Marble Loaf

Complex bakes are a great way to use your time and experiment with new textures and flavours. But, sometimes, it’s just nice to make a good old classic. This marble loaf is one of those, crumbly on the outside, moist on the inside. Perfect alongside a nice cup of coffee.

When I was a child, Marble Loaf, or Marble Cake, used to be one of my favourite cakes. In fact, it was one of the cakes I made the most, when spending the afternoon with my grandma. Because both of my parents worked, my nan used to look after me almost every afternoon and she was the one who cultivated my passion for baking. Together, we would spend hours baking anything that caught our fancy, from old and tested recipes from my nan’s arsenal to exciting combinations coming from magazine clippings. The majority of the memories I have of my childhood are in her kitchen, chilling cookie dough in the fridge or mixing frosting. Marble Loaf, however, was one of the cakes we used to make the most, as it was one of my favourites. I loved the “assembling” part, when we would scoop spoonfuls of white and brown dough and lay them side by side in the tin, ready to swirl them with a palette knife. I just loved that.

In the years, I have made my fair share of Marble Loaves. I adjusted my grandma’s recipe to exactly suit my tastes and tried and tested so many times, I have lost count. Now, however, it’s just perfect. The outer layer is crumbly, the inside is soft and moist. The chocolate comes through beautifully and it’s not overpowering. I love having it as an afternoon treat, alongside a cup of coffee or tea. But sometimes I like to unleash my inner child and enjoy it with a glass of milk, as if it were a chewy cookie. It’s great for breakfast too, and let’s be honest: when I make it I eat it all the time! It is just veeery addictive. That’s because it’s not too sweet. When I make very sweet cakes with loads of sugar, butter cream and whatnot, I find that I can only have so much of it. Because cakes in Italy are generally much less sweet than other cakes, my taste buds are just not wired for that. So I will have a super sugary, indulgent cake. But I can hardly manage more than two slices. This one, however, is like a drug. Maybe because of my childhood memories as well.

For this cake, I like to use dark chocolate which is 65% dark or more. I find the flavour much stronger and enticing that way. That being said, even standard baking dark chocolate (with normally around 52% cocoa solids) will work. It will make for a sweeter, creamier batter. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

My nan’s recipe always called for soft butter. Her butter always seemed to be the right consistency which is wizardry to me. It was not melted, it was not just slightly soft. It was so creamy. And to this day she does not own one of those electric butter keepers that make it go all gooey. She can’t explain it either. Bloody magic.

This magic, however, has not translated onto me. So I stopped using butter and substituted it with margarine or any vegetable spread you like. It’s naturally soft, even when it’s just out of the fridge, and it works great with this cake. So what I am saying is, if you have been gifted with the magic powers of softening your butter to perfection (or if you have a butter keeper that does the job for you), you can go ahead and use butter. But if you are common mortal like me, margarine is your best friend here. So use that.

Another thing my nan does differently is the ration between “white” batter and “brown” batter. According to her recipe, 1/3 of the batter will be brown and the remaining two thirds will be white. I think that’s way too much white batter (this girl loves her chocolate). So I do half and half. But if you are one of those that looooove the white batter of the cake, go ahead and use her ration. I just think you are missing out, that’s it.

This Marble Loaf does keep nice and moist for about 5 days, but I very much doubt it will last that long. Especially under quarantine! My boyfriend and I inhaled it in 2 days. It just disappeared. And yours will too.

Ingredients:

275 gr plain flour

180 gr granulated sugar

3 eggs

150 gr margarine

150 gr dark chocolate

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp vanilla essence

3 to 4 tbsp milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C.

2. In a bowl, beat the margarine and the sugar together, until fully combined and creamy.

3. Divide the yolks and the whites of three eggs and combine the yolks with the margarine and sugar mixture.

4. Add the vanilla essence, the milk and then stir in the flour a little at a time. Combine everything. If the batter is too dry, add more milk.

5. Add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

6. Beat the whites until they form some soft picks (I suggest you use an electric beater) and carefully fold it in the batter, careful not to over mix or knock the air out of the whites.

7. Break the chocolate into rough chunks, transfer them to a heat safe bowl. Fill a saucepan with two or three cups of water and place the bowl with the chocolate on top of the saucepan. Heat the water on the hob on a medium heat. The chocolate will start melting. When it’s almost all melted, removed it from the saucepan and mix with a spoon until fully melted.

8. Divide the batter equally into two bowls. Add the chocolate to one and mix until combined.

9. Line a loaf tin (I used a long 3 pound one) with baking paper. Add the batter, one tablespoon of each bowl at a time, alternating between the white and brown batter. You will probably have to add it in two layers.

10. With a palette knife or a standard knife, lightly mix the batter, creating some swirls.

11. Bake for about 50 minutes. If you have a smaller tin, it might take more, so do keep an eye on it and check if the cake is fully baked with a tooth pick.

Enjoy!

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