chocolate and vanilla sponge marble cake

one of two cakes, and this is all that's left after a day

Marble cake, the mingling of vanilla with chocolate in random swirls. It looks fancy, tastes great, and is easy to make. Which is just as well, because I keep getting asked to make it. You need a little bit of organisation and two mixing bowls. I like making it in loaf tins, it's easier to slice, and I don't add any icing, there's enough going on without it. Maybe a light dusting of icing sugar, if you must.

I make a large batch, three good sized bread tins, lined with baking parchment. You spoon in some vanilla, followed by some chocolate and maybe a bit more vanilla, then you run a knife through it in a figure of eight. Don't stir it too much, it's nice if the two flavours aren't muddled up too much. The chocolate has a little spike of coffee, that makes it the perfect partner for a demitasse, or something longer if you prefer.

Recipe

makes 3 large loaves - line three large tins with baking parchment (crumple it up thoroughly to make it sit into the tins, or use pre-shaped parchment

vanilla sponge
150g sr flour
50g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
200g fat, marg or butter
150g castor sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp warm water

chocolate sponge
150g sr flour
50g pure unsweetened cocoa (sieved) including 1 tbsp instant coffee
1 tsp baking powder

200g fat, marg or butter
150g castor sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

3tbsp warm water

• put all the ingredients for each sponge into two separate bowls
• beat together the vanilla spone, until well mixed (I use an electric whisk), adding the warm water at the last moment
• beat together the chocolate sponge until well mixed, adding the warm water last
• put three spoonfuls, spaced apart in each tin of the vanilla mixture
• fill the gaps with three spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture
• keep adding more spoonfuls alternately, until the mixture is all used up
• swirl a knife through each tinful of mixture in a figure of eight
• cook for around 30m at 160 degrees, or until a skewer, inserted, comes out clean