Mocha Almond Marble Cake

A new week is coming up and I figured what better way to start it than with a new post. This cake was a last minute decision and the reason I made it was because I saw it on a blog and thought, wow, that looks cool. Knowing that the recipe called for chocolate syrup I put it in the back of my mind. But when I went shopping with L to a cheap supermarket and saw some inexpensive chocolate syrup I picked it up, intent on baking this cake. Fast forward a few days to Yom Yerushalayim, a day spent celebrating the return of Jerusalem to Israeli hands in 1967. After a few morning speakers, we had a couple of hours free before the walk from town to the Old City. Just for the record, it's the most amazing sight- seeing hundreds of people marching, dancing and singing, Israeli flags in hand- there's truly nothing like it. It's great to live in Israel and be a part of its people. Anyway, back to the cake. This recipe comes from Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions. She describes this cake as a baker's magic trick. The cake is a marble cake only the baker does no marbling. The chocolate batter sinks into the white, forming a cool swirly pattern. I opted to bake mine in a bundt pan. I started off in a pullman-like pan but realized that there was too much batter and at the last second switched to the bundt, which spilled over a drop anyway. I sliced this cake before it was cool, not a good idea!, so that I could serve it to the girls before we left for the walk and it literally disappeared in seconds with the girls offering glowing reviews. I dont know about making it again but I will say that I have a bottle of chocolate syrup that needs to be used....

Mocha Almond Marble Cake

from Baking for All Occasions

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1 tbsp hot water

3/4 cup chocolate syrup

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 ounces butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat your oven to 350. Generously grease a large ten cup bundt pan. Set aside.
Place the espresso and boiling water in a measuring cup. Stir.
Add the chocolate syrup and whisk to blend. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk and set aside.
Place the margarine or butter into a bowl,
and beat a few minutes until creamy.
Slowly add the sugar a bit at a time beating well all the while. It should take about 4-5 minutes to incorporate and be light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Add the eggs one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. This should take 3-4 minutes.
This is what my batter looked like.
Add the dry ingredients in three parts
alternately with the milk.
The batter should look like this, nice and silky.
Add the extracts and blend. At this point, spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Add the baking soda to the chocolate syrup mixture,
and immediately pour over the remaining batter and blend thoroughly.
Pour the chocolate batter over the white batter and spread to the edges.
Bake the cake for sixty to seventy minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool fifteen minutes in the pan.
Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Slice and serve with tea or coffee!