As was the case for the Elmo Cake. Isn’t Elmo, according to Sesame Street, the fire-engine red dynamo with the positive attitude and infectious giggle. The outgoing, curious little monster is a perennial optimist who’s full of wonder as he discovers the world? If so, why did he cause me so much grief this past weekend!
It took three attempts before I could make him somewhat acceptable; but that was only after a tummy topple and cranial cave-in. Then, there was that little incident when I was called out by a 5 year old when she yelled out (with a mouthful of red icing), “This is Grrrroossss!”. Ha! Yeah! Red icing sure is something, but tasty is not one of them.
What did work for me (thank goodness) was the base sheet cake. I made two marble half sheet cakes while at the bakery, to make the one full sheet ordered. Two double batches later, I ended up having way more than I needed. Fine by me! I got to play with the left over. And, play I did. Another half sheet later cake later, I stood in my own kitchen debating – squares, rounds, triangles? Stacked? Filled? What to do? Having several apricots left from my find at Costco, I wanted to use them as well, if possible.
I decided to tort the cake, fill it with an apricot filling, and cover the triangles in bittersweet ganache. Fun!
Marble Sheet Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar plus ¼ cup
¾ cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup milk
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ cup water
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan. Set aside.
Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl; set aside. Beat 1 ½ cups sugar and butter in large bowl until creamy, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add vanilla. Reduce speed and add flour mixture alternately with milk. Be sure to beat well after each addition, until just mixed. *Do not overbeat*
Place 1 ½ cups batter into small bowl. Add ¼ cup sugar, cocoa and water; stir until well mixed, then set aside.
Spoon ¾ of vanilla batter into bottom of prepared pan. Spoon dollops of chocolate batter over plain batter. Spoon remaining vanilla batter on top. You don’t need to be neat/even here. With knife or spatula, to make the marbled effect, gently swirl batters together. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Apricot filling
~ 1 lb fresh apricots
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp sugar
Pinch salt
Juice from 1 lemon
In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil, add apricots and cook for a about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, run over with cold water and peel the off skins. Remove pits. Dice finely and put in small saucepan. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and then simmer about 8-10 minutes until thickened slightly. Place in a bowl and refrigerate until well chilled.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
um… killer! these look fabulous and are delicious sounding as well!!!!
These look like a perfect little taste of heaven.
These are already doing a number on my thighs
Delicious as always!
Thanks ladies!
Tiffany, Chocolate dipped fruit always helps!
Barbara, they are! The perfect balance of sweet.
Paula…mine too! Mine too!
I’m always looking for a killer recipe for marble cake. This one sounds good I can’t wait to try it.
I like the new look!
Thanks Lynnette! It keeps well, too. I kept this extra baked cake a couple of days, just covered with cling wrap…didn’t give me any issues!