Ebony and Ivory...

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony




Side by side on my piano keyboard...
only here they live as vanilla and chocolate....


There is good and bad in everyone,

We learn to live, we learn to work off all our indulgences....

Stevie Wonder ...Is he dead or alive??????



Any ways this Cake(what else??) is indeed to die for....


Childhood memories scream for marble cake....but I decided to elevate it a couple of  Notches....
where all layers live in perfect harmony...the last time I baked I forgot to take pics of the step by step process....so today I convinced a neighbour to follow my instructions and let me photograph...My family and I  can, for now ,do without the calories....


for this lyrical "wonder"you'll need  to pre heat the oven to 180C.Here in ranchi ,we have a major problem with the voltage...there will be days when the government is extra generous and an oven at 180C will make your cake actually display its innards...actually crack up and give an amazing colour... and there are days when you are literally waiting with a baited breath.....

Just like nargis......aaja re ab mera dil pukare.....but here we are asking for VOLTAGE!


so at this stage we are begging the gods for a little colour on the cake....
and today, we had both...one oven had the extra and the other had the less...
much like the haves and have nots...that so abound this world..


back to business..for this 


Ebony and Ivory...


you need 
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar powdered...makes mixing so much easier...
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk you wont need it all
1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
1/8 tsp almond essence/extract..optional...to add to the chocolate batter..I didn't have any today ...so we cant smell any almonds...
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder


Here the cup size is the 240/250 mils cup....


If you have a 12 inch tin grease and dust that...else a regular 8/9 inch tin works well....we used two today just because we wanted neat stripes of ebony and ivory ...still maintaining their integrity....
For this you must...
Sift the flour salt and baking powder

Beat the eggs and the sugar till fluffy.....

once done add the oil and just beat a minute more....advantage someone else working.....I can take the photographs...In the meanwhile blend the cocoa with some of the milk...

Now add the sifted flour and the milk to the egg mixture.Do not over blend.Add in the essence at this stage.

Action! Now divide the dough into roughly a Little more than half and a little less than half .To the Little less than half batter add the cocoa paste.......gently.

Now for the pretty part .You need to add the vanilla batter first.and then pour in the chocolate batter in the center and then repeat.Your dexterity will determine the no of layers you get ...that and of course PRACTICE.

 We did in two remember? The round one was pure almost virginal....while we played around with the square one...with a toothpick....to make it hip and with it...

 and popped them into two ovens both at 180C....the government of Jharkand is now accountable for the variations in colour....

 and give it up for  the rock star!!

and the moment of truth....

and to go back to what I made a month ago...

...yes...more layers ,more colours...Darling I don't know why I go to extremes....




Kanchan Bhartari this was for you....
I hope you and your family loved  the cakes.....




So what are you baking today????