MMMMM----------------------------CAKE---------------------------------
150 g Unsalted butter; softened
150 g Caster sugar
3 lg Eggs
2 ts Vanilla extract
150 g Plain flour
2 ts Baking powder
1/2 ts Salt
6 Cardamom pods; seeds only;
-ground
1 ts Fennel seeds; ground
2 ts Ground cinnamon
1 ts Ground ginger
1/2 ts Black pepper
25 g Soft light brown sugar
MMMMM--------------------------TOPPING-------------------------------
50 g Unsalted butter; very soft
150 g Cream cheese
50 g Icing sugar
Ground cinnamon; to dust
This is just a simple marble cake, but with a chai spice mixture in
place of the usual cocoa powder. You can bake it in a 20 cm round
tin, too, cooking for a slightly shorter time if so.
Set the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 2 lb /
900 g loaf tin.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and smooth, then beat
in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Don't
worry if the batter curdles a little. Mix the flour, baking powder,
and salt together in a separate bowl then fold these dry ingredients
into the wet mixture to form a thick batter.
Put 250 g of the cake mix in a separate bowl. Combine the spices and
sugar, then add this to the bowl of batter, combining gently, but
thoroughly.
Scoop the light and dark cake mixes into the tin, dolloping spoonfuls
of each haphazardly to create a patterned batter. Swirl a small knife
lightly through the mix a couple of times to marble the two colours.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the cake has risen, set and lightly
browned. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come
out with just a crumb or two stuck to it. Leave to cool in its tin
for half an hour or so before unmoulding on to a wire rack.
Once the cake has cooled completely, prepare the topping. Beat the
butter until very smooth, then stir in the cream cheese a little at a
time. Sift in the icing sugar and mix well until combined. Spoon this
on to the cooled cake and slather thickly all over the top, nudging
it into soft swirls and ripples as you go. Dust a little extra
cinnamon on top to finish.
