Marble cake

Marble cake is one of those baked treats that you remember growing up with. It's a very straight forward cake batter, coloured and gently swirled to give the best effect. Give this recipe a go for a trip down memory lane.

Marble cake

• serves

  10

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g margarine
• 1¼ cups caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups self raising flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ⅓ cup cornflour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 drops cochineal 
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Cream the margarine and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cornflour, alternately with the milk and vanilla.

Divide the mix into three even portions. Colour one with a drop or two of cochineal, the second with the cocoa powder and leave the third plain.

Into a greased 23 cm tin, spoon the three coloured mixes, separately. Gently swirl together with a knife, taking care not to overmix.

Drop the tin gently onto the kitchen bench to eliminate air bubbles. Bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on a cake rack.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.