I often find myself with an idea stuck in my head, unable to let go of it until whatever I am imagining comes true. It often has to do with food. A colorful dish that I imagine with a shape and flavor.
Often, it will be about baking a cake.
It’s about the magic of baking a cake that makes the house rich with sweet scents of eggs and sugar and butter.
When I was a little girl, my mother used to bake every Saturday. I can vividly remember those Saturdays. Repeating themselves, week after week. By mid-afternoon, she’d have scrubbed the house clean, opening the windows to let some fresh air in. The aromas of her cakes left to cool in the kitchen invariably kept us around. She’d never make one cake only, but two instead. Because two made more sense. They stretched longer in the week, that is, if we were not too greedy and had not eaten them before.
A standard in her kitchen was un marbré au chocolat et à la vanille (a marbled cake with chocolate and vanilla). I liked the chocolate part. My brother preferred the vanilla. We used to cut in a slice, following the lines created by the vanilla and chocolate batters. Each one of us focused on our favorite flavor.
For many years, I cooked my mother’s marbré following her recipe to the letter. I baked it so frequently that I knew the recipe by heart. When I was in high school, I’d sneak a loaf inside my bag every Monday before leaving for the week. The recipe was printed on a brown feuille de papier bristol (note card) that was part of a set that, I imagine, she must have bought a long time before.
But in the later years, I’ve enjoyed revisiting the recipe. With different versions.
There was this loaf, baked with white chocolate and Matcha tea–since then, I have a gluten free version for it.
And then this one, closer to the traditional loaf my mother baked. Except that I wanted to make it more nutritious, and filled with some of favorite flours and ingredients.
Unlike my mother’s recipe, in which wheat flour only is used, my recipe combines millet flour, quinoa flakes, flax meal, and pecan meal. In hers, she also prefers milk while I like buttermilk better. Using also my favorite eggs.
Ah this cake!
It was love after the first taste. One slice asking for another one. Going unnoticed. Light. Making you feel satisfied.
This is the marbled cake recipe I will leave you with while I travel to France to teach with Lara at Château Ventenac. With a few slices in my bag.
I am really excited to go. Very excited to go to France. Glad to have tasted the first radishes of the garden too.
Last night, I told P. that I was going to what’s always going to feel the most familiar.
I was going home.
You need:
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, soft + butter for mold
- 3/4 cup (100 g) millet flour
- 1/2 cup (60 g) quinoa flakes
- 2 tablespoons flax meal
- 1/2 cup (60 g) pecan (or almond or hazelnut) meal
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 cup (100 g) blond cane sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1.5 tablespoons sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) buttermilk
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and butter a bread/cake rectangular mold; set aside (I used a small 8-inch silicone mold and had enough to also make 3 muffins).
- In a bowl, combine the millet flour, quinoa flakes, pecan meal, flax meal, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Work on medium to high speed, until creamy.
- Add one egg and work well until well incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Repeat with the other two eggs.
- Add the vanilla and buttermilk.
- Stir in the dry ingredients.
- Divide the batter in 2/3 and 1/3 quantities.
- Add the cocoa powder to the 1/3 batter.
- Add some of the vanilla batter in the mold. Continue with the chocolate and finish with the vanilla. Use a fork to make small design with a fork inside the batter.
- Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes for a loaf (only 2o to 25 minutes for muffins), or until a sharp knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out dry. Let cool for 5 minutes before unmolding.
Ingrédients :
- 113 g de beurre non salé, mou + pour le moule
- 100 g de farine de millet
- 60 g de flocons de quinoa
- 2 càs de poudre de flax
- 60 g de poudre de pécanes (ou amandes ou noisettes)
- 1,5 càc de poudre à lever
- Pincée de sel de mer
- 100 g de sucre de canne blond
- 3 oeufs à température ambiante
- 1,5 càs de poudre de cacao non sucré tamisé
- 2 càc d’extrait de vanille pur
- 80 ml de lait ribot
Etapes :
- Préchauffez le four à 180 C et beurrez un moule à cake rectangulaire (le mien mesurait 20,5 cm et j’ai pu aussi faire 3 muffins).
