I was given a lovely baking book by my colleagues for a previous birthday – ‘Modern Baking’ by Donna Hay. My colleagues obviously know me very well and my love for baking! I wanted to bake something from it, and believe me, it was a very hard decision as there are endless amazing recipes in there! But I finally decided on this scrummy chocolate swirl loaf cake!

I was excited to make this cake as I don’t think I’ve ever done a marble/swirl effect with cake batter before. It was interesting following the recipe as it told you to split the mixture – half with chocolate, half without – and layer them on top of one another, then complete a swirl motion with a palette knife. I was pleasantly surprised when I cut in to the baked cake and found this gorgeous pattern waiting inside!

It was obviously helped by this beautiful plate which I picked up from H&M Home earlier in the week. But I love the wispy swirls within the cake and would love to try this technique again on other cakes. Another skill picked up – thanks Donna!