Marble Cake with Coffee Buttercream

Holy cowwwww, it’s only been 2 years of blogging?! Feels like I’ve been blogging for a much longer time than that ahaha! I can’t imagine how life was before this blog happened. If I ever decide to stop blogging, there will definitely be this huge hole in my life and I will have to fill it up with lots of cookies and chocolate to ever feel normal again. I don’t want my thighs to jiggle any more than they already do, so please, keep reading so that I won’t ever stop blogging. This baking adventure isn’t fun to go through alone 🙂

I want to thank YOU for taking the time to read my mindless ramblings, look at poorly taken photographs and laugh at my bad jokes. You guys are troopers! But honestly, this blog would be nothing without you. I write to be written, but most importantly, to be read as well. When I started, I just wanted to find a community of people that share the same passion for baking as I do. My life was lacking sugar craving fiends and I was starting to feel like a weirdo for reading cookbooks and looking at food porn all the time. Whenever I talked about the science behind baking with excitement, friends and family would give me a glazed over look. Nobody understood me and it made me frustrated! So so so glad I have you guys now, you keep me sane 😛

So what have I learnt about blogging in the past 2 years?

1. People over the internet are friendly! What is this stranger danger thing that my parents have been trying to embed in my head since I was 5? 

2. Blog consistently. 

3. Read other peoples’ blogs, return the love.

4. Share things about your life. It might sound self-centered but doing so gives your blog personality. 

5. Write as if you are talking. Show sarcasm, anger, sadness, happiness.

6. Don’t be afraid to make bad jokes. Even if no one else thought it was funny at least you got a laugh out of it 😛

Marble Cake with Coffee Buttercream

CAKE

Vanilla Batter
6.5 Tbsp of salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup self-rising flour

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Slowly beat in eggs, adding one at a time. Mix in flour until just incorporated. Spread onto bottom of a greased 8×8 (or slightly larger) pan.

Chocolate Batter
 6.5 Tbsp of salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder 
Pinch of baking powder 

1. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time.

2. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking powder. Stir in flour mixture until just incorporated.

3. Spread batter over vanilla batter in the same pan. Using a spoon lift up chunks of chocolate batter out over the vanilla across the entire pan. Then using a knife, drag zig-zag lines all over until you achieved a marbled look.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 mins. (Adjust time to the size of your baking pan)

COFFEE BUTTERCREAM

250g salted butter, slightly softened
3.5 cups icing sugar 
1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp cocoa powder

1. Stir milk, cocoa and coffee granules until granules dissolve.

2. Beat butter until pale and fluffy. Slowly add in icing sugar.

3. Pour in milk mixture and beat until you reach one consistency. 

Source: cake from Simply Spectacular Cakes by Peggy Porschen and buttercream adapted from Raspiberry Cupcakes