MARBLE CAKE

April 22, 2020

MARBLE CAKE

I have used the same recipe for the 1-2-3-4 oil cake. Added cocoa paste to part of the batter and mixed it in to create a marbling effect.

INGREDIENTS

12 Tbsp oil
2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. sugar
3 cups flour
4 Tbsp cocoa powder plus 1/8 tsp salt
4 - 6 Tbsp. hot water
4 eggs
1 cup hot milk
2 tsp vanilla essence plus 1/2 tsp orange essence
2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp salt

METHOD

Butter the bundt pan for baking. I have used a non-stick bundt pan. I just apply butter; I don't flour the pan.

Whisk the flour,1 cup sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Keep aside. This can be done in advance.

Put 4 Tbsp. cocoa powder, 1/8 tsp salt, in a bowl and gradually pour hot water into it while stirring consistently. Add more water to make it into a cake batter consistency. The paste will be fine, smooth, and glossy. Different brands of cocoa powder require different amounts of water.

Separate the eggs,whites in a big mixing bowl, yolks in a small bowl. Pour the essence over the yolks and keep aside. Take the milk in a cup and keep it aside.

Take the sugar in a bowl and keep it aside.

Take the separated egg whites into a bowl large enough, because it is in that bowl that the rest of the ingredients will be combined.

Beat the egg whites using a cake mixer on high speed until they are frothy and the volume has increased, about 1 minute.

Now, on maximum speed, beat the egg whites and, while beating, gradually add the sugar (1 cup - 2 Tbsp), adding 2 Tbsp at a time. Gradually add in all the sugar while beating. The egg whites should be whipped till stiff peaks are formed.
After the whites are whipped stiff, preheat the oven to 325°F for 15 minutes.

Add the egg yolks and essence all at once and beat on high speed for about 5 seconds.

Add the oil and again beat for 5 seconds.

Now we have stiff egg whites, and we have added the yolk and oil as well. Now there is 3 cups of flour and 1 cup of sugar to add to the batter. Incorporating all of the flour and sugar at once will not work. We need to incorporate the flour in installments.
Heat the milk until hot. I microwave the milk in a microwave-safe cup at power 4 for 2 minutes. Then, I take out the milk, stir it with a spoon, and microwave it again for 1 minute and 30 seconds. I use a 1100W microwave oven.
So, into the whipped egg-oil batter, add 1 1/2 cups of flour and sugar (whisked dry ingredients) and mix with the beater. The batter can accommodate 1 1/2 cups of the dry ingredients without any liquid.
Now we have appr. 1-1/2 cups more of the dry ingredients. Add the rest of the dry ingredients in 1/2 cup installments, add a little milk, and mix. Repeat this until the flour and milk are used up.

Keep the cake mixer away. Now there is approximately. 7 cups of batter.

Transfer appr.1/3 amount of the batter to another bowl(that's about 1-3/4 cups of the batter).

From this separated batter, add 1/4 of the vanilla batter to the cocoa liquid and gently mix. Then, mix this back into the transferred batter and gently combine it with a spatula. Mixing it this way makes incorporating the cocoa into the batter easier.

Now we have the vanilla batter and the cocoa batter. Pour half of the vanilla batter into the Bundt pan and spread it out. Then pour in all of the cocoa batter and spread it out. Then again, pour in the rest of the vanilla batter.

To marble the batter, I used a plastic spatula. Insert the spatula into the batter at the center tube. Curve the spatula in an arc like a backward C as you go, pull the spatula through the batter toward the bottom of the pan, and up and out the side of the pan . Repeat the motion every inch or so around the pan.
Don't bother to smooth the top of the batter -it might disturb the marbling.

Bake the cake in a 325°F preheated oven until it is well risen and firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted midway between the center and outer edges of the pan comes out with just crumbs clinging. That's about 55- 60 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan until it's cool enough to handle(about 30 minutes). If the cake doesn't appear to loosen in the pan, loosen the center and outer edges by inserting the tip of a plastic spoon in places that appear attached. Top with a cooling rack and invert the cake onto the rack. Keep the pan inverted for 5 minutes. The cake will release naturally.
Let the cake cool completely. Slice into wedges and serve.