Caramel marble cake

This recipe was devised due to spying a little bottle of caramel essence in Waitrose. Caramel was one of my childhood favourite flavours and I thought it would make a nice change from chocolate (besides I still haven’t stocked up on safe dairyfree cocoa powder!) Marble cakes are unfailingly pretty and sometimes it’s good not to have an overload of icing (although I’m not sure my children would agree!)

Ideally made into a loaf shape, this marble cake will delight and surprise, and the added soft brown sugar sprinkled on top gives a wonderfully crunchy topping. This recipe got a 10 out of 10 from our guests too, so maybe it’s one worth bookmarking!

Caramel Marble Cake (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, soya-free, vegetarian and vegan)

• 200g self raising flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g soft brown sugar
• 100ml sunflower oil
• 150ml oat milk (or milk variety of choice)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caramel essence
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar, for sprinkling

– Preheat the oven to 200 Degrees Centigrade/Gas mark 5. Line a loaf tin and set aside.
– Using two bowls – sift 100g flour into each bowl. Sift in 1/4 tsp salt into each bowl.
– Add the caster sugar to one bowl, and the soft brown sugar to the other.
– In a jug combine the sunflower oil, oat milk, lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda. Whisk to combine.
– Pour half the wet ingredients into each bowl of dry and gently mix to form a smooth batter.
– Add the caramel essence to the batter containing the brown sugar.
– Dollop in alternate batters to the loaf tin. Swirl around with a blunt knife – ideally try to bring the batter at the bottom to the top to give a nice neat swirl.
– Sprinkle with the remaining tbsp of soft brown sugar.
– Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
– Cool a little in the tin before moving to a wire rack.