When I was little, I used to love spending time with my grandma. She used to come visit us every summer for a couple of weeks, make sure we have fun, eat well and don’t miss out on anything, all while slightly getting on my mom’s nerves 🙂
She used to take us to her house, about a 2 hour drive from ours, and give us the best and most memorable summers ever. Ice skating, swimming pool, beaches, movies, made sure we meet new friends, sweets, chocolates and her oh-so-delicious food.
After a few years she moved overseas to be able to spend more time with my cousins and aunt there, and I remember missing her terribly. She used to write to us and just lately I found one of the letters. Needless to say that seeing her handwriting and reading the lines, imagining her voice, brought me to tears and I found myself thinking about her more than ever.
You see, she was one of my best friends, she was the strongest and most stubborn person I have ever know, she was the most consistent and target oriented person I’ve met, she was a great cook, a wonderful accordionist, pianist and teacher, she was the biggest heart and soul, she was my “Omama”. I knew that no matter what, she will always tell me the truth, tell me what she really thinks even if I didn’t always like it. She called me every second day (of course the timing was off most of the times but she was my granny) and made sure I’m well, that I have money, food and that I’m happy.
Sometimes smells and tastes trigger memories in us, and this is exactly what happened with this cake.
I remembered that she used to make the most delicious marble cake. I remembered it was full of flavour and soft yet not too soft nor dry, it was perfect.
So the other day I called my mom and asked her to send me the recipe. Of course, II made it the same day, and indulged over it for the entire weekend. Yeah – I let other people taste as well, they all loved it and so I decided to share my grandma’s recipe. And although it will not be accompanied by sweet memories for everyone, I’m sure you will create your own sweet memories around this amazing and simple cake.
- 9.5/10 inch round pan OR 10X14 pan
- 4 Egg Whites
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 1 ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
- ¾ Cup Sugar
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- 4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 4 Egg Yolks
- Juice from 1 whole lemon
- 3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (Unsweetened)
- 3 Tbsp Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Water
- 65gr Butter - Cubed
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
- Prepare preferred baking pan covered with parchment paper (cover edges/walls as well)
- Start by beating the egg whites using a stand mixer on medium-high speed until white foam starts to form
- Add in the ½ cup sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff peaks form (about 3-5 minutes). Set the bowl aside.
- In a small saucepan combine the chocolate batter ingredients except for the butter and mix well
- Heat saucepan with cocoa mix over medium heat while stirring constantly until you get a smooth chocolate paste
- Turn heat off and add in the butter. Stir constantly until the butter melts completely and set aside to cool to room temperature (I usually pour the batter into a big coffee mug to cool)
- In a separate bowl mix the lemon batter ingredients well until fully combined. You should get a batter that resembles a dense pancake mix.
- Slowly fold the egg foam into the lemon batter until fully combined. Make sure to do this slowly and actually fold in gradually.
- Remove ⅓ of the lemon batter into a small bowl and add in the chocolate batter
- So now you have a bowl with ⅔ of the lemon batter and a bowl with the other ⅓ mixed with the chocolate.
- Pour ½ of the white colored batter into the baking pan, then pour in the chocolate batter (making sure you cover the white layer or at least most of it) and finally finish with another layer of the other half of the white batter.
- Using a toothpick “draw” some gentle circles or lines along the cake to create the marble-like look at the end. Don’t make too many swirls or the darker color will take over the entire cake.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until the top of the cake is golden and a test toothpick comes out dry after you poke the cake with it.
- Store covered to avoid a dry cake
