Marble Queen Cake

Chocolate Orange Marble Cake frosted with Coconut Yogurt and pomegranate “sprinkles”

I planned on my very first post being meaningful and that is exactly what this is; this cake was one of the first ones my mom taught me and one of my least favorites I must say only because it took longer than the very first she taught me, banana cake.

Our home always had a cake on the table until we turned into teenagers and decided to watch our weight and then we stopped eating as much and I know somehow we hurt my mom’s feelings and so this is my only way of saying sorry and thank you for teaching me what now is such a pleasurable part of my life, to bake and to share, she taught us well !

I’ve turned my mom’s traditional marble cake into a vegan version and it will be a show stopper on your table, let the people eat cake! :)

Marble Orange cake With Coconut Yogurt frosting

Yield: 8 - 10 servings

Hands on time: 30 minutes

Cake

• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup unbleached cane sugar

• 1 tsp baking soda

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

• 1/4 cup almond milk (or your preference)

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used avocado oil*)

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

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• zest of 1 orange

• 1 1/2 Tbsp cacao powder

1. First things first, mix the orange juice and milk together and let rest until you combine the rest (approx. 5 minutes), preheat the oven at 350°F and grease and line your mold (I used a round 7” but can be made in an 8” with a slight less height)

2. In a bowl sift and combine all dry ingredients, the sifting is not everyone’s favorite but trust me it makes a big difference but here is a shortcut, just put all in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork and done and done; now is also the moment to add all the remaining wet ingredients into the milk and juice mix and mix until combined

3. With either a hand or stand mixer pour the wet ingredients and at low level mix while you gradually pour the dry ingredients, divide the dough in half, in one half add the orange zest (and mix) and in the second half sift in the cacao powder (this one must be sifted to not get clumps)

4. Final step! pour half of your orange batter in the mold and alternate with the chocolate batter until you have no more, the with a chopstick, the end of a spoon or a toothpick make your choice of swirls and in to the oven it goes to bake for 32 minutes

5. Once out the oven let rest for 5 minutes in the mold and then turn onto a rack until cool

*I use avocado oil because of its good use on high heat, it is more neutral than olive oil and because I try to avoid vegetable oil as personal preference but if you don’t have avocado oil handy then any neutral will seal the deal

Frosting

• 1 8oz container unsweetened coconut yogurt*

• pomegranate seeds

• zest of 1 orange

1. The simplest and most exciting steps of all, because soon you can eat it! just open that yogurt and smothered on top of the cake, sprinkle the orange zest and pomegranate seeds.

2. The last and most important step share and enjoy

*If you cannot find a thick and unsweetened coconut yogurt and are not completely vegan I suggest using a greek yogurt because of its tartness