Chocolate and Ginger Marble Slab Cake

With little nuggets of chocolate and ginger nestling in each piece of this lightly spiced cake, a dusting of icing sugar is all this beauty needs.

• 180 grams butter at room temperature
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1¾ cups self-raising flour
• pinch of salt
• ⅓ cup finely chopped crystallised ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 100 grams dark chocolate, chopped

Grease a 24cm x 24cm cake tin and fully line with baking paper

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Combine the milk and lemon juice and set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a teaspoon of the flour if they start to curdle.

Add the flour, salt and the milk and gently mix to combine.

Transfer half of the mixture into a separate bowl.

Ginger batter: Stir in the chopped and ground ginger.

Chocolate batter: Add the cocoa, cinnamon and chopped chocolate to the other half of the batter.

Place dollops of each mixture alternatively in the base of the tin then use the handle of a teaspoon to lightly swirl the two batters together to give a marbled effect.

Bake for 20 - 22 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes. Invert the cake onto a flat baking tray, peel off the lining paper then place the cake right side up on a plate. Dust with icing sugar to serve. Serves 8 - 10

When testing the cake, don’t mistake melted chocolate for uncooked batter