- Dans une jatte, mélangez la farine de millet, les flocons de quinoa, la poudre de pécanes, la poudre de flax, la poudre à lever, et le sel; mettez de côté.
- Travaillez le beurre avec le sucre en pommade.
- Ajoutez les oeufs, un à un, en bien incorporant le premier avant d’ajouter le suivant.
- Ajoutez la vanille et le lait ribot.
- Ajoutez les ingrédients secs.
- Divisez la pâte en 2/3 et 1/3.
- Ajoutez le cacao au 1/3.
- Versez de la pâte à la vanille dans le moule. Ajoutez celle au chocolat et finissez avec la vanille. Faites un dessin dans la pâte avec une fourchette.
- Faites cuire le gâteau pendant 35 à 40 minutes pour un grand gâteau (seulement 20 à 25 minutes pour des muffins), ou jusqu’à ce que la lame d’un couteau insérée au milieu du gâteau en sort sèche. Laissez refroidir pendant 5 minutes avant de démouler.
This looks lovely… I just recently acquired that same cooling rack and love it 🙂 Enjoyed seeing you on the Martha Stewart Show last week. I will be making your pistachio financiers soon.
Beau et sûrement très bon..!
i love this bea, my grandmother used to bake a marble cake every week she would bale it in a bundt cake mold, that i now own.
i love the shape of this cake pan of yours as well. i will try this for my next guest next week!
My grandmother used to bake always marbled cake..and I loved it. Now she is very old and so she can’t do it. But tomorrow I want to bake a marbled cake for her..with your recipe..new ingredients for an old pleusure..
Looks so good! I’m trying this on the weekend. This also brings back glorious memories of baking with my paternal grandmother in Toronto. I can almost smell the aromas from the oven right now!! Thank you for a beautiful post.
I love marbled cakes … this one seems so good !
Thank you so much for including the gram value for one stick of butter. I have googled this so often, but I always forget about it again. It’s a lovely recipe with a lovely story. I think baking 2 cakes every Saturday is a great way of creating beautiful memories for your children. I really want to do that too now that I read your post.
what a beautiful post! food plays such a part in our memories and senses! this looks very tasty! can you tell us where you found that bread mold that you use?? I love the shape.
This cake looks stunning!
Sweet recipe. Love that !
I’ve done your cold watermelon & concomber coup this morning … I’m eager to be at luchtime ^^
Have a great weekend Béa. See you.
Will definitely bake this weekend after a short run to the store to get quinoa flakes. Have a safe, fun trip!
I too admire the shape of this loaf pan and now can’t get the idea of a little buttermilk swirl cake out of my head. Thank you!
mmm beautiful and i love the stories of growing up at your house! especially your mother’s balance between cooking and cleaning…always a challenge for me 🙂
Looks lovely!
What type of vanilla do you use here,
and how much? (-;
Have a wonderful time at home!
this looks lovely..just may need to bake it myself this saturday (and think of your mom!) so sorry to have missed you in montreal. will you be coming back to canada anytime in the near future?
Cake looks SO good! I love the hearts wire “plate” you have it on. Is that an antique or is there a chance I might find one?
Happy travels and I can’t wait to make this! Glorious photos and I also have those boots. 😉
I absolutely love when desserts are transformed into healthy versions. Merci !
Looks amazing! Great post 🙂
This cake looks very good !!
Merci pour la recette !
MMmmmmm, Marble Cake! What lovely photos and memory accompaniments… Bon Voyage a France!
This cake is delicious! I just made the batter into muffins and they are so moist, delicate, texturally nuanced … really delightful. Thanks for the wonderful GF recipe!
In your book, are the cups also in grams?
Hi Minna, yes they are. All measurements are also given in grams and liters…
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Quand tu dis poudre de flax – en français c’est bien des graines de lin moulues dont il s’agit ? Merci
Lovely recipe and your new blog looks so amazingly colorful and fresh. Love it 🙂
These look wonderful. I’ve been making a lot of nut milk and these would be perfect for using up the almond & peacan meal. Thank you. Delicious : )
Will have to try this soon. Ça à l’air trop bon!
I just bought your book because my friend told me I would fall in love with your food photos. She’s right, they are absolutely splendid and your recipes look epic. I can’t wait to try many of them!!
The photos leave me breathless. So incredibly beautiful!
Fantastic photos-what really drew me was the story of you and your brother, each with your favorite flavor. I could see it in my mind. Thank you for sharing!
This tart looks & sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it out!I just stumbled across your beautiful bog – I look forward to popping back soon for some more lovely inspiration!
♥
Melissah
Country Style Chic
I had just enough of these flours left in my cupboard to make this today. Lovely texture and the perfect amount of sweetness. Beautiful! Thanks Bea 🙂
My mom used to do the same – cleaning the house in the morning and then baking in the afternoon. I miss the atmosphere so much. I never got a chance to cook while I was at home and I’m suffering a great deal now that I live on my own. So your blog is often coming very handy when I decide to cook something myself 🙂 I recently discovered the top restaurants guide and absolutely fallen in love with some of them. Especially danishNOMA (awarded first place). I love the atmosphere of the restaurant and how they make the dish look. Look so yummy!
Have nice Sunday 🙂
Gorgeous! Looks absolutely lovely!
Looks absolutely delicious, but loaded with cholesterol! : (
A perfect combination: the good taste of the marbled cake and the benefits of healthy ingredients without compromises! Thank you so much! xxoo
[Thank for the French part]
Hi Bea,
I absolutely adore your website and book! Sadly though I’ve been noticing that for the past few weeks your webpage is “glitching” rather badly. Has anyone else noticed this? It doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m viewing it from home or work, every time I click on any of the links within the page they freeze, load previous pages and then finally load. It seems to be happening ever since you changed your website format…I thought at first it was perhaps my home internet connection, but seems to be happening through our fast server at work as well. I love your site so hope it can be worked out 🙂
Ce cake a l’air délicieux !
amazing pictures. I loved seeing your pictures on the Martha Stewart Show.
I really like your site, but I am really surprised to see Asian girls for dating ads! It is a pity.
Wow, those look amazing! I really want to try this recipe.
Thanks
Amazing photographs and equally amazing recipe.
Hi Jennifer,
I don’t like them either. Thanks for pointing it out (I don’t choose what comes out, but will certainly try to block!)
It reminds my mum’s ‘marbré’ she used to make it a lot when I was a child. Great pics Bea !
Marlène, Niçoise de Londres !
Bon voyage! I can only hope to one day attend one of your workshops in France! Maybe next year!
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great post and lovely recipe. made it last night and garnered an “i love you mom” and a hug from my 14 yr old son….not an every day occurence! didn’t have quinoa flakes or flax meal on hand so subbed in a.p. flour for those…and stupidly forgot to cream butter w/ sugar (mixed sugar and eggs first, and then butter -oy)…but despite these bumbles it all came out deliciously (tho a tad dry b/c of my subs & mixing order mishap, i suspect) and each of us had 2 pieces at once….look forward to trying again.
Thanks Bea!
I’m a fan of dessert and especially those which are french and I recommend the Brittany speciality: crepes! There is a good article here: http://www.frenchcultureguide.com/05/crepes-with-my-new-le-creuset/
Enjoy!
Made it, loved it. Also great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
I love marble cake but have never made it myself so can’t wait to give this recipe a try, I love a piece with a cup of tea.
Delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing.
I love sticky food. When i looked at the marbled cake, it looks very yummy. I love it. Good work.
You may also see different kind of food here:
Food ,
Philippine Best Food
Philippine Street Food
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Good reminder on how to do this. I dont think I have done a marble cake for years!
Hope you are doing well! Just catching up with everyone after several hectic work weeks!
I just made this for the first time and it is delicious – your cookbook has been a life saver as I refine my gluten free diet, the food is so wonderful and not a pale substitute of anything.
I wondered two things – is the flax meal there for binding? I made mine with hemp seed instead as I had no flax in the house and it’s delicious but crumbly. And do you have a preference for Dutch process cocoa or no in this?
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But all recipe about cake is have basic ingredients like egg. if change with the gluten hows the taste of food?
Oh~so greet blue spoon. Could you mind to tell me the brand of spoon? Many thanks~
I could never do it right with cakes.. I guess i need more practice..