Marbled Cocoa Butter Cake

The marbled lines look so pretty! I have queued up this recipe too for quite some time. So now, finally there's a chance to make this. No doubt, the eggs separation method really makes the cake softer and if the batter is very well mixed, the texture will be fine and no wet spot should be seen. This is going to be another keeper.

The recipe is adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover - Zebra Butter Cake.

Ingredients:

• 227g salted butter (I usually used salted as I find it enhanced the taste of a cake compared to adding salt separately)
• 85g caster sugar
• 5 egg yolks (large)
• 190g cake flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp and 1/4 tsp double action baking powder, sifted
• 4 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 egg whites (large)
• 80g sugar
• 10g cocoa powder + 2 tbsp hot water
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp milk, to add with plain cake batter

Method:

1. Line the base of an 8" round cake pan with paper and lightly grease the sides.
2. Preheat oven at 180 degree Celsius. 
3. Place butter, 85g sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.
4. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the flour and baking powder and beat well to combine. Fold through the milk and combine well.
6. Beat egg whites in a clean large bowl until all the big bubbles burst. Gradually add in sugar, and beat till soft peak.
7. Take one portion of the egg white mixture, and use a hand whisk to stir well with egg yolk mixture till combined. (I used hand to fold in all the egg whites at this point, as the chances of deflating the egg whites are reduced, resulting in an even softer cake.)
8. Divide cake batter into two portions: ~500g for the plain cake batter and ~400g for chocolate cake batter. (I didn't follow the exact measurement, as the total batter weight is a bit short of 900g, so I just roughly divided the batter into 2 portions.)  
9. Add in cocoa mixture into 400g cake batter and lightly mix till combine. Add 1 1/2tbsp milk into the plain batter, mix well.
10. Using a small soup ladle, scoop 2 or 3 (depending how big the soup ladle is) of plain batter into center of cake pan. 
11. Then, scoop 2 or 3 (depending how big the soup ladle is) of chocolate batter onto the center of the plain batter. Use the back of the ladle, gently push down and smooth out the batter a bit so the batter will spread outwards. 
12. Continue to scoop another 2 or 3 plain and chocolate batter, then reduce to 1 or 2 scoops and continue to layer and reduce till the batter is used up. Lightly tap the pan on the worktop to remove air bubbles.
13. Bake for 50 minutes or until cake surface becomes golden.
14. Let cake cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before removing it to be cooled upright on a wire rack.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen).