This recipe makes a really light and airy cake. Perfect on its own or served with whipped cream.
Chocolate Marble Cake
8 servings
- Preparation time: 35 minutes
- Cooking time: 40 minutes
- Ingredients
- 120 ml (4 fl oz) milk (½ cup)
- 1 x 100g bar plain/dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids
- 60 ml (2½ fl oz) crème fraîche (¼ cup) (sour cream can be used as a substitute)
- 2 tbsp brandy
- 170 g (6 oz) butter, softened (¾ cup, or 1½ sticks)
- 170 g (6 oz) caster/superfine sugar (¾ cup + 1 tbsp)
- 3 eggs, medium (U.K.)/large (N.A.), lightly beaten
- 225 g (8 oz) self-raising/self-rising flour, sifted (1¾ cups)
- salt
- icing/powdered sugar to dust
Equipment
- You will also need a bundt pan with a base measurement of 20 cm (8 inches), greased and dusted with flour, or a 20 cm (8 inch) springform cake pan, sides greased and dusted with flour, base lined with baking parchment.
- Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) (gas 4).
- Break up the chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl with half the milk. Sit the bowl over a pan of just simmering water to melt the chocolate, about 5 minutes. Make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the chocolate and milk until combined and then put to one side to cool.
- Now in a small bowl, lightly whisk together the remaining milk, crème fraîche (or sour cream), and brandy. Put to one side.
- Next, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Now gradually add the eggs until the mixture is smooth. Occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the mixture.
- Using a large metal spoon fold in half the flour with a pinch of salt and then add half the milk mixture. Repeat using the remaining flour and milk mixture.
- Spoon slightly less than half the cake mixture into a separate bowl and quickly mix in the melted chocolate.
- Then combine both batches of the cake, marbling lightly so that both mixtures are still apparent.
- Carefully spoon into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 minutes, until a fine skewer comes out clean when poked through the centre of the cake.
- Leave in the pan until the cake is fairly cool and then turn out on to a wire rack.
- Dust the top with icing/powdered sugar to serve.