Make a fun cake. No occasion necessary!

Forget waiting for a birthday, this fun cake idea is perfect for any time.

Yeah Yeah Marbled Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Baker’s note: Prepare Raspberry Compote, Marshmallow and Jelly Oranges beforehand.

Ingredients:

• 200g / 7.1oz butter, softened
• 175g / 6.2oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 200g / 7.1oz flour, sifted
• 2 tsp baking powder, sifted
• For first mixture: 75g / 2.6oz dark chocolate, melted, plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tbsp milk
• For second mixture: 75g / 2.6oz white chocolate, melted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

2. Grease and line two 20cm / 6″ round cake tins.

3. Place butter and sugar in bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy and pale in colour.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, ensuring each is mixed in before adding the next, then vanilla. Stop mixer and scrape down sides, if necessary.

5. Gradually add flour and baking powder. When mixture is just incorporated, remove bowl from stand.

6. Scrape half of the mixture into a separate bowl. Into this bowl, mix in your melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder and milk, and gently fold through.

7. Into your other bowl, add melted white chocolate and fold through.

8. Begin to add spoonfuls of each mixture into cake tins alternately, keeping the amount in each tin about even. It’s impossible to mess it up here, and there is no great technique required in this step— every version of this cake yields a new pattern.

Once you’ve used all the mixture, gently meld splotches together and fill in the empty bits with a knife or spatula. (It will start blending on the surface, but don’t worry, your blobs below will remain.) Spread the mixture around so that it is smooth and even in the tin.

9. Insert a skewer into cake and make wide swirls from edge to edge, before turning tin around 90 degrees and doing the same again. If you want to make a very marbled centre, you can do this a few more times. We found that twice was enough to give a good mix-up but with large spots.

10. Gently lift each cake tin and tap down on the bench, just to settle the blobs.

11. Place in oven and cook for 20–25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Switch cakes halfway through baking so they cook evenly.

12. Cool on racks for about 10–15 minutes before turning out of the tins. Ice once cooled completely.

For the icing:

• 200g / 7.1 fl oz cream cheese, softened
• 75g / 3oz butter, softened
• 150g / 5.3oz icing sugar
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp crème fraîche, to decorate cake

1. In bowl of stand mixer, place cream cheese and butter and beat together.

2. Once smooth and ingredients are blended, turn down speed and begin adding icing sugar, a spoonful at a time.

3. Finally add cocoa powder.

4. With cake on a plate or cake disc, place 1/3 of icing onto top of first cake. Spread over evenly. Place second cake on top and then spread remaining icing over sides and top.

5. Place cake in the fridge briefly to allow icing to harden (this makes it easier to set out marshmallow letters later) and make a start on cutting out your marshmallow.

For the assembly:

1. Cut 10 small rectangles (about 3.5cm x 4cm) out of marshmallow with a hot, sharp knife. It’s always handy to have a bowl of water nearby to dip your hands in so that the marshmallow doesn’t stick to your hands. Out of these rectangles, cut your letters and exclamation marks and then set aside. For best results, have a small bowl of boiling water beside you as you work, and continue dipping your knife into it so the mallow is easy to cut.

2. Once ready to assemble, pull cake out of the fridge and start placing letters on it. When you’re happy with how they look, pipe or spoon a few splotches of crème fraîche (or leftover icing will work too) around any empty cake edges and gently push the jelly oranges into place. We also sprinkled a few edible petals around. This cake will keep for 2–3 days in an airtight container in a cool place.

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For another fun cake idea, try our Lemon Cloud Cake recipe.

Recipe, photograph and styling by Rachel Savage for Lunch Lady Magazine issue 20.