Vanilla And Chocolate Marble Cake, For My Brother

I owe my lovely childhood to you Sanyam-My brother, my friend!

It is the best thing if you have a brother to grow up with. There is nothing better than brother-sister bond. My brother-Sanyam- is just a year younger to me and that’s why we are like mates, buddies and friends. He was the intelligent one, always scoring more grades than me; everyone knew him in the school. At home we fought, we yelled, we complained, we argued and after 5 minutes we patched up. He tried his best to irritate me by calling me stupid names, pulling my hair, spitting on my clothes-oh what not but-If anyone ever tried to scold me, shout at me –he was then a protective possessive brother-always ready to take my side. Only he had the right to annoy me.

Now when I think of childhood days I feel how incomplete my life would have been without those silly childish fights. But old habits die hard-even now when we meet; we argue and quarrel over something, like we never grew up. Even now we make family jokes, gossip about neighbours, share every secret, and have long telephonic conversations.

But it feels we grew up pretty fast-Now he is an Engineer doing very well at work front and everyone knows him in his workplace (just like in school). Whenever he gets a certificate, an award, salary raise-I am swollen with pride. His friends and colleagues say that he is very serious when he is in office/his desk- frankly I don’t believe that-How can my bro ever be serious?? Anyways I am happy and contented that he is a self-made man, working hard every day.

Now Rakhshabandhan is approaching and I miss him even more. It has been more than 5 years when I tied him rakhi or begged him for a nice gift in exchange. No matter how far we are, it is satisfying to know that we will always be there for each other-in happiness or tears. Rakhi is just an excuse to say-you mean the world to me, and you are the best brother I could ever ask for. Stay happy and blessed!

He loves cake and pastries; he never liked Indian sweets growing up, so here is special cake that I prepared for him-Vanilla And Chocolate Marble Cake. I was bit skeptical to try this cake, as I made one earlier and it did not turn out great (Look HERE). But as we say, we learn my mistakes- with practice and care I finally made the perfect marble cake. There's just something so appealing and festive about the beautifully marbled swirl that appears when you cut off a slice.  It is soft, moist and crumbly and is best when enjoyed with coffee or tea.

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
9" x 5" loaf pan

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour the loaf pan. 
2. Cream butter and sugar together till it becomes light and fluffy.  For about 4 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt .
4. Add one egg in the butter-sugar mixture and mix till nicely combine. For about 2 minutes. Do same with all the eggs.
5.  Add 1/3 of the flour to the batter and beat on low speed just until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the buttermilk and beat.  Add another 1/3 of the flour, and beat, and then the last of the buttermilk and beat.  Finally, beat in the last 1/3 of the flour.
6. Transfer roughly 1/2 of the batter to a baking tin.
7. Add cocoa powder with 2 tablespoons of hot water until smooth to the remaining batter. Add this batter to baking tin.
8. With the help of skewer or toothpick make swirls. Use up and down motion to bring the marble effect.
9. Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes on 180C.  The cake is done when it has browned slightly and a toothpick when inserted in middle comes out clean when inserted into the middle.  
10. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes and then unmold and let cool completely.

Notes:

Be quick in making the swirls, because you don’t want batter to sit for long.

If you don't have buttermilk, thin some plain yogurt with milk to buttermilk consistency.

I used 2 mini loaf pans. Size: 10cm x 5cm x 3cm

Sending this for The Great Denby Cake Off Contest. Wish me luck :)