Cinnamon marble cake

This last lockdown I wasn't baking as much. This is partly because I lost friends to farm out food to by being restricted to a 5km radius, the ones that lived close to me went on health kicks as a result of how much I fed them last time... and there's only so much cake you can give your 85 year old neighbour without concern you might be giving her diabetes. Another reason is that I discovered the pleasure of walking to a particular food destination as a way to mark the weekend and stop everything seeming so same-y. One lovely thing about lockdown in Sydney was that many restaurants pivoted in this period to become bakeries. One of these was Fred's in Paddington, run by chef Danielle Alvarez, previously of Berkeley's famous Chez Panisse. 

Fred's is a pleasant 30 minute walk from my place. On Saturdays for the last few months they've been offering up (for takeaway only) an array of delicious pastries, pies, cakes and breads. So I'd get a walk, get to support a local business and get something incredible to eat I didn't make myself. This cinnamon marble cake wasn't on Fred's menu but when I saw it on Danielle's excellent blog, I felt moved to make it as I love cakes with sour cream, had some to use up and all other ingredients to hand. Marble cakes can often be dry, but the sour cream guards against this and lends a luxury to a cake that comes together very simply and with store cupboard ingredients. 

Cinnamon marble cake
Adapted from a recipe by Danielle Alvarez, as published on her blog

Don't overcomplicate the swirl. Stick to one simple zig-zagging motion. It won't seem like you're doing much but your restraint will be rewarded when you slice into the cake. My swirl (as per photos) was a bit busy and I'd do it differently next time - but don't lose sleep over this. No matter what your swirl looks like, the cake will still taste great.

170g butter, at room temp
225g sour cream, at room temp
300g sugar
3 eggs, at room temp, beaten together
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarb (baking) soda
2 tsp baking powder
275g plain flour

3 tbsp brown sugar (50g)
1 tbsp cinnamon (10g) 
1 tbsp milk or cream 

Preheat oven to 170C (325F).  Grease a bundt tin or loaf tin and set aside. 

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and bicarb soda, set aside.  

In another smaller bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and milk/cream and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in vanilla. Add beaten eggs into the butter and sugar mix slowly - just a little at a time. Once fully incorporated, switch to a rubber spatula (if you've been using a stand mixer or anything electrical) to mix by hand.

Add half the sour cream and gently fold it in. Then add half the dry ingredients and fold them in. Next the remaining sour cream followed by the rest of the dry ingredients. The batter will be thick.  

Spoon out 1/3 of the batter and combine it with the brown sugar mix. Spread 1/2 of the remaining batter into the tin, followed by a layer of the brown sugar batter and then top with the remaining plain batter. Spread it evenly into the tin, then use a chopstick or skewer to create a swirl pattern.

Bake for 40-60 minutes until a skewer/toothpick comes out clean - start checking at 40 minutes to avoid over-baking.  Allow to cool and turn out.