Marble Swirl Cake

Marble cake is all about compromise.  I love chocolate.. my husband loves vanilla.. So how about a chocolate-vanilla marble cake to satisfy us both? :P 

This cake is also really fun to make.  I made it with an Omega 3 - margarine instead of butter, but you can also make it with vegetable oil to reduce any "bad" fats in your cake. If you've ever wondered what the difference between margarine and butter is .... Let me explain a little thing about butter: it naturally contains trans fats (bad fats) just like those that are added to products like chips.  But, according to the Food and Drug Administration which approves all the foods that go onto the supermarket shelves and then into your home, there is really no difference between the trans fat that occurs in cows and the kind that is artificially created in the food industry.  Those trans fats are essentially created by partial hydrogenation - turning liquid oil into a solid fat like shortening that adds creaminess and shelf life to commercial baked goods and yummy buttery cakes.  Trans fat is also created when oils are heated in deep-fat fryers - (remember those bad fats in french fries I was talking about in the Potato post? These are them.)

Now, the margarine I'm using is a better alternative - why? Although margarines can be made from any of a wide variety of animal or vegetable fats, mixed with skimmed milk, salt, and emulsifiers, the margarine I use is only made from vegetable fats and the rest of those ingredients excluding animal fats, thus very little saturated fat (bad fats).  Not only is it low in saturated fat, the manufacturer also added omega-3-fatty acids (which we cannot produce in our body and thus they are essential to us) and they play a big role in brain function and can reduce heart disease too!  (Omega-3's occur naturally in many types of fish) However..having said that, margarine still has to be consumed in moderation like everything else high in fat - Like butter, margarine is about 80% fat, 20% water and solids, and fortified with vitamin A, and sometimes D.

Ok enough about the nutrition aspect, let's enjoy this marble cake now: it's really easy to make! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup Omega-3 margarine (or 1/2 cup of vegetable oil)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of 2% milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Now let's put it together:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch round pan with a non-stick spray or a tiny bit of vegetable oil.

1. Place flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, margarine (or oil), eggs, vanilla, and milk into mixing bowl. Beat slowly to moisten, then beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth. Reserve 3/4 cup of the batter; pour the remainder into pan.
2. Stir cocoa into the 3/4 cup reserved batter. Drop by spoonfuls over top of white batter. Using a knife, (this is the fun part) swirl the cocoa batter into the white batter to incorporate it in a marble effect. (I "accidentally" reserved too much of the batter to mix with the cocoa, and thus my cake was a little more chocolaty than it should have been...... Oops :P )
3. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

Bon appetit!!! :)