MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06 Title: Ruby Tandoh's Chai Swirl Loaf Cake Categories: Cakes Yield: 6 Servings MMMMM----------------------------CAKE--------------------------------- 150 g Unsalted butter; softened 150 g Caster sugar 3 lg Eggs 2 ts Vanilla extract 150 g Plain flour 2 ts Baking powder 1/2 ts Salt 6 Cardamom pods; seeds only; -ground 1 ts Fennel seeds; ground 2 ts Ground cinnamon 1 ts Ground ginger 1/2 ts Black pepper 25 g Soft light brown sugar MMMMM--------------------------TOPPING------------------------------- 50 g Unsalted butter; very soft 150 g Cream cheese 50 g Icing sugar Ground cinnamon; to dust This is just a simple marble cake, but with a chai spice mixture in place of the usual cocoa powder. You can bake it in a 20 cm round tin, too, cooking for a slightly shorter time if so. Set the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 2 lb / 900 g loaf tin. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and smooth, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Don't worry if the batter curdles a little. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl then fold these dry ingredients into the wet mixture to form a thick batter. Put 250 g of the cake mix in a separate bowl. Combine the spices and sugar, then add this to the bowl of batter, combining gently, but thoroughly. Scoop the light and dark cake mixes into the tin, dolloping spoonfuls of each haphazardly to create a patterned batter. Swirl a small knife lightly through the mix a couple of times to marble the two colours. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the cake has risen, set and lightly browned. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out with just a crumb or two stuck to it. Leave to cool in its tin for half an hour or so before unmoulding on to a wire rack. Once the cake has cooled completely, prepare the topping. Beat the butter until very smooth, then stir in the cream cheese a little at a time. Sift in the icing sugar and mix well until combined. Spoon this on to the cooled cake and slather thickly all over the top, nudging it into soft swirls and ripples as you go. Dust a little extra cinnamon on top to finish. Recipe by Ruby Tandoh Recipe FROM: MMMMM