Chocolate-Island Vanilla Cake

Chocolate-Island Vanilla Cake ~ a close cousin of the beloved Marble Cake

Simple baking is joyous. And when you bring chocolate and vanilla together in a no-frosting, soft, buttery cake, you can never go wrong. 

Like my Banana Loaf Cake, this simple yet delicious cake is perfect for any occasion. It doesn’t require frosting and is quick. Children, especially, love the buttery aroma, flavor and the design.

I was on my way to make a marble cake. But then I decided to do it a little differently. Instead of putting alternate scoops of vanilla and chocolate batter in a pan (as required in a marble cake), I put the chocolate batter in the center only and made slight swirls with a knife at the meeting point of the two batters. And there you have, a Chocolate Island Cake. 🙂

Ingredients you will need:

2 ½ (2+½) cups sifted all-purpose flour/ maida

12 (5+7) tbsp or ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

2 sticks or ¾ cup unsalted butter (½ + ¼)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (approx) milk (to smoothen)

Method for baking:

1) Preheat oven at 375 F. Prep a round baking pan by greasing the sides with butter or spraying it with baking spray.  

2) In a large bowl, add cocoa powder, ½ cup all purpose flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 5 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix these dry ingredients and keep aside.

3) In another bowl, add ½ cup melted butter, 7 tbsp sugar, all the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well with an electric mixer or manually. Once mixer looks sort of well mixed and smooth, add 2 cups all purpose flour. If mixture becomes tight, add milk bit by bit while mixing, to smooth-en it out.

4) Add 3/4th of the vanilla batter in the pan and spread it out.

5) Pour all the cocoa dry ingredient mixture into the bowl with the leftover vanilla batter.Add the ¼ cup of melted butter to this. Add milk bit by bit and mix well to smoothen it out. The chocolate batter consistency should be same as the vanilla.

6) Pour the entire chocolate batter in the center of the vanilla batter in the pan. Leave about 1 inch border. With a knife make swirls in the border (optional). In a preheated oven, bake for 35-40 mins or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Now enjoy it warm with your choice of beverage or just like that!

Get the beverage of your choice, take a slice (or two!) of this cake, sit back and enjoy!!

As the school year kick starts and days get more and more busy, I love coming home to a slice of this with a cup of tea. It makes everything better right away! 🙂

P.S. Children love this cake as a snack that they can take to school or eat after lunch.
It can also double up as a dessert. Warm it for a few seconds and serve it with a scoop of ice cream.