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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Chocolate - Pistachio Marble Cake


This cake is the more sophisticated version of a childhood classic. I am sure you do all remember the marble cake from the kids' birthday parties you were invited to in your childhood. When I think of kids' birthday parties, I think of the four classics you would always get for these occasions namely the hazelnut cake, the orange & lemon cakes as well as my favorite; the marble cake. Even though I don't remember the games of these parties anymore, I still remember the cakes.  I always like to share this kind of memories. What were your favorite cakes as a kid??? Maybe you can just comment this post and share what was your all-time favorite?

Every once in a while I still bake a marble cake as it's perfect for a Sunday brunch, a coffee break in the afternoon or just a sweet moment in between. However, I felt like it was time to go for something more sophisticated. As for pasta I always go for a trio, for desserts I prefer more tastes in one plate as well. I was not sure whether to put a cinnamon twist in the chocolate part or to add rum to the vanilla batter. As you notice, nothing of this ever happened. 



There exist as many variations of marble cake as there exist family recipe books. I am sure that every mother, grandmother, godmother, aunt or sister has one classic and a personalized version of this cake in their homes. The simple fact that you pass on a recipe let's it wander and develop. This is why I love to share my recipes so much. Some get back to you with their results and may inspire you back. This is also what I like so much about baking enthusiasts. They always go for more. While serving you a classic, they come with a 'you have to taste this, I added….'. 



For one loaf you need:

130g butter
6 eggs
420g sugar
200ml liquid cream
320g flour
40 cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
50g pistachios
2 tsp honey
2tbs water
salt

******

Preheat the oven to 150°

First prepare the chocolate batter.

Whisk together 65g butter, 220g sugar and three eggs until you get a fluffy dough. Pour 100ml liquid cream to it and mix again. Now add a pinch of salt, the baking powder and the cocoa powder. Mix again until you get even dough.


For the pistachio batter, first start preparing the pistachio cream. 

In a saucepan, boil the water with 20g of sugar and the honey. Meanwhile, mix the pistachios in a blender until you obtain a fine powder. Pour the honey syrup on the nuts and mix again until it gets creamy. 

In another bowl, whisk together the remaining butter, eggs and sugar. Add the pistachio cream and mix again. Pour the remaining cream to it, mix, then add the flour, another pinch of salt and the baking powder. Mix again until you get even dough


Fill the cake mold with the help of two ladles (or normal soup spoons, depending on the pattern you want to get) alternating the pistachio and chocolate batter. When both batters are gone, take a fork, put into the dough at one end of the mold and push it to the other end. Now you got the final swirl.

Bake for one hour. Check with the point of the knife if the cake is ready. If it comes out with some wet batter, crumbs or stickiness on it, the cake needs to bake a little bit more time. Depending on the material of the cake mold it might take some 10 minutes more.
If it comes out dry, take it out of the oven and remove it from the mold. Let it cool down until you serve it. 

Enjoy!!!


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