Chocolate marble loaf cake

Loaf cake is a popular dessert here in Romania – we don’t need a special occasion to make it, it’s a simple dessert, with basic ingredients. The best thing about it is that you can slice it and take it with you at work or school to serve it as a snack. It’s great with a glass of milk or some orange juice.

Since I always like to do things differently, I had to embellish this chocolate marble loaf cake… by adding a thick layer of chocolate ganache on top of it. ? And some raisins in the batter. OK, now it could easily be considered a cake fit for any celebration. I just couldn’t leave it plain, even though I think it looks pretty without all the extra ingredients that I used this time.

Creating the marble look is really easy – you prepare a white loaf cake batter, divide it into two equal parts, then add cocoa to half of it. Then, in the cake tin, add one spoon of white batter, then one spoon of cocoa batter on top, and repeat these steps with all the remaining batter.

I would suggest adding lemon zest to the cake mixture – the subtle lemon taste will boost the cake’s flavor, and you’ll get to note something richer than the usual, plain cake. It simply livens up the batter, giving it a bit of personality.

Since you add chocolate ganache on top of it, you’ll have to keep this chocolate marble loaf cake in the fridge, or else the ganache will melt. If you want to keep it fresh for 2 to 3 days, just make sure you cover it completely in aluminum or cling foil, so that it won’t become dry. If you don’t add the chocolate, you can keep it at room temperature, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Make sure no air gets in.

Tip: make sure that the eggs are at room temperature when you start to whip them.

How do you like your chocolate marble loaf cake? Plain or fancy, with chocolate, raisins and other goodies?

Ingredients

Cake

5 eggs

45 ml (4 tablespoons) oil

200 g (1 cup) sugar

180 g (1.4 cup) flour

2 packets Dr. Oetker vanilla-flavored sugar

5 g (1 teaspoon) baking powder

30 g (4 tablespoons) cocoa

100 g (2/3 cup) raisins

Zest from 1 lemon

A pinch of salt

Chocolate ganache

100 g (3.5 oz.) bittersweet chocolate

80 ml (1/3 cup) heavy cream

Directions

For the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease a loaf tin and line with a strip of baking parchment.
2. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. With a mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until the mixture is white and soft. Start adding the sugar, spoon by spoon, until the mixture is firm: if you turn the bowl upside down, the egg whites shouldn’t fall out.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with 2 packets of vanilla-flavored sugar, then add the oil and mix until combined.
4. Transfer the egg whites to the bowl with the egg yolks, then gently fold them together using a spatula.
5. Mix the flour with the baking powder, and gradually incorporate it in the egg mixture. Add the lemon zest, too.
6. Divide the batter into two equal parts, buy ambien no prescription, and add the sifted cocoa to half of the batter.
7. Using a spoon, add one spoonful of white batter into the cake tin, then add a spoon of cocoa batter on top of it, plus some raisins. Repeat this step until all the batter is distributed in the loaf tin.
8. Bake the chocolate marble loaf cake for 25-30 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if the cake is ready by sticking a toothpick or skewer in its center – if the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
9. Let the cake cool completely in the tin.

For the chocolate ganache

1. Break the chocolate into small, equal parts, and put them in a bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream in a small pot. When it’s almost simmering, pour it over the chocolate.
3. Let stand for about 2 minutes, until the chocolate has softened.
4. With a whip, stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool completely before using it.
5. Pour the ganache over the chocolate marble loaf cake, and let it cool in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.
6. You can decorate it with maraschino cherries, walnuts, shredded coconut or candied orange peel.