Fold in the Flour ...

The recipe for the Weekly Bake Off this week was Mary Berry's Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Loaf. Got to admit, this one was a bit of a revelation, as the recipe itself did not look very promising. No real chocolate in it, see? (You can tell I've become spoilt.) Instead, it relies on its chocolate flavour from  simply cocoa powder. I thought that, given the ingredients, it would be on the dry side. But I was wrong. It was deliciously moist, and the icing and white chocolate drizzle just added to this. Mike and I haven't had much of a look-in with this one, as Josh has somehow managed to polish off the lot himself. Just as a reminder, the Weekly Bake Off is organised by the lovely Amy, and her challenge is to bake her way through Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes , one recipe (or sometimes more) every week. There is an open invitation to join in with her and bake along. I've lost track of where we are, and I haven't been able to take part every week. But ...

  While I definitely hold the view that there can never be too many cupcakes in this world, this blog seems to be developing a cupcake habit (not that I'm particularly sorry for that). However, as the aim is to develop my baking, I thought I'd better turn my attention away from cupcakes, at least for a while.This Chocolate Chip Marble Cake fitted the bill perfectly.  I found this gorgeous recipe on the lovely blog Piece of Cake by Shauna Once again, though, it marks the return of chocolate to my baking - sense another theme here? I've wanted to try marbling for a while, and the layer of fudgy, brownie-type chocolate running through the centre of this cake really got my mouth salivating. The recipe also marked me trying out a bundt - or ring - cake for the first time. This cake is just lovely, and the smell generated in the house while it was baking was swoon-inducing. It even managed to get the boys out of their rooms and away f...