Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Loaf

Not sure whether to make a chocolate cake or a vanilla cake? Why not combine both and make this chocolate and vanilla marble loaf topped with a chocolate fudge icing.

What you’ll need:

• 175g soft margarine
• 175g caster sugar
• 200g self-rasing flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp hot water
• a medium sized loaf tin

For the icing:

• 25g soft margarine
• 15g cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp milk
• 100g icing sugar
• 40g white chocolate, melted (to decorate with)

Let’s get started!

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C and line your loaf tin with grease proof paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the margarine, caster sugar, self-raising flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and vanilla extract using an electric whisk.
3. Split the mixture into two bowls. In a small bowl mix the cocoa powder with the hot water creating a smooth paste. Let it cool slightly before adding it to one of the bowls of cake mixture and mixing once again with the electric whisk.
4. Spoon the mixture randomly into the tin, alternating in between the vanilla and chocolate mix until you’ve used both mixtures up. Using a spoon, swirl the chocolate and vanilla together slightly in the tin and smooth the top of the mixture out.
5. Bake the cake in the oven for around 50 minutes to an hour, it should be golden and spring back after gently touching the top.
6. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin. Once the tin is cool enough to touch, remove the cake and take the greaseproof paper off. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack before decorating.

For the icing:

1. Melt the margarine in a small saucepan over a low heat. Mix in the cocoa powder and stir together over a low heat for 1 minute.
2. Take the mixture off the heat and add in the milk and the icing sugar.
3. Stir the mixture until it thickens and there are no lumps remaining.
4. Leave the icing to cool down, stirring every now and then to thicken it.
5. Once the icing is cool, spread it on top of the cake making sure to go right to the edges.
6. Melt the white chocolate down and drizzle it across the top of the cake. I found it easier to pop the white chocolate into a piping bag and piped a zigzag pattern across the top of the cake. Then cut the cake into even slices.

I hope you enjoy making this recipe! If you have a go don’t forget to share your makes with us on Instagram @aboxofbuttons or on Twitter @aBoxofButtons! See you next time!