My mum’s amazingly delicious ‘simple cake’ – here baked as a blood orange and chocolate marble cake with rich chocolate glaze. You can vary the flavours and icing to your taste. Sponsored by Waitrose.
I have my mum to thank for my love of cooking and baking. I grew up helping her and my yiayia (grandma) in the kitchen before I got too cool for such humdrum activities. And although my mother is a formidable cook that tackles complicated recipes when the fancy takes her, it is this everyday cake that sticks in my mind.
This cake, titled ‘simple cake’ in my mum’s Greek cookery bible, was baked on both on special occasions and on weekday evenings. My mum varied the recipe a lot – sometimes making a vanilla cake with a white glaze, more often a chocolate and orange marble cake with rich chocolate icing. It doesn’t matter what form the cake took though, it was always indescribably soft, fragrant and delicious.
When Waitrose asked me to share a recipe of my mum’s that is special to me, I knew it HAD to be this cake. So I emailed my mum to ask for the recipe and she send me a photo from her cookery book. And this is where I realised my mum’s genius for baking. Because the recipe in the book doesn’t read like a recipe, it’s more like general cake guidelines: 3-4 eggs, 1 bag of flour, 1 teacup butter… My mum’s note in her email said ‘as you can see this calls for too much flour – use less!’ But fear not… I have managed to navigate these rather obscure instructions to produce the very cake my mum used to make. And it is just as fluffy and delicious as I remember it.
This post is sponsored by Waitrose as part of their #ThanksMum campaign. Waitrose is running a #ThanksMum competition until March 6th. To take part, share a dish your mum makes that’s special to you on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and hashtag it #ThanksMum.
Blood Orange Chocolate Marble Cake
My mum's amazingly delicious 'simple cake' – here baked as a blood orange and chocolate marble cake with rich chocolate glaze. You can vary the flavours and icing to your taste.
Print RatePrep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 10 slices
Ingredients
- 320 g | 11.3oz | 2 1/2 cups plain all purpose flour
- 180 g | 6.3oz caster or granulated sugar
- 150 g | 5.3oz room temperature unsalted butter cubed
- 120 ml | 4fl oz blood orange juice 2 small oranges
- 60 ml | 2fl oz milk
- 4 eggs separated
- 2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- zest of 2 blood oranges
- <br>
- For the glaze
- 200 g | 7oz good quality dark chocolate finely chopped
- 200 g | 7oz double cream
- 2 tbsp golden syrup or honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C | 350F. Line a large loaf tin with baking paper letting the paper hang over the edges.
- In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites and salt until you have stiff peaks. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.
- Put the butter and sugar in the stand mixer bowl (no need to clean). Beat the butter and sugar for several minutes until creamy and white. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides as you mix.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time, waiting until each is blended in before adding the next.
- Combine the orange juice, milk, zest, vanilla extract and bicarbonate of soda in a measuring jug. The soda will cause the mixture to froth slightly.
- Alternate adding the flour and orange mixture while mixing at low speed. Stir in the baking powder.
- Gently fold in the whisked egg whites, in stages, with a large spatula until the batter is smooth.
- Transfer 3/4 of the batter into the prepared tin. Mix the rest of the batter with the cocoa powder until smooth.
- Feather the cocoa batter mixture into the cake using a knife, making sure it is mixed in well.
- Bake for 45m -1hour until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
- Put the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream and golden syrup until almost boiling then pour over the chocolate. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes then stir until silky smooth. Pour or spread over the cooled cake and serve immediately.
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Louise | Cygnet Kitchen says
I think I could eat that glaze by the spoonful :-O This looks delicious Lucy! I can see why its a family favourite x
Choclette Blogger says
This looks wonderful Lucie. Sort of weird to see it all written in Greek, I think of marble cake as a very British cake, but I have no idea why.
Sarah Montgomery says
I can see why it's special to you, it looks incredible and I bet there wouldn't be a crumb left!
Janice Pattie says
That looks so good, gorgeous flavour combination and such a pretty marbled effect.
Beachhutcook says
Such a warming post and a great cake recipe. I too have my Mum to thank for my love of cooking and eating. She made everything warm and cozy. I miss her hugely and I know she would have loved this whole blogging thing. Elinor x
Lucy Parissi says
Oh that's must be so hard…
I know my mum is very proud of the 'whole blogging thing' even though it took her a while to get her head around it.
Hannah Hossack-Lodge says
Your mum must be very talented to be able to bake such a beautiful cake from such a vague recipe! My mum taught me to bake too, she used to make the most amazing gingerbread houses (mansions really!) at Christmas and even taught an after school baking class for a while 🙂 x
Lucy Parissi says
I can totally see that – you are a very talented baker yourself 🙂
Sophie S says
The top of this is stunning!
Julia@Vikalinka says
You really do need to know how to bake in order to pull off such beauty from that recipe! Lovely cake, Lucy! I learned how to cook and how to enjoy it from my mum as well. Her food was always miles better than all of my friends' mums around. 😉
Lucy Parissi says
I think once you grow up with lovely food you definitely don't want to settle for anything less!