Ann's Bakery Style Marble Cake

As a kid,I used to eagerly wait for Christmas.No we did not celebrate Christmas at home,nor did we receive any gifts from Santa.But still Xmas was special.Our home used to be filled with Plum Cakes,all of them received as gifts from my father's clients mainly.Since my family did not eat eggs most of them would be given away to friends,family,neighbours and our helps at home.One or two cakes would be kept at home for us kids.

That deep rich cake,laden with dry fruits and nuts,covered with a thick sugary icing and decorated with roses,flowers and leaves were what our dreams were made of!We could never have enough of it.Having tasted quite a few fruit cakes,I still believe that what we tasted during those days is unmatchable in taste and texture.

Though I wanted to make a Fruit cake this year,I chose not to as I have a li'l cake monster at home who wants to lick the bowl and spatula and waits like a hawk till it bakes so that he can have a piece :)Fruit Cake can wait :)

I chose this recipe as I am a big fan of Ann's Bakery cakes.The Rumberry Cake is among my most favorite,followed by this delicious Marble Cake.The recipe appeared on their Facebook page and I quickly jotted it down to try soon.What better occasion than Christmas right?I wish you all a Merry Christmas,hope you bake and serve and eat lot of Cakes and spread joy this season :)

Ann's Bakery Style Marble Cake

Recipe (as published on their Facebook Page)

Ingredients

Butter - 225 gms
Castor Sugar - 225 gms
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Eggs - 4
Flour - 225 gms
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Ground Nuts(Almonds/Cashew/Walnuts) - 50 gms,I used Almonds
Milk - 50 ml
Melted Chocolate - 50 gms

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.Grease and flour a 6 cup Bundt pan.*
Beat together butter,sugar and salt till creamy (about 4 minutes).
Mix in vanilla and beat again.
Add in eggs one at a time,beating for a minute after each addition.
Sift together flour,baking powder and ground almonds.
Add the flour mix and milk alternately and beat till you get a smooth and fluffy batter.
Divide the batter into two and fold in the melted chocolate into one portion.
Spoon the batters alternately into the prepared tin and using a bamboo skewer or a knife,marble lightly.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack.

Step by Step pictorial

Preheat oven to 180C.Grease and flour a 6 cup Bundt pan.*

Beat together butter,sugar and salt till creamy (about 4 minutes).

Mix in vanilla and beat again.

Add in eggs one at a time,beating for a minute after each addition.

Sift together flour,baking powder and ground almonds.

Add the flour mix and 

milk alternately and beat 

till you get a smooth and fluffy batter.

Divide the batter into two and 

fold in the melted chocolate into one portion.

Spoon the batters alternately into the prepared tin and 

using a bamboo skewer or a knife,marble lightly.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

• You can use any normal tin to bake,not a bundt pan necessarily.I had enough batter to fill a 6 cup bundt tin and a 300gm loaf tin.
• Please ensure all ingredients are at room temperature.
• You can use your method of choice for marbling.The original recipe suggests to pour one batter completely topped with another and then marbled.I however always go with my method as that gives a nice marble effect every time.

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Eggless Vanilla Choco-chip Bundt Cake

There was a time when eggless baking gave me jitters.Maybe because I started baking with eggs and struggled a bit to perfect my baking that anything less than a super hit success recipe makes me gasp a little.Initially I had a problem with using condensed milk too{call me crazy}.I could finish a whole can all by myself if I had my way,but using it all in a cake made me apprehensive.

Of course,some recipes stick with you and I do have my go-to eggless cake recipe which gives me foolproof results every single time.

However,the baker in me gets all excited when a new recipe comes up and I just cannot sit still until I try it out.Last time when I was in Ernakulam and wanted to bake for family,I came across this recipe.I had all ingredients ready{even if one ingredient was missing,I could just hop off to Staines,right opposite my home and get it!}.The cake was a super hit and got polished off in no time.

I tried it again after coming back to Chennai with the addition of chocolate chips.Arjun,who gets excited the moment I take out my bowls,measuring cups and whisk loved it and gobbled down a couple of pieces with his glass of milk.So next time you are looking for an eggless recipe with simple ingredients I recommend you try this one.

Eggless Vanilla Choco-chip Bundt Cake
Recipe source - YummyTummy

Ingredients

Maida/All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup / 210 gms
Sugar - 3/4 cup / 150 gms
Milk powder - 3/4 cup / 100 gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup /100 gms
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Thick curd/yogurt - 1/2 cup / 120 ml
Milk - 1/2 cup / 120 ml
Water - 1/2 cup / 120 ml
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup

Method

Preheat oven to 160 degree C. Grease a 6 cup bundt pan and sprinkle with flour and coat all sides. Tap off the excess flour and set aside.

Mix together milk, water, curd in a jug,keep aside.

Sift together flour, milk powder, baking soda, baking powder and set aside.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl till creamy.

