There is nothing more heartwarming than a dish well-remembered from childhood. I'm fortunate enough to have plenty of those. They include home-cooked dishes with rice, the simplest and most homely chocolate cake I've ever had from my old neighbourhood bakery, and round sandwich cookies with a sweet, chewy jam centre.

And then there's marble cake.

Funnily enough, I didn't start out liking marble cake. It was a frequent appearance for breakfast and afternoon snacks, but it was more popular with my mum and sister. I didn't hate it, but I didn't particularly like the taste either. Gooey, creamy cakes were more my thing.

Perhaps you could say that my taste has changed as I grew older, or maybe it's simply an acquired taste for me. I now appreciate marble cake for how simple it is - both to make and to eat. Good on its own, even better with a mug of steaming coffee.



I made this cake on 9th August, National Day. I proclaim it my birthday cake to Singapore - I mean, it's only fitting that I present a cake I grew up on to the country I grew up in, right? ;)

This recipe is a keeper. It's so simple and fuss-free, and with wonderful results. The texture is perfect. The chocolate was just right. And I absolutely love how yellow the cake is. It has always seemed a bit miraculous to me, silly as it sounds - how does marble cake get so yellow when you don't add any yellow food colouring?



To celebrate the fact that I was baking a whole cake for no special reason (it's kind of a big deal for me, seeing how cupcakes and cookies are more typically my thing), I went out and bought an 8-inch cake tin. I'm glad I used that instead of my 9-inch one. I love fat, springy cakes, and I imagine that it'd have been much flatter if I had used a larger tin.



I took the recipe from BBC. Judging from the number of positive reviews on the website, you definitely can't go wrong!

Enjoy! :)

Labels: cake, chocolate, marble cake

I have made a resolution. Now, I know myself very well when it comes to resolution-making. I tend to hold up pretty well the first few months, then I - for want of a better word - regress. I procrastinate, whine, complain, or just plain forget... and the resolution becomes naught.

I really hope that this time round things will be different, because this particular resolution is of great relevance to this blog.

I've resolved to bake or cook at least twice a month. Every month - even the busiest, schoolwork-filled ones. Two times may not sound like a lot to some, but I have to be realistic with myself (and my finances). That, and the fact that my folks start to grumble about electricity bills when I use the oven a bit too much.

In a way, this will be healthy for me in a spiritual sense. I've always found baking extremely therapeutic, so during the exam period this may actually do me some good! I've even gotten a cute notebook to record down what I bake every month. Sounds lame but I really enjoy recording things (weird, I know) so it makes this all the more fun!

So. Anyway, kicking off this resolution is my first baking attempt of August 2011: flourless chocolate cookies!



The thing that attracted me most about this recipe is the lack of flour and butter. How could it be? It seems like icing sugar is the substitution here. Anyway, the recipe seems easy enough, and saves money on ingredients... so I thought, why not?

These cookies are best consumed right out of the oven, warm and gooey and fudgy and sticky. Sadly, most of mine turned out to be any shape but round. Any advice on how to make cookies round, people?

These cookies are still good when they cool. My sister's friend loved them, but I felt they weren't spectacular or anything. Maybe it's because they are no longer fudgy and sticky once cooled, and I feel like the whole point of the cookie is lost then.



I do love how glossy the cookies look though. :)

I took the recipe from Recipe Girl. Click on the link for the original recipe!

On a side note, when you bake at midnight with a recipe that only calls for egg white, all the excess egg yolk can only mean one thing...



... A very eggy, very yellow supper! I could have fixed something more presentable, like pudding, but I'm still a novice at cracking eggs and the majority of the yolks broke :(

So... one down for the month. What to make for my 2nd attempt of August? *ponders... till the next post!*

Labels: chocolate, cookies