Marble cake, that is. I don't think marble cake is all that common here in NZ, so I was interested to see a recent recipe for Olive Oil Marble Cake in the NZ Herald's weekly "Bite" supplement. I haven't eaten it for years and had never made one.
Growing up in the US we had marble cake all the time. But I'm not quite sure why that tradition existed in our family. It turns out that marble cake was introduced to the US by German immigrants before the Civil War. Early versions used molasses and spices for the dark colour rather than chocolate. My family is of Irish/Scottish/English extraction, but it could be that marble cake is just one of those cakes that everyone makes in the US or in certain regions of the US, like angel food cake.
This recipe uses cocoa and rum to colour the dark marbling. The base batter is mixed in the food processor, it's quick and easy to make. I'm not sure why the cake rose up and cracked in the middle, research required. I'm sure an old school baker could tell me. Perhaps the milk was too cold and should have been room temp. SOS Mary Berry!
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