Add in half of the flour mix, all the milk mix and fold gently. Add the remaining flour and fold gently.Mix in the chocolate chips.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.Cool in the tin for about 15 minutes and then invert to a wire rack and finish cooling.

Cut into slices and serve.The cake keeps well in room temperature for 2-3 days if kept in an airtight container.

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Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Let me start the post by wishing all of you a very Happy and prosperous New Year!I know it's a bit late but hey,better late than never,right ;)

Lots of things happened in 2015,it was a year of firsts for Arjun(and for us too!)and the biggest milestone was his first birthday.Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I'd be baking his birthday cake for a party of 50+ people but I did.I'd been planning his birthday ever since he was only a few days old and thanks to God almighty,everything went well as planned.

I'd been thinking of updating the blog at least once in a fortnight but things are moving at quite a slow pace.I thank each one of you who mail me,comment here and try to keep the blog alive.One of my plans(not resolutions,coz those are broken soon:) is to spruce up the blog this year.I hope I am able to do justice to the plan.

Off late,I've started to write down recipes in my recipe diary just like old times.It just is so convenient when I have to look up a recipe.With my 1 year old around,it is not easy switching on the laptop or searching the phone,so this one sounds like a great idea,just look up the diary!This recipe is one such.I'm a sucker for recipes with Apple-Cinnamon combo and that combined into a cake is just a one-way ticket to Nirvana!

Apple-Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Recipe source - Allrecipes

Ingredients

Brown sugar - 1/3 cup
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
White sugar - 2/3 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup,softened
Eggs - 2
Vanilla - 1 1/2 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 3/4 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Apple - 1,peeled and chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).Grease and flour a 6 cup bundt pan.

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Beat white sugar and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. 

Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated; add vanilla extract.

Combine flour and baking powder together in a bowl; 

stir into creamed butter mixture. Mix milk into batter until smooth. 

Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the apples and half the brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat apple mixture into batter. 

Pour the remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apples and brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using a finger or spoon.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.

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Orange Caraway seeds Bundt Cake

One of the first baking books I ever got for myself was,Thankam Philip's Book of Baking.It is a small 100 page book,published sometime in 1994,full of simple recipes for cakes,cookies and cupcakes.Most of the recipes call for basic items in your pantry and gets done quick,without any complicated steps.Even without a single picture in it,it remains one of my favorite books ever!

I was very excited when a dear friend gave me two photocopied books,which were published in 1979!Australian Family Circle-Favourite Cake recipes and Cakes and Cake decorating by Rosemary Wadey.After trying a few recipes from the books,I should say the books are a real treasure.Do you have such favourite books too..I'd love to know!

I'm a little apprehensive when the recipe calls for dividing the eggs first and folding the whites slowly etc.Somehow,I always feel I might mess up and spoil the final product.But let me tell you,it is that method which gives this cake a light and airy texture with a great crumb as well.Adding Caraway seeds was something new to me,I've never tasted any cakes with caraway seeds.A bite of the cake,however reminded me of those light sponge cakes we used to relish during childhood,the ones bought off the shelf from our nearby bakery.

I have to warn you though about the batter.Follow the steps carefully and do not panic if you feel the batter looks firm,almost like a cookie dough.It will lighten up once you fold in the egg whites and rise up beautifully once it bakes.I poured some ganache glaze on top because we love the orange-chocolate pairing and it goes so well together.You can skip the glaze or add a simple icing sugar+orange juice glaze.

Orange Caraway seeds Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Unsalted butter – 1/2 cup / 100 gms
Light brown sugar – 2 1/2 tablespoons
Granulated white sugar – 6 tablespoons
Eggs – 2, separated
Grated rind of one medium sized orange
Orange juice – 3 tablespoons
All-purpose flour – 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder – 1 1/2 teaspoons
Caraway seeds – 1 teaspoon

For glaze

Icing sugar – 1/2 cup
Orange juice – 1 tablespoon

OR

Chocolate ganache - 1/2 cup
 
Method

Pre-heat oven to 175 degree C. Butter and flour an 8 inch bundt pan if you have one, else line an 8 inch round or square cake tin with butter paper and butter it.

Mix together both the sugars and rub in orange zest into it till the sugar becomes moist and fragrant.

Beat together butter and the sugars till creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition.

Sift flour and baking powder. Add caraway seeds and mix well.

Add half of the flour mixture into the creamy batter and beat just until combined. Do not over beat.
Now add the orange juice and beat just until incorporated. Add the last batch of flour mixture and beat again just until incorporated. Do not overbeat because it will lead to tougher texture of the cake.

Beat the egg whites till frothy and until you get soft peaks. Fold the egg whites carefully into the batter. It might look tough in the beginning but the whites neatly blend in the batter. It will lighten up. Do not over fold here again. Fold just until the whites are incorporated.

Transfer the batter into the prepared tin and smoothen the top. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is well risen, golden and a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Mix together the glaze ingredients, place cake on serving plate /board and pour on top of the cake .

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