Tea Time

Afternoon tea has always been an event in my family. Around 3 pm, you could count on my dad asking, “What’s for tea time?” or my brother saying, “Mom, make some sheera” and lo behold at 4 pm, there would be a sweet surprise sitting on the table for everyone to devour. So it’s no surprise that I’ve carried this tradition with me. What’s my perfect accompaniment with tea? Plain and simple (literally!), it is marble pound cake. This recipe is from my baking guru, Anna Olson's book “Back to Baking: 200 TimelessRecipes to Bake, Share, and Enjoy”. This cake is a perfect blend of vanilla and chocolate and is really easy to make. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Recipe

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature or melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 4 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped and melted

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Brush a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter. Set aside for later.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until it is light. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix again.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the sour cream.
5. Scoop out half the vanilla batter into a bowl and mix the melted chocolate into it.
6. Dollop the vanilla and chocolate batters into the prepared pan and swirl them with a spoon or skewer.
7. Bake the loaf for 55-60 minutes, or until a cake tester poked through the center comes out clean.
8. Let the loaf cool before taking it out of the loaf pan.
9. Brew some tea and enjoy!