my muffins made with coconut oil always turn out alright.  I prepped everything and sent the loaf cake to bake in the oven.  As I went around doing my chores, the aroma from the kitchen wafted and make me sense that I would have a nice dessert that afternoon.

When the cake finished baking in about 35 minutes, I let it cool completely before cutting it.  I was so happy the cake turned out very moist and delicious.  The only disappointment was the marbling of the cake.  It wasn’t prominent at all.  I used brown sugar in the main batter which made the cake turn out darker.  I should have used white sugar.  But since the cake tasted great, I thought I would share the recipe.

Coconut Oil Marble Cake

Ingredients (one loaf cake):

• 100g all-purpose flour
• 100g granulated sugar
• 100ml coconut oil
• 100ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 175°C.
2. Line loaf tin with parchment paper or lightly grease the tin.
3. Sift all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
4. Using a hand whisk, beat sugar and coconut oil till all the sugar is dissolved.
5. Add eggs and whisk to combine.
6. Add vanilla and milk and whisk to combine.
7. Add flour mixture and fold till everything is well combined and there are no traces of flour.
8. Pour half of the batter into another clean and dry mixing bowl.  Set aside the other half.  You would have two bowls of batter.
9. Sift cocoa powder over one of the bowls and fold to incorporate everything.  Make sure there are no traces or lumps of cocoa.
10. Pour the batter into the loaf tin by alternating between the two bowls of batter.  Repeat till all batter is used.
11. Use a knife or skewer to make swirls through the batter for a marble effect.
12. Bake in preheated oven for around 35 – 40 minutes.  Check doneness by using a skewer to insert into the centre of the cake.  If the skewer comes out clean the cake is done.
13. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and slice when fully cooled.