LIME MARBLE BUNDT

 

I did not sneak in spinach puree into this marble cake for its nutrition . The nutrition part is a bonus though. I added the spinach puree for its green color and its beautiful! I used the same recipe as the marble cake . 

INGREDIENTS

1. 12 Tbsp. oil
2. 2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. sugar
3. 3 cups flour
4. 4 eggs
5. 1 cup hot milk
6. 2 tsp vanilla essence plus 1/2 tsp orange essence
7. 2 tsp baking powder
8. 1-1/2 tsp salt
9. 4 Tbsp. grated lemon

For grated lemon :

• Freeze the lemon for 24 hours. Grate the whole frozen lemon to yield 4 Tbsp. The remaining grated frozen lemon can be stored in the freezer and used as necessary.

For the spinach puree:

1. 1 cup chopped spinach(I have used power greens which consists of a combination of kale , spinach and chard), that's a handful of spinach leaves.
2. 1/4 water

METHOD

To make the spinach puree: This can be made ahead.

• Bring 1 cup loosely packed ,chopped spinach and 1/4 cup water to a boil. Turn off and keep aside to cool.
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

• When cool , put it in a blender and puree it. This yields 1/4 cup puree. This can be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Making the cake:

• Butter  or oil the Bundt pan  for baking. 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 ahead.
• 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 aside.
• Take the sugar in a bowl and keep aside.

                                            

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

         

• Beat the egg white using a cake mixer on high speed  until frothy and the volume has increased  ,about a minute.

• Now, on maximum speed beat the egg whites and while beating ,gradually add the sugar(1 cup - 2 Tbsp.) , maybe 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 ,pre-heat the oven to 325 degree F for 15 minutes.

• Put in 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 the egg whites stiff , added in the yolk and oil too. We have 3 cups flour and 1 cup sugar . Incorporating all of the flour-sugar at once will not work .We need to incorporate the flour in installments.
• Heat the milk until hot. Microwave the milk in a microwavable cup at power 4 for 2 minutes. Take out the milk , stir it with a spoon and microwave again for 1.30 minutes at the same power.  I use a 1100W microwave oven.
• So into the whipped egg-oil batter ,add 1-1/2 cups of flour-sugar(whisked dry ingredients) , 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 bit of milk and mix. Repeat this until the flour and milk is over 

                                      

       

• Keep the cake mixer away. Now there is appr. 7 cups of batter.
• Pre-heat the oven at 350 degree F for 15 minutes . 
• 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 ,into the spinach puree , add 1/4 of the vanilla batter and gently mix. Add the grated frozen lemon and gently mix. Then mix this back into transferred batter and mix gently with a spatula. Mixing it this way makes it easier to incorporate the cocoa into the batter.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Now we have the vanilla batter and the green lemon batter. Into the Bundt pan , pour in 1/2 of the vanilla batter. Spread it out. Then pour in all of the cocoa batter. 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 350 degree F pre-heated oven , until the cake is well risen and firm to touch and a toothpick stuck 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 about .When its cool enough to handle(about 30 minutes).If the cake doesn't appear to loosen in the pan , loose 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  5 minutes. The cake will release naturally.

                                       

              

       
• Let the cake cool completely. Slice into wedges and serve.

                                       

                                       

NOTES


• Having trouble in releasing the cake from a bundt pan ? Read this post here.
• I tried using beetroot puree for a pink cake but the ponk color batter turns into a pale yellow-green cake. I skipping the baking powder/baking soda , thinking that is the culprit for the pink color not showing up in the cake but to no avail. Beetroot puree imparts a nice pink color for ice-creams , though.
• For more on lemon/orange rind click here. 
• For more on fruit purees click here.

TRIAL AND ERROR

• I doubled the spinach in an attempt to get a darker green color but the original amount is the right amount. When I doubled the spinach , I could taste the spinach in the cake.  And also I could not get a darker green color. So back to the original amount in mentioned in the recipe.
• I also tried doubling the amount of grated lemon , increased to a 100 gms. but its better to use lemon essence if more lemon flavor is used. 
• Because it was a non-sticky Bundt pan , initially I baked at 325 degree F but baking at 350 F gives a nice brown color and even baking .
• Want more lemon flavor , grate one whole lemon and use in the green batter.