Marble cake / Choco vanilla cake

Marble cake is one of the most popular cakes sold in Kerala bakeries. The choco and vanilla layers fascinated me from childhood days. Having this cake is like a double treat, you can enjoy both the flavours in a single bite.

Ingredients:


All Purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Butter - 100 gms, softened
Powdered sugar - 1+1/4 cups
Eggs - 2 (at room temperature)
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Milk - 1 cup (luke warm)
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Sift together maida and baking powder in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, combine butter and sugar. Add eggs and whisk well. Add the vanilla essence and milk and whisk together. Add the flour and whisk well till all ingredients are combined well and you get a smooth batter without any lumps.
3. Preheat oven to 180C and grease a cake tin.
4. Pour half of the cake mix in the tin.  Add the cocoa powder to the other half  in the bowl,and combine well. Pour this cocoa mix on top of the vanilla layer in the cake tin . Using a knife or toothpick, swirl the batter to create a marbling effect.
5. Bake for 30-40 mins. Check if cake is done by inserting a skewer in the middle. Let the cake cool completely.

Linking with my own event ABC Series:DESSERTS that ends tomorrow.

Events:

The Kerala Kitchen - Jan 2012 hosted by Kaveri, an event series started by Ria and Rose. 
Cooking concepts - Chocolate Fest by Sravani
Chocolate lover @Daily Cuppa
Valentine's day event @ Teenz Yummy delights
Chocolate Mela @ Cooking 4 all seasons
Valentine's special @ Anzz cafe
Tea time snack event @ Torview

Chocolate Banana Muffins

This morning when Radhika posted these muffins, I wanted to try these very soon. I had already bookmarked   this in Nigella Lawson's website, but due to some reason I couldn't bake it. So Radhika's post came as a reminder and when I checked my pantry, I had all the ingredients at hand. Also, I wanted to try something chocolatey with the Cadbury Bournville cocoa powder I bought from Cadbury World near Birmingham. I guess I haven't mentioned about my trip to the Cadbury factory at Bournville  in any of the posts before. It is a wonderland for all the people who love chocolate. The aroma of freshly made chocolate fills the air and I relished every moment spent in the premises :-) There are demonstrations of how chocolates are made, the packaging and they give some samples too. The World's largest Cadbury Shop is located here where we can find all varieties of chocolate and related products of Cadbury. If you want to visit or know more check this link: Cadbury World

A few pics taken there...

The factory

The chocolate shop

The handcrafted chocolate shoe

Now coming to the recipe...These muffins are soft, moist, with a wonderful banana and chocolate flavour.

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1 cup

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

Very ripe banana - 2

Egg - 1 large

Oil - 1/2 cup

Dark Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup

The above ingredients yield 8 regular muffins

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line the muffin tray with paper muffin cases or grease with a little oil.

2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda and keep aside.

3. Mash the bananas very well using a blender or mixer. To this add oil followed by eggs and sugar. Mix well after adding each ingredient.

4. Add the flour and cocoa mix to this wet mix and combine well.

5. Scoop into the muffin pan and bake for 15-25 mins till they are baked well.  Insert a toothpick or cocktail stick to check.

This is an excellent muffin for breakfast along with milk. Definitely a hit among kids. My daughter loves anything with chocolate and there is no need to say that she loved it. She could hardly wait till they cooled down.

Linking this with Anyone can cook: Series 32

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Now that we have many spicy dishes lined up on my blog, lets take a sweet turn. I have been thinking of baking a brownie for almost a month now. Finally I made it today and I am happy with the result. This is to celebrate my blog launch and it has crossed more than 200 hits in a single day. Thanks dear friends..

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

Chocolate chopped - 100g 

Butter - 100g 

Self Raising Flour - 200g 

Soft brown sugar or caster sugar - 200g

Eggs - 3

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
I used a few flaked almonds to decorate.

Preparation:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a sauce pan over a low heat.

2. Turn off the heat and gradually stir in the sugar and eggs

3. Add the self raising flour and cocoa powder.

4. Pour the mix into greased baking tray or tin.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180C, the middle should be soft. Let the brownies cool in the tin.

Recipe Source: BBC GoodFood