I’m sure everyone has that person in their life that’s been there through thick and thin, knows every saga, scandal, embarrassing story and seen one blossom from adolescence to adulthood. In my case, it’s Liv. She’s known me when I was so small I could barely see over the ice cream counter and my glasses made up 95% of my face (see photo; note the Greenpeace T-shirt, clearly fighting big causes at an early age). Last weekend was her birthday and so in true MGW style, a cake had to be made. Liv is a certified chocoholic. She claims that the fastest way to her flat stomach is a ban on bread, but everything else is permitted, including chocolate by the kilo.

This marble cake is fun to make and hopefully worthy of celebrating 18 years of friendship.

Meek – before being wild

Happy Birthday Livy xxx

Taken from Peyton and Byrne (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 170g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate sode
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125g unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g plain yoghurt
• 40g cocoa powder
• 60ml boiling water
• 75g white chocolate
• 150g icing sugar
• 2 tblsp milk

1. Line the base and sides of a 900g loaf tin with butter and baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4.
2. Sift together the self-raising flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl, and set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a jug and break up the yolks with a fork, then stir in the vanilla and slowly add to the butter and sugar, beating until fully incorporated.
4. Add half of the sifted flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix just to combine. Then mix in half of the yogurt. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat to combine, before adding the remaining yogurt. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to pick up any butter that may be trapped at the bottom. Give the batter a final mix.
5. Separate a third of the batter into a clean bowl. Whisk the cocoa powder and boiling water together with a hand whisk or fork and add to this portion of batter, folding it through with the spatula.
6. Spoon dollops of batter into the prepared loaf tin, alternating spoonfuls of the cocoa-flavoured batter and the plain batter, to form a chequerboard-like pattern. Drag a knife through the batter in a swirling motion, to create a marbled effect, but do not over-swirl; a few strokes will be enough.
7. Bake the loaf cake for 45–55 minutes until it springs back to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 10–15 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool.
9. While the cake is cooling, prepare the icing. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. In a separate bowl, whisk together the icing sugar and milk. Add the cooled, melted white chocolate and whisk until smooth and uniform.
10. Pour over the cake right away so that it does not form a skin, allowing it to drip over the sides. The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
    

    18 years on…

Directions for use: Bake for a friend and make them feel loved.