Recipe: Marble Loaf

For the longest time I’ve struggled to perfect a loaf recipe. They always sank in the middle, didn’t cook through or overflowed from the tin. Now after much trial and error I have perfected it, so expect a lot of loaf recipes from now on. But today I’m starting off my new found love of loaf recipe with a simple marble loaf.

Ingredients
- 150g Caster Sugar
- 150g Stork
- 150g Self Raising Flour
- 3 Eggs
- 20g Cocoa Powder
- 2 Tsps Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tsp Chocolate Extract

Method
1- Pre heat oven to 160C. Line a 2lb loaf tin with a tin liner or greaseproof paper.
2- Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Cream together until pale in colour and fluffy in texture. I always advise leaving your stork out at room temperature as it helps create a nicer texture within the cake.
3- Add one egg at a time along with a tablespoon of flour. Beat until well combined, taking care to scrape the edges of the bowl.
4- Repeat until all three eggs have been incorporated and everything is beaten and well combined.
5- Fold in the remainder of the flour. Take your time when folding in your flour as you don’t want to knock all off the air out of your mixture. Boring I know but necessary if you want a deliciously light cake that melts in the mouth.
6- Separate the mixture evenly between two bowls. In one bowl add your cocoa powder and chocolate extract. Gently fold through until fully combined.
7- In the second bowl add your vanilla extract and fold through until combined.
8- Now it’s time to marble the two together. A skewer worked between the two mixture once they’re in the tin works wonders but I chose to do a somewhat chequer board effect in which I created by spooning alternate spoonfuls of both mixtures into the prepared tin. Any left over I spooned over the top, tapping the tin gently against the counter so the mixture sat evenly in the tin.
9- Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The best way to test to see if it’s cooked is to place a skewer in the centre of the cake but you can also tell by doing the press test. If you gently press the sponge and it springs right back then cake is done.
10- Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Then all that’s left to do is slice and enjoy with a nice cuppa.