Chocolate Marble Chiffon Cake

My second bake for The Cake Slice Bakers for this month. We have the option to bake from any of our previous featured books before we start with a new book in January. Those previous books are ;

Sky High : Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Southern Cakes

Cake Keeper Cakes

The Cake Book

Vintage Cakes

Great Cakes

The Southern Cake Book

Maida Heatter's Cakes

World Class Cakes

This second bake is from Cake Keeper Cakes, one of my favourite baking book. I like that the bakes in this book are fuss free and the cakes are all perfect for anytime snacking, makes a nice breakfast and tea-time treat with a cup of coffee or tea. 

According to Lauren Chattman, this is her older daughter's favourite cake out of all the bakes in this book. I can see why it is, the cake is light, fluffy, moist and so, so good! I've already made this a few times, and each time, it was gone pretty quick!

Chocolate Marble Chiffon Cake
(Cake Keeper Cakes, by Lauren Chattman)
serves 8 to 10
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-1/3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 large eggs, 5 separated, 2 left whole
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup water * (refer notes below)

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Have ready a 9-inch ungreased angel food tube pan with a removable bottom.
2. Whisk together the cocoa powder, water, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk thoroughly to break up any lumps. Set aside.
3. Place the egg yolks and whole eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until lightened in colour, about 3 minutes. With the motor running, add 1 cup sugar in a slow, steady stream and continue to beat until the mixture is light and increased in volumn, about 5 minutes longer. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the remaining 1/2 cup oil and continue to beat for 1 minute longer.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the water mixture, then another 1/3 of the flour, the remaining water mixture, and the remaining flour mixture, scraping down the bowl once or twice as necessary. Stir in the vanilla.
5. With clean beaters and using a clean mixing bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat on medium speed until the egg whites begin to turn white. With the mixer still on medium speed, pour in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a slow, steady stream and whip until the whites hold stiff peaks.
6. Fold 1/4 of the yolk mixture into the whites to lighten. Then fold the remaining whites into the yolk mixture, gently but thoroughly.
7. Transfer 1/3 of the cake batter to another bowl and gently fold in the chocolate batter. Pour half of the yellow batter into the tube pan. Top with half of the chocolate batter. Repeat with the remaining yellow and chocolate batter. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Use a butter knife to swirl the batters together, taking care not to overmix. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and the top springs back when you touch it, 55 minutes to 1 hour.
8. Remove the pan from the oven. If your pan has feet, invert the pan onto a heatproof surface and allow it to cool. If your pan doesn't have feet, invert 4 heatproof drinking glasses on the counter and rest the inverted pan on top of the glasses to allow air to circulate around the cake while it cools. Let the cake cool in the pan completely, about 2 hours.
9. To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp paring knife around the edges, being careful to leave the golden crust intact. Remove the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Run the paring knife under the removable bottom of the pan and lift it off the cake. Slice and serve.
10. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Kitchen Flavours notes :
Some changes I've made to the recipe :
~ reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp for the batter, 1/4 cup for egg white meringue
~ instructions mentioned about adding water at step 4, water is not listed in the ingredients, so comparing with her other chiffon cake recipes in the book, I've added 1/4 cup water *, and it works out great

Do visit The Cake Slice Bakers official blog to see what everyone has baked this month. If you would like to join us, please leave a message with the administrator, you can find it on the left side bar.

I'm also linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #24 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

An InLinkz Link-up

Filled Coffee Cake

This month at The Cake Slice Bakers (TCS), we have the option to bake from any of our previous featured books before we start with a new book in January. Those previous books are ;

Sky High : Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Southern Cakes

Cake Keeper Cakes

The Cake Book

Vintage Cakes

Great Cakes

The Southern Cake Book

Maida Heatter's Cakes

World Class Cakes

I only have five of these books and out of the five, my most favourite is The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. I have made quite a number of recipes from it with very good results. So for this month's free baking, I've made another one of her fabulous recipes, Filled Coffee Cake, which is really a sweet yeasted bread, with apple-pecan-raisin-cinnamon filling. 

Start by preparing the apple pecan cinnmon filling which needs to be cooled down before using it as a filling for the sweet bread. Chopped apples are sauteed with some melted butter, add some brown sugar, cook till apples are tender, then add some flour, cinnamon, raisins and pecans. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

The dough has the softness of a brioche dough as most sweet breads are, and lovely to work with. Soft, supple and not at all sticky. It was really easy to roll. Slice the rolled filled dough into 2 inch pieces and place in a greased springform pan, allow to rise, brush with some egg wash, then bake as directed in the recipe.

I did reduce some sugar for both the bread and the filling.

The bread bakes up really nice and golden. Allow to cool, then glaze with White Drizzle Glaze. I do not usually eat my sweet breads glazed, as I prefer them without, but for this time, I decided to include the glaze. To make the White Drizzle Glaze, mix icing sugar, vanilla extract and some cream to the desired drizzle consistency.

This sweet bread is pretty good! With moist, soft crumbs, delicious with the apple filling, a slice is just wonderful with a cup of tea. Another keeper recipe from this wonderful book!

An InLinkz Link-up

Healthful Herbal Chicken Soup

A healthy delicious chicken soup, made with Chinese herbal ingredients, which can easily be found at any Chinese herbal shops. The Chinese herbs used are Chines yam (shan yao or huai shan), astragalus (huang qi), goji berries (gou qi zi), and Chinese red dates (hong Zao). According to the recipe, the herbs are to be tied in a cheesecloth (except for the goji berries and red dates), then add to the pot and simmer, so that they can be easily removed before serving the soup. I have however, did not use any cheesecloth and simply placed the herbs in the pot.

I have omitted the soy sauce since I have used a small pinch of salt. The herbs are not meant to be eaten, though the goji berries and red dates can be consumed, they contribute the sweetness to the soup. Use free range chicken if possible, it makes a whole lot of difference to soups like this. 

This is a tasty soup with healthful properties from the herbs. 

The dried herbs

Healthful Herbal Chicken Soup 
(Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir and Mika Ono)
2 to 3 pounds chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, etc.. or chopped from 1/2 chicken)
8 cups water
a pinch of salt
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, slivered into 1/16-inch slices
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 to 8 medium-size pieces (20 grams) dried Chinese yam (shan yao or huai shan)
6 medium-size pieces (about 20 grams) astragalus (huang qi)
1 rounded tablespoon (10 grams) goji berries (gou qi zi)
6 to 8 (10 grams) Chinese red dates (hong zao), seeded
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 green onions, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces, roots and tough tips discarded
3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste (omitted)

1. In a large soup pot, combine the chicken, water, and salt and bring to a boil. Skim off any excess oil or fat.
2. Tie the ginger, garlic, Chinese yam, and astragalus together in a piece of cheesecloth (just place the herbs in the center and tie the ends). This will make it easy to remove the herbs later.
3. Add the cheesecloth bag of herbs and the goji berries, Chinese red dates, and wine to the pot. Bring it back to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered with the lid slightly ajar, for 45 to 60 minutes. Skim off any excess oil or fat.
4. When the soup is done, remove and discard the bag of herbs.
5. Add soy sauce to taste and garnish with the green onions.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #24 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray