Marble Cake with Chocolate Ganache

My Version

My first experiments with cooking began with baking. During my childhood, there weren't many television channels. There was just one local channel, and if at all they'd telecast any cookery shows, it would all be in the local language, which I never understood. My sources of recipes those days were from magazines and cookery books. When all my friends would issue classic novels and other books from the school library, my searches were always for books related to art, crafts, painting, baking, cooking, gardening, deco, designing, national geography, astronomy, travel and mystery.  That was and is me even today. Well, the basic cake recipe I've used in creating this Marble cake was from a baking book back from my school library. The paper on which I jotted down the recipe more than 16 years ago, is still with me, torn and almost withered. This is the first time I am rewriting it somewhere :) I have made this cake many times and have shared the recipe with many. I recreated this simple cake recipe into a marble cake and then dressed it with a yummy chocolate ganache. Follow me.. Lets bake! :)

Dry Ingredients :
For the chocolate cake
Plain Flour	-		1 cup minus 1 tablespoon
(I do not know why minus 1? But, I've always followed the recipe with the minus 1)
Icing Sugar	-		a little more than 1/2 cup
Baking powder	-		1 teaspoon
Coco powder	-		1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Espresso or coffee powder	-		1 teaspoon
For the plain cake
Plain flour	-		1 cup
Icing sugar	-		1/2 cup
Baking powder	-		1 teaspoon
Wet Ingredients :
Eggs	-		2 nos. + 2 nos.
Unsalted Butter	-		100g + 100g
Vanilla essence	-		1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon
Fresh Milk	-		1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon
For the Chocolate Ganache
Dark Chocolate	-		40g
Milk Chocolate	-		70g
Butter	-		1 tablespoon
White chocolate chip	-		1 tablespoon
Milk	-		1 tablespoon
Preparation Method :
Make two different cake batters. The chocolate and the plain. Combine all the dry ingredients. Make sure you use new baking powder for best results.
Next, combine the wet ingredients - beat the eggs until they fluff up. With my experience in baking cakes, I'd say, the first and most important step while making a cake is beating the egg well. Add the butter. Make sure you've brought the butter down to room temperature. Pour in the vanilla essence and beat well. Slowly whisk in the dry ingredient mix to form a creamy batter and pour in the milk and keep whisking until you have a very fine and creamy batter.
I've used a silicone cake mould. I feel it is easier to flip out the cake from it. Grease the inside with some butter and dust it with flour. Spoon out the plain batter first onto the base. Top it with the chocolate batter and then again with the plain and finally with the chocolate. With a soft narrow spatula swirl into the cake batter in a circular motion. Level up the top and tap the mould to even up the batter. Bake on high in a microwave for 10 minutes or until the surface of the cake cracks. Leave for 5 minutes to cool and turn the cake over onto a cooling rack. Once the cake has almost cooled, slice off the top straight and even out the surface. Then turn the cake over and let it cool completely.
For the ganache - Chop the chocolate into chunks. Place into a Pyrex dish and microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir and again microwave for 50 seconds and blend until the chocolate pieces melt completely. Then add the butter and blend until butter melts completely. Pour onto the cake and cover with a spatula. Make sure the cake is covered well with the ganache. Before it firms quickly draw out through the design of the cake with your finger. Allow to cool and firm completely. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate chips similarly and melt in the butter. Then pour in the milk and blend into a runny consistency. Roughly drizzle the white ganache over the chocolate from inside out. It's as easy as that to come out with a fancy cake :) This recipe is dedicated to all those cake and chocolate lovers out